Xbox Gaming in South Africa

Shooter season 2011 kicks off with a bang as the highly anticipated Battlefield 3 enters the fray a couple of weeks ahead of its biggest rival Modern Warfare 3. From what we’ve seen so far the Frostbite 2 engine is delivering on the visuals front, but can it live up to the expectations of new and old Battlefield fans alike in other departments, or will it be forced to bite the bullet? We take a look at some of the early console reviews to see what the critics have to say:

• 1UP: "If you're looking for a single-player experience, you should not buy Battlefield 3. If, on the other hand, you're looking for a multiplayer experience you can't find anywhere else, this is the game for you." – B+
• Eurogamer: "If Battlefield was a superlative multiplayer game in previous incarnations, it's never been better than this." – 8/10
• IGN: "It delivers scorching multiplayer, fitting of its decade-long pedigree of famously expansive big-team battles, but stumbles over a generic single-player campaign that feels like a different game." – 9/10
• OXM: "After an undue degree of anticipation which probably owes a lot to EA's frequent verbal sallies on Activision's stronghold, Battlefield 3 is precisely the game you're expecting - the game military first-person shooters have taught us to expect, where single player campaigns serve chiefly as fodder for marketing campaigns, and online multiplayer supplies the bang for buck." – 8/10
• Metacritic: 82/100

Battlefield 3 seems to know what its core audience want: a brief campaign that they can power through in-between bouts of shooting strangers and friends in the face - something that everybody seems to agree it totally excels at.

Battlefield 3 will be air-drop into local stores this Friday, 28 October.