Battlefield 3, the trigger

So Battlefield 3 is coming out on October 25th. I don't usually crowd surf the masses with a pre-order but I made an exception in this case. It didn't hurt that Amazon dangled a few carrots like free release day shipping and some game bonuses to motivate my left mouse button.

I was curious if there was a better deal out there before I pulled the trigger and being the cheap zero budget gamer I am (as in no disposable income, somethin's not gettin' paid this month) I went looking for a better deal than my otherwise unused Amazon Prime membership would offer.

I didn't find a better deal and even if I could find the game under the $59.99 price I'd still have shipping costs, etc.

Know this, I'm not one to make purchases like this lightly. Things are in a bit of a downward spiral right now so I'm desperately looking for a distraction and Battlefield 3 seems to fit the bill.

The trigger occurred when I dug a bit deeper. It seems that while the most recent "real" game in the series was Battlefield: Bad Company 2 there still wasn't a real spiritual sequel to 2005's Battlefield 2.

Yes, I know 2142 existed but that was just stupid and Bad Company wasn't an option on PC....

Not that Battlefield 2 was that big of a deal. I remember having to upgrade an entire gaming rig just to play it. One game rendered a $300 top of the line video card useless simply because Battlefield 2 (unlike its predecessor Battlefield 1942) required support for a then new shader model 3.0 in the video driver.

Imagine my surprise when I found the only co-op player mode available was little more than a hack into a single player game. Ah well, it was ok until I tried to fly something. I remember rolling back to the DC combat mod in Battlefield 1942 to compensate for the experience. Flight control was little more than a suggestion in Battlefield 2, especially in a helicopter.

I enjoyed Battlefield: Bad Company 2's single player mission but of course, like most recent Battlefield games, there was no co-op. There was multiplayer but nothing I wanted to get involved in. Still the single player was excellent and the excellent script kept me entertained for weeks.

What's compelling about Battlefield 3 is the return of a real co-op mode based on the single player missions. Until I discovered that this newest release in the franchise had returned to its 1942 co-op roots I honestly had no interest in it.

Early promotional videos made no mention of it nor did I find even the suggestion of the game mode in official channels. Of course that's no surprise since most official game release sites are big on hype and short on specifics.

In my opinion the absolute pinnacle of co-op multiplayer was Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. Similar and in some ways superior to the Battlefield series; Modern Warfare 2 returned co-op to a full featured experience completely faithful to the core title.

Much unlike the disappointing co-op DLC add-on for Call of Duty: Black Ops which offered little more than a few new maps filled with mindless Nazi zombies.
I get it, zombies are mainstream now but to ignore an excellent single player experience in favor of a Left for Dead clone as a co-op option is nothing short of lazy bordering on criminal.

After reviewing the specifications, reviews and official press releases it seems that the threat of Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3 even suggesting a similar co-op experience to Modern Warfare 2 has given EA religion.

As of this writing I'm still days out from receiving the game but I'm hopeful that EA and Dice has finally picked up the ball they dropped so long ago. I'm hoping for a single and co-op experience that at least approaches the hype.

Article first published as Pre-Ordering Battlefield 3: The Trigger on Technorati.