Battlefield 3 Clubhouse

[MT Alex]

This is what happens when you F#K a stanger in the ASS!

I already said that, and since this is your thread, I guess it's OK that you are Walter, too.

 

[erocker]

Brandon and I have the same birthday so it's appropriate we have the same avatar. Two Walters is just too much. You guys need to hash this out in the strangest way possible... on your own time. Battlefield 3 is awesome. I need to stop now.

 

[digibucc]

is there "the stranger" yet?
@erocker, i like that lebowski av. stolen.

 

[TheMailMan78]

I already said that, and since this is your thread, I guess it's OK that you are Walter, too.

Hey! I carry a 1911, sport a crew cut AND wear yellow shooting glasses. I AM Walter. lol

 

[MT Alex]

I forgot to add "No, Donny, these men are nihilists, there's nothing to be afraid of." to my last post.

There is enough Walter in the world for me and MailMan to share. It's because were so damn cool, and such good shots.

 

[DannibusX]

Let me tell you something, pendejo. You pull any of your crazy shit with us, you flash a piece out on the lanes, I'll take it away from you, stick it up your ass and pull the fucking trigger 'til it goes "click."

 

[digibucc]

Dude: Jesus, you mix a hell of a Caucasian, Jackie.

Lebowski: Are you employed, sir?
Dude: Employed?
Lebowski: You don't go out and make a living dressed like that in the middle of a weekday.
Dude: Is this a--what day is this?

it's gotta be one of if not THE most quotable movie(s) ever.

 

[DannibusX]

What do 8 out of 10 TPU Battlefield 3 Clubhouse members do in their time between the end of the beta and the release of the game?

They watch the Big Lebowski.

 

[TheMailMan78]

Its not fair Lebowski!

I forgot to add "No, Donny, these men are nihilists, there's nothing to be afraid of." to my last post.

There is enough Walter in the world for me and MailMan to share. It's because were so damn cool, and such good shots.

I dunt care.

 

[erocker]

What do 8 out of 10 TPU Battlefield 3 Clubhouse members do in their time between the end of the beta and the release of the game?

They watch the Big Lebowski.

It's on Netflix... I'm going to watch it tonight for sure. Wednesday is a lousy TV night afterall. I was just thinking we really need to talk more about the game in this clubhouse. Perhaps we should just make a Big Lebowski thread at GN.

Here: http://www.generalnonsense.net/showthread.php?p=158485#post158485

 

[REAYTH]

Did you get stabbed again Crazy? SHUT THE PHUCK UP DONNIE!!!

 

[1Kurgan1]

So you are implying that people on the PC don't like communicating but people on the console do. That's simply not true. Based on your reply it's clear that you were unaware that BC2's voip was originally working at release but was disabled after patching. So the concept of voip in game was in their last fps game until it was removed.

You can think BC2's VOIP was working all you want, but it's clear you never played the game VOIP was enabled, but it rarely ever worked. So the concept of VOIP ingame was there in their last game, it just didn't work 99% of the time(not sure if that really counts).

It has nothing to do with BF2. Did you know that steam offers voip service? It's nothing new but perhaps you were not aware of it. The idea is if we are going to play a team oriented FPS there need to be a way to communicate. There are 2 ways of doing that by voip and command rose. If this was MW3 it's not so much of a big deal but at least the option is there.

Played Death Island using it, quality is sub-par, not sure if you think this is rocket science and you know all these "secrets" we don't, but you talk like that. You don't need VOIP or Comma Rose to play as an effective team with strangers. I personally would rather not talk with strangers, heck I am pretty silent in TS. And as I already said, people don't even pay attention to your soldier screaming directly in their ear hole, a bunch of monotone voice commands coming off Comma Rose isn't going to change that. Not to mention, using Q to mark objectives will let your squad know your plans (though 99% of the time they won't pay attention anyways, once again why Comma Rose doesn't matter). Pressing Q to mark soldiers will let Squad Mates know exactly where to expect soldiers. For any aware player thats more than enough. I really can't think of anything else thats really needed, I rarely rely on random strangers to support me anyways, because most of the time if you expect that, they just fail and you get let down.

