Review by: Justin Amirkhani

As much as we love a good underdog story, the fact remains that the David and Goliath tale very rarely plays out in real life; more often than not you need a clash of Titans to unseat a long-standing victor. EA DICE has set forth to do that with Battlefield 3, pulling no punches and going after Call of Duty’s throne with no reservations. Without a doubt the game does everything it can to match the FPS champion, and in many regards bests its previous offerings.

The star of the Battlefield 3 show is the new Frostbite 2 engine that brings an unparalleled level of visual splendor to the screen. Textures are rich and detailed while the new lighting engine casts a cinematic flare across every stretch of terrain, letting each scene exceed the expectations of photorealism and step into picturesque territory. Smoke and debris cloud the air, obscuring targets with realistic panache and it all culminates in the sense that you are on a battlefield of the most exhilarating kind. It may not be conducive to reflecting the absolute realism – the sense of fear and dread – of real war, but it makes for remarkably entertaining material.

Of course this sort of high-fidelity experience is exclusive to those who meet the game’s fairly standard system requirements. Prior to the game’s launch I found that my almost five year old video card could run the game, but an under $200 investment would put my system within range of top-tier specs. Battlefield 3 is the fortunate benefactor of an incredible time in the PC market where upgrading is cheaper and more accessible than ever before, which is a boon that extends to consumers who are looking for the best experience possible.

There’s little comparison between the graphical fidelity of the console versions and the PC edition at recommended specifications. While doing a platform taste test the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 couldn’t come close to the PC when it came to quality, even with the optional texture packs installed. For this reason alone, if you’re looking for the best version of Battlefield 3, you need to play it on the computer.

Having said that, the platform does register a few unique problems the console versions don’t have to deal with. As the flagship title for EA’s new Origin download service, players have to install and run their game through an additional piece of software that while not cumbersome lacks the simplicity of a stand-alone title or the feature set of readily-adopted Steam. Installing and operating Origin is a simple enough process, but the additional account management required by EA can be confusing, especially if you registered a long-forgotten profile with them for another game.

In addition to Origin, Battlefield 3 requires the use of a service called Battlelog that in either a brilliant or damning move (it’s hard to tell) runs all the matchmaking, friend management and progression tracking through the web browser. Having the ability to investigate past games and monitor friend activity without having to boot the game is a blessing but the sometimes spotty plugins that let the browser communicate and launch Battlefield when you want to play can be frustrating.