Hey all,

Okay, before I start in with my opening paragraph about something random in my life that isn’t related to gaming, HOLY COW BATTLEFIELD 3 LOOKS BEAUTIFUL.

But don’t take my word for it…

Battlefield 3

Whew. Okay. That gave me some serious nerd chills and spasms.

While it can be said of me that I enjoy most any type of game (with the possible exception of board games with the family… that’s a story for another time), I tend to prefer strategy and role-playing games. Sure, I’ve played my fair share of Counter-strike, Quake, and Team Fortress 2, but I have played about ten times as much Warcraft 3 as any of them.

However, when I watched this trailer for the first time my jaw dropped, literally. So much so that I had to watch it 3 more times to soak it all in, plus then scrounge around for more Battlefield 3 footage. While I can’t say much about the plot or characters, technically speaking Battlefield 3 is amazing; the Frostbite 2 engine is absolutely gorgeous, from the smooth animation of soldiers, to the brilliant lighting effects, to the destructible terrain and cover. It is an engineering feat and I am super excited to get my claws on a copy of it just so that I can stare at the animations.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3

A lot of players out there were hating on Modern Warfare 3‘s showing at E3, and, while I admit that the engine is less impressive than Battlefield 3‘s, it does look great and I have loved playing through the single-player campaigns of the Call of Duty games. Okay, they don’t make a whole lot of sense in terms of plot, but the variety of environments and combat situations keeps the game fresh through the whole play through, like how this footage has a combination of “racing” and shooting action. Modern Warfare 3 may not look as shiny as Battlefield 3, but that doesn’t mean that it won’t be a great game.

What I do like about the Modern Warfare series is how the developers aren’t afraid to put the battle closer to home. One of the most memorable battles for me from Modern Warfare 2 was the fight in a little strip mall that was located in Anywhere, USA. The fighting took place in restaurants clearly modeled off McDonald’s & Taco Bell, as well as the sprawling parking lots between them. I’m glad to see that its sequel will be continuing this tradition by setting at least a portion of the battles in New York City. I know that Fallout 3 took a bit of heat with an advertising campaign showing Washington DC in ruins (in DC subways nonetheless), I wonder if Modern Warfare 3 will take it as well.

And if you missed it, you can also take a look at the Modern Warfare 3 reveal trailer that was released a couple of weeks ago.

Mass Effect 3

Oh boy.

I love the Mass Effect series. It is a wonderful blend of action, story, characters, and role-playing. Needless to say, I have been itching to find out what will happen when the Reapers reach Earth, and it looks like Bioware is going to deliver one heck of a thrill ride.

As the series was conceived of as a trilogy, it means that the final chapter can have much more divergence in terms of the effect of the player’s decisions. Whereas the two previous titles needed to bring the plot to a similar place for the sake of making the story manageable, all bets are off for number three and I honestly hope that the writers go absolutely wild.

The gameplay looks like good, with biotic powers and weapons having a bit more kick than they did in the previous games. Mostly though, I just need to know what happens!

That about does it for today. All three of these games got my blood pumping, and I’m super excited for all of them. I would say that I’m most excited for Mass Effect 3

And I apologize for not posting this last week; I wasn’t home last weekend and had my birthday yesterday and wasn’t able to find any really loud and obnoxious party favors.

But that’s life.

Cheers,
S