 

[DannibusX]

It's on Netflix... I'm going to watch it tonight for sure. Wednesday is a lousy TV night afterall. I was just thinking we really need to talk more about the game in this clubhouse. Perhaps we should just make a Big Lebowski thread at GN.

Here: http://www.generalnonsense.net/showthread.php?p=158485#post158485

Sad day! I don't surf GN from the govvy computer. I'l definitely be lurking later tonight.

What if we talked about BF3 and inserted quotes into the poasts?

Donny: Are these the Nazis, Walter?
Walter Sobchak: No, Donny, these men are nihilists, there's nothing to be afraid of.
Nihilist: Ve don't care. Ve still vant ze money, Lebowski, or ve fuck you up.
Walter Sobchak: Fuck you. Fuck the three of you.
The Dude: Hey, cool it Walter.
Walter Sobchak: No, without a hostage, there is no ransom. That's what ransom is. Those are the fucking rules.

 

[TheMailMan78]

This is my last statement on Lebowski. But if anyone should be Donny its Killer Rubber Ducky. Jus sayin.

 

[GullyFoyle]

battlefieldo.com - XBOX360 PRE-ORDERS 9 TIMES TO PC

Spoiler

According to VGCharts, a Video Game Charts website, the Xbox 360 Version of Battlefield 3 stands at 939,864 compared to 124,805 on the PC Version of Battlefield 3. While the game is set to be more geared towards PC players, it’s clear that it has quite the large following from the Xbox360 community. Last week, DICE announced that HD textures will be available to Xbox 360 / PS3 which is a good sign for those a little bit disappointed by the graphics seen in the BF3 Beta. Be advised that this chart is only for US Pre orders and does not tally the international totals. Needless to say, it’s apparent that this game has quite the Console based following. For all of you looking to play PS3 / Xbox360. we invite you to our forums!

battlefieldo.com - BF3 RELEASE DATE TO HAVE REGION LOCK

Spoiler

October 25th in North America, 28th in the UK, 27th in Germany

Since the announcement of Battlefield 3 having several release dates, users have been wondering if they’d be able to play on the US date. It seems as though Battlefield 3 will actually be region locked. In other words, those of you who are hoping to play the game on the 25th outside of North America will have some hoops to jump. There is one way around it, use a North American Based VPN and you should be able to play Battlefield 3 via origin on October 25th. While this may come as a shock to a lot of you who have pre-ordered a US Copy to play on the first date, remember that given the distribution of the game, it was expected to be region locked. Before you get angry at DICE and make petitions, pre order cancels or boycotts, remember that this decision was not theirs and via a VPN you can get around this.

October 25th, 2011
USA, Canada, Singapore, Rest of the World

October 27th, 2011
Denmark, Finland, Netherlands, Germany, Poland, Austria, France, Spain, Russia, Norway, Sweden, Australia, New Zealand

October 28th, 2011
UK, Czech Republic, Hungary, Italy, Belgium

November 2nd, 2011
Japan

We are currently waiting to get more official confirmation on this from the PR team on Battlefield 3, but already we’ve received it from a reliable EA source about this Region Lock. Even Eurogamer.cz , a Czech gaming site, reports that Xzone will be selling BF3 copies at midnight on the 25th, but with the game not playable until Friday, October 28th, 2011. The release is only two weeks away and this game is really going to rock the ship this year.

destructoid.com - Preview: Battlefield 3 (multiplayer)

Spoiler

1:00 PM on 10.12.2011 | Casey Baker

In our earlier single-player preview of Battlefield 3, I found a few points of contention within the slice of the game's campaign that I played. Most notably, I disliked control taken away from me in different ways, from quick time events to on-rails levels that relied mostly on my appreciation of the graphics over the actual gameplay.

However, for everything that that the campaign seemingly lacked, the multiplayer portions that both Hamza Aziz and I got to try left us pretty highly impressed. Hamza gave us some of his impressions of the multiplayer in a recent Destructoid Show episode, but to learn in detail how Battlefield 3 has improved upon past games in the series, read on.

