First Looks// Battlefield 3

After an initial wave of enemies it becomes clear that the insurgents have RPGs at their disposal - Sgt Black finds that out the hard way by being knocked sideways by an exploding car. The screen blurs slightly and you can see Black’s feet kick up from the air while he’s being blown back a good few metres.

Commands and information are being screamed at you as if this was an angry rap song and the blasts represented the beats. It takes a grenade to finish off the rocket launcher dude camping up from a higher balcony, and with that comes a satisfactory blast of concrete confetti - specks of dust wistfully blowing past you as see chunks of wall fall down in celebration of your battle win.

The demo quickly jumped to two other areas in the mission that showed off some gameplay variety. One section was set on a rooftop, with the squad tasked to take out a pesky sniper sitting in a high-rise hotel across the road - the obvious solution to this problem is crawling! And an RPG to the entire hotel building whilst the rest of the team provide cover fire. Watching that building collapse like that… unexpected bliss.

Another area involved having something of a QTE punch-up with a enemy underground, before having to rush to the surface in order to clear a landing zone - that’s when a massive earthquake happens and sends a skyscraper toppling down towards you. Time to run? No time - and no time to find out what happens either as the demo abruptly ended before I could find out what happens next. Aww.

I was told that one will be playing as Sgt Black throughout the majority of the campaign, but other side characters may be made available to play during certain events. A teaser trailer showcased some aerial combat, which will clearly not be involving Black at all. I hope that the switch between characters doesn’t water down the story or the gameplay at all, and instead enhances it.

Another thing to consider is that the gameplay during this demo seemed quite structured - the player was told where to go and there didn’t seem to be much scope for taking alternative routes or strategies. But perhaps this is something that will become clearer once I get my hands on the thing.

As it stands right now, Battlefield 3 is looking like a magnificent showcase of technical competence. Even if the action does become very directed and reliant on set pieces, the real ‘wow’ moment here comes from the explosive experience that will immerse you just by watching it, let alone by playing it. We can’t wait to see more!