Battlefield 3 (PC, PlayStation 3 [previewed], Xbox 360)
Developer: EA DICE
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Release: October 25, 2011

Though I got a chance to play a wide variety of multiplayer modes and maps, in this preview I'll be covering only the two that I can discuss for now. Every one of the modes that I played was impressive, with maps that included many different wide-open expanses and strategic choke points for an awesome Battlefield experience.

Before I begin, let me reassure you -- EA wasn't kidding when they explained that the Battlefield 3 beta was in no way representative of the final product. I wondered why they decided to go with the relatively linear, vehicle-less Operation Metro map for the beta, and in a quick interview with Battlefield 3's producer Aleksander Grondel I asked if it had anything to do with bringing in FPS fans who are typically more interested in other modern shooters (i.e., their largest direct competitor, the Call of Duty series). He laughed a little at this and told me, "Well, that's one angle to it, I think. Another angle is that this is something new for Battlefield. I think that most people knew that Battlefield would still be Battlefield, even though we had a map like that. It would be cool to show something a little bit different."

Furthermore, the Battlefield 3 beta was mainly released in the interest of catching and fixing as many bugs as possible before release. DICE plans to continue to improve Battlefield 3's gameplay as they release new content for the game, as has generally been the case for Battlefield: Bad Company 2.

The most immediate improvement in Battlefield 3 comes with the graphical fidelity that the Frostbite 2.0 engine brings. As I turned a corner and ran down a sun-dappled, arched hallway in search of the opposing team, I watched as two enemy soldiers ran by and was taken aback for a moment at just how realistic it all looked and felt, even on the PS3. Character animations are more fluid and realistic than ever before, and the excellent lighting effects carry over impressively in multiplayer. After rounding a corner and stalking the small squad, I managed to take one down with a knife attack to the back and then opened fire on the other one, nearly getting myself killed before taking off through a few other alleys and going prone behind a dumpster. Soon, the enemy pursuing me passed by and got sidetracked by one of my teammates driving a tank through the main street in the map. When the coast was clear, I booked it to one of the two M-COM stations and armed it, sticking around just a little while longer to take down any nearby opposition before the rest of the opposing team converged on my location.

In general, the core gameplay of Battlefield 3 is the same as veterans have come to know and love, with the largest changes being in general gameplay tweaks such as combining the Assault Class with the Medic Class, and of course with a generally slicker graphics engine powering the whole thing. While destruction isn't at the same level as the Bad Company series, it really varied from map to map and in Grand Bazaar, I appreciated how the main plaza areas became more filled with debris and downed trees as more players started to test out their rocket launchers. A lot of building corners and facades crumble realistically and expose enemy cover as well.

One thing I noticed was how different the points distribution system is in Battlefield 3. Even though my kill/death ratio tended to be rather low (at one point, it was something like 7/25), I managed to bring Destructoid (my name for the event) to the top of the leaderboards among my team of journalists for many of the different modes I played. It seemed like I generally got the most points for varying my gameplay throughout my session, whether it was helping my squadmates with suppressing fire, successfully sniping the opposing team, disabling a tank, destroying an M-COM station, or going on a killing spree. Though the multiplayer maps do encourage snipers to hunker down and camp in certain areas to provide support for their team, it awards many more points for actually moving around and generally doing more than camping and getting sneaky kills.

For anyone worried about the sizes of the maps, especially in the supposedly scaled-down PS3 version, worry no longer. The desert map in Operation Firestorm is absolutely huge. When I first spawned into the map I got ditched by my teammates and even my squadmates (other journalists from other gaming sites, natch) as they all ran for the many vehicles in the map. These included carrier helicopters, tanks, jeeps, and, of course, jets. I started hoofing it to the first zone to take over, Alpha, and realized that it would take quite a while to make it there on foot.

Instead, I turned back and decided to wait for a new vehicle to come my way. Fortunately, no one knew how to fly a jet very well and I watched in amusement as a one soared erratically overhead and then plummeted to the ground in a fiery explosion. A minute later, a new jet spawned near my location and I jumped in.

If the on-rails jet section of the single-player game made me feel a little worried for the linearity of the campaign, the jets in the multiplayer made me incredibly excited for the possibilities and sheer freedom of mid-air dogfights. I managed to wrangle just enough control of my jet to be able to soar high above the map and flip vertically and horizontally a few times before I caught another jet headed in my direction. I noticed that I wasn't nearly as bound to the map while in the jet as I was on-foot -- instead, I had more freedom to fly around. I took off, admiring the scenery of burning oil fields, and then crested dusty mountainous regions. I decided to get a little more daring and I took my jet closer into the midst of the battlefield to try to take down some land vehicles. Unfortunately, I still didn't have the best control at slowing down and maneuvering the aircraft, so I found myself getting stuck in a tree before I bailed out of the imminent explosion.

As far as the vehicles go, I noticed that the tanks and jeeps handle pretty similarly to other Battlefield games, and that familiarity helped me take a tank and blast an entire squad of enemies that was defending Alpha. As can be expected for the series, the vehicles and their weaponry have real weight behind how they move and how they sound when firing off rounds.

The overall impression that I got from the main multiplayer modes is that Battlefield is back, plain and simple. The maps are generally huge and varied but the gameplay is still frenzied and focused enough to feel like all-out warfare. The squad-based gameplay feels even more refined than before, with so much emphasis put on helping your squad and staying together as a unit to capture points, destroy M-COM stations, or simply get more kills. This is both the Battlefield on consoles that gamers have come to love, and an entirely new beast with a better and more accurate destruction engine and a far grander sense of scale.

After getting an extended hands-on session with the multiplayer in Battlefield 3, I am incredibly excited to pick up the game on the 25th of this month. The gameplay is much more polished than the beta would have ever suggested, the graphics are very pretty on the PS3, and the support for fixing glitches and stopping hackers is definitely there.

Also, just for the fun of it, I asked Aleksander Grondel about the much-rumored "dinosaurs" in upcoming multiplayer DLC. At this, a mischievous glint shone in his eye and he gave an enigmatic smile while fumbling a little and trying to choose the best words to answer the question.

"I would leave that with... We'll see."

So yeah, dinosaurs CONFIRMED. Journalism!

MCVPacific.com - INTERVIEW: Lars Gustavsson from DICE

Spoiler

by Leigh Harris

The Battlefield 3 media and community event in Sydney last night had the most in-depth hands-on with DICE's latest opus, and even had the Frostbite 2 logo carved out of ice!

The game is looking stunning. The on-foot engine has been firmed up to compete with the best of them, it sports an edge-of-your-seat, surprising and dark single player campaign, and of course the most extensive range of vehicles and unprecedented sense of scale in modern combat games today.

MCV took the time to speak to DICE's creative director and lead designer of Battlefield 3, Lars Gustavsson:

Given the rise of the indie sector and smartphone gaming, are there strategic changes going on within companies like DICE who make the biggest games of the year?

I think we at DICE have always tried different things. Nowadays, the free system (which kind of originated at DICE) now has Battlefield Heroes (the free-to-play game), Battlefield 1943 as downloadable content, and I'd like to see more of this in the future. We need to be trying different business models and different paths to the market. It takes quite some effort to deliver a big title like this.

So these methods represent different avenues for audience interaction, marketing and corollaries to the triple-A titles rather than competing markets per se?

Yeah. There are really no rights or wrongs yet. It's all about what you want to try out as a developer.

Battlefield has traditionally been at its weakest with the on-foot movement and combat mechanics, but what I've just played puts it easily on par with the best first-person shooters out there. How has the increased focus towards on-foot mechanics shaped the overall design direction?

We're fortunate to have so many previous games to go back and look at. Previously, we've based the run-and-gun experience on the multiplayer testing, since there's no better way to find out the weaknesses of your first-person shooter gameplay than to have a bank of live people who sometimes do really stupid things. That's where it all originates from.

This time around, we've made a number of deliberate changes to literally everything to make it all fit the experience we wanted to deliver – a more gritty and real-life experience.

John Riccitiello said Battlefield 3 was 'designed to take on Call of Duty'. Does that feed all the way back to the development process?

We've been making Battlefield for 12 years now and we wouldn't have been able to do it and continuously grow if we didn't focus on our thing. So I'd use the comparison of runners. If you're running a race and you look at your competitors, you fall. If you focus on your lane, you have a chance of beating them. That's what we do at the studio. Regardless of how things are in the real world, down in the dungeon we worry about the game.

Call of Duty: Black Ops is still coming out with DLC a year after release as Modern Warfare 3 is almost out. What has DICE done to ensure that level of ongoing support for Battlefield players? What kinds of plans do DICE have to push post-launch content?

We've completely restructured our studio around it. Nowadays, we have operations team who looks at the title when it starts getting closer to launch (or long before) with potential downloadable content and so on, to really have a plan. Otherwise you're quite likely to start slipping. If you're focusing just before release on what you're going to ship post-launch, then I think you have problems.

So, yes there is a massive plan in place.

 

[MilkyWay]

heh that reminds me i have the The Big Lebowski on HD DVD

Just wondering what pre order to get for Battlefield the one with Specact DLC or Physical Warfare Pack. Pretty sure both include the Battlefield 3: Back to Karkand which is just some maps.

 

[digibucc]

battlefieldo.com - XBOX360 PRE-ORDERS 9 TIMES TO PC

curious... wonder where modern warfare 3 pc is on that chart?

 

[crazyeyesreaper]

all else is null and void till you watch this

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xBzoBgfm55w&feature=topvideos_mfh

 

[TheMailMan78]

all else is null and void till you watch this

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xBzoBgfm55w&feature=topvideos_mfh

I want 2:28 seconds of my life back Crazy.

 

[EastCoasthandle]

You can think BC2's VOIP was working all you want, but it's clear you never played the game VOIP was enabled, but it rarely ever worked. So the concept of VOIP ingame was there in their last game, it just didn't work 99% of the time(not sure if that really counts).



Played Death Island using it, quality is sub-par, not sure if you think this is rocket science and you know all these "secrets" we don't, but you talk like that. You don't need VOIP or Comma Rose to play as an effective team with strangers. I personally would rather not talk with strangers, heck I am pretty silent in TS. And as I already said, people don't even pay attention to your soldier screaming directly in their ear hole, a bunch of monotone voice commands coming off Comma Rose isn't going to change that. Not to mention, using Q to mark objectives will let your squad know your plans (though 99% of the time they won't pay attention anyways, once again why Comma Rose doesn't matter). Pressing Q to mark soldiers will let Squad Mates know exactly where to expect soldiers. For any aware player thats more than enough. I really can't think of anything else thats really needed, I rarely rely on random strangers to support me anyways, because most of the time if you expect that, they just fail and you get let down.

VOIP in BC2 was working until later it was disabled via update. If there was a problem it would have been better to fix it. So you admit that there are other games that actually use voip, good that's all the point there is to make. It doesn't matter if you thought voip is "good" or not the idea is that the option is there to use if one wanted to. Also, with a command rose one can use the feature to communicate further as a team/squad if they wanted to. If you don't want to use command rose and just use it's Q function it's there for use as well. But the option should be there regardless if you want to use it or not. However, others would .

But I'm not seeing you suggesting that:
console
steam
or any other game has to have a web browser to use voip though. So it is convenient and pretty common to expect that in game.
Oh BTW, looks like they also confirmed no in game ping as well. I take it you don't think we need that as well, lol.

 

[brandonwh64]

Were going to need a clean up on isle 3

http://www.screenjunkies.com/movies/movie-lists/31-abide-able-big-lebowski-animated-gifs/1/

 

[Black Haru]

VOIP in BC2 was working until later it was disabled via update. If there was a problem it would have been better to fix it. So you admit that there are other games that actually use voip, good that's all the point there is to make. It doesn't matter if you thought voip is "good" or not the idea is that the option is there to use if one wanted to. Also, with a command rose one can use the feature to communicate further as a team/squad if they wanted to. If you don't want to use command rose and just use it's Q function it's there for use as well. But the option should be there regardless if you want to use it or not. However, others would .

But I'm not seeing you suggesting that:
console
steam
or any other game has to have a web browser to use voip though. So it is convenient and pretty common to expect that in game.
Oh BTW, looks like they also confirmed no in game ping as well. I take it you don't think we need that as well, lol.

I will gripe about ingame ping a bit, but it just means I need to install my keyboard software.

I think that a point should be made here. DICE, at this point in development, has to decide what to cut out of release because they are not gods, and they don't have time to add everything. what I think Kurgan and I are saying is that we would rather they cut VOiP and ingame server browser, and focus on more important things. I would rather have solid servers and smooth gameplay than crappy browser and shoddy voice support.

also BC2 had voip at least up until this summer, and was patched out because they couldn't fix it with the dev time they had. are you really saying you want them to try to put in something that doesn't work and then spend valuable resources patching it for a year before finally removing it? cause that is all I am getting from you.

 

[TRIPTEX_CAN]

I want 2:28 seconds of my life back Crazy.

Like you'd actually do anything with it.

 

[crazyeyesreaper]

Did you get stabbed again Crazy? SHUT THE PHUCK UP DONNIE!!!

http://cloud.steampowered.com/ugc/595825245366464655/E4DC1D5A8DC47A85F0555EADE792F57B19522E1D/

yes you got me Reayth but its okay

i beat you in every other statistic on that server

I out killed and out scored you lol with a shit team, but its okay you can have my tags Reayth make sure to keep them warm ill take em back when BF3 is out.

 

[GullyFoyle]

Gametrailers.com - Return to Battle Interview HD
War has evolved! Find out how the Battlefield franchise has changed with the times in this Interview with Executive Producer Patrick Bach!

Gametrailers.com - Battlelog Interview HD
The Battlelog syncs your experience far beyond the game with social network integration. Get the details in this Interview with Producer Fredrik Loving!

guardian.co.uk - Battlefield 3 – campaign preview *** Spoiler alert ***

Spoiler

We play through the first few missions in Battlefield 3's closely guarded campaign mode

[The following preview contains details of the first three missions in the Battlefield 3 campaign mode. Very little of the story is revealed, but aspects of those levels are discussed.]

We can't tell you how it starts. That's the big secret. EA Dice has revealed very little about the story behind the Battlefield 3 campaign mode – although, of course, we know it involves a flare-up in the Middle East with a fictitious military faction known as the PLR, looking to seize control of the entire area. In the background, some kind of terrorist threat has been made against "the free world" (whatever that means) and lead character Sgt Blackburn of the US marines is somehow slap-bang in the middle of it all.

After a prelude mission that we're not allowed to write about, the action kicks off with Blackburn being interrogated by two fist-banging funsters from Homeland Security. They shout about his involvement in some sort of covert military activity, then threaten him with the fact they already know the truth. And at the end, there's a flashback to that fateful event, which becomes mission two, Operation Sword Breaker. Ah yes, you may already be thinking, we're back to Black Ops again: frame narrative, implicated lead character, angry anonymous men… Although at least this time, no one is shouting "Those fucking numbers!" every five seconds.

Sword Breaker, it turns out is a level that's been heavily previewed in trailers for the game. Set in a crumbling city on the Iran-Iraq border, the mission involves Sgt Blackburn and his squad setting out to locate a group of marines who've gone missing while investigating a possible IED in the crowded meat market.

It's in to the backstreets of this scorched town that we venture first, through alleys thick with rubbish and rubble, following squad-mates Montes, Chaffin, Campo and Mantovic. I played the Xbox 360 version, and despite some minor scenic pop-up, the visuals are intricate and impressive. Sun light glints off the screen and hits the narrow streets with intermittent beams in which dust and refuse glint and swirl. We bundle through as squalid apartment block, its pulverised rooms littered with skeletal furniture, and out into an open street. "No civvies – I don't like this shit," says one of your men as, on cue, a sniper shot rings out and Chaffin collapses to the deck.

From here, there's a frenzied firefight as PLR fighters clamber over walls and into a nearby car park, letting rip with AK-47s. In a battered building, there are two men with RPGs, firing down onto our position. At one point I run to hide behind a truck, just as it's obliterated by a rocket, a severed door zooms past my head. It's visceral, gripping stuff, the slightly grainy graphics and grimly authentic gunfire sounds giving the set piece a documentary feel. As I fire at the RPG positions, great clumps explode out of the concrete walls, leaving craters the size of dustbin lids.

Later, we're out on a rooftop, trying to locate a sniper in another building. Our small squad ducks between cover positions, and in these moments of safety it's possible to look out over the city, a mass of sandy coloured blocks, with an outcrop of shadowed skyscrapers in the distance. It's the sort of vista we've been seeing for years on news reports from the Middle East – the familiarity, the level of intricate detail, is weirdly unsettling.

And then, the climax. There's a pitch battle along a multi-lane highway pockmarked with burnt-out vehicles. At one point, you have to follow a wire leading from an unexploded IED fitted under a truck to a dank cellar where the detonator device sits. There's some quick QTE melee combat against the bomber, an elaborate tussle that only requires two button inputs, and then we're on the street again, mounting an RPG point on a road bridge, and then clambering onto a machine gun, mounted in a flat-bed truck. At times, there's confusion about where I'm supposed to be going, who I'm firing at, where they are; AI soldiers hide amid vehicles and pop-our briefly on rooftops; there are few spawned groups of idiots running down the street.

And of course, as you'll have seen from the trailers, this one ends in a gigantic earthquake, which brings down a building just yards from your position.

The next mission kicks off hours later. It's night and PLR troops are patrolling the wrecked city looking for US troops. Blackburn is holed up alone amid the wreckage and must crawl through the rubble (at one point doing a QTE combat with a rat – seriously) to reach a safe point. Once again, the detail is impressive; rubbish swirls through the air, cars can be seen teetering on the brink of chasms split into the eight-lane roadway. Blackburn stumbles into what looks like an abandoned church, where three guards stand idly chatting. The one nearest you has an assault rifle. It's time to take it.

The next mission is a stark contrast, and as hinted in the tank-dominated Thunder Run trailer, it shows that the single-player campaign will be littered with vehicle missions. We're out in the Persian Gulf on an aircraft carrier, this time controlling Lt Colby Hawkins, the female co-pilot in an F-18, about to carry out a raid on an enemy airfield where a key PLR leader may be hiding out. First, there's some routine air combat, in which the player must lock the target reticule on MiG jets, blasting them out of the skies in an impressive rumbling blast of fire and smoke. There's also a counter-measure option on the left trigger, which dumps flares in your wake to misdirect enemy missiles. It's all very fast and tense.

Then, similarly to the aircraft missions in Call of Duty, we get a bird's eye view of the landing strip below, laser sighting taxiing fighter planes for air strikes. This sequence is a little confusing; the craft are hard to spot without zooming in your camera view, but then you're too close to survey the area properly, so its easy to miss the jets readying for take off. AS in Black Ops or Modern Warfare, you're either going to see all this as a interesting change of pace or a frustrating aside to the main action. Story-wise, it's there to build the tension and widen the scope of the story. We've got to work out Blackburn's role in all this.

EA Dice has been teasing a different approach to narrative but so far this seems to be military shooter business as usual. There are corridor runs through decrepit buildings, sudden skirmishes in open streets, then little mini-quests to diffuse bombs or hop on gun emplacements. This is the same sort of territory as Medal of Honor and CoD.

Yet in the dialogue, there's a weird dichotomy between cynicism and jingoism: one minute it's all gung-ho chatter, the next someone is pointing out that America was founded, "by terrorists, for terrorists" – "What do you think the revolutionary war was?" he continues as you creep up on a potential firefight. "History is defined by the victors…" It's like half the development team was watching Generation Kill while the other half was high-fiving its way through George Bush war speeches. But that could be a good thing; it's interesting. It makes you wonder where this story is going. Just as long as its framed narrative, its focus on one soldier amid a vast conflict, and the faint whiff of paranoia and conspiracy doesn't run us too close to a certain 20m-selling Treyarch game released last year…