Bright Hub "Worlds collide as Activision and EA's biggest first-person shooter franchises butt heads in this Battlefield 3 and Modern Warfare 3 comparison on what gamers might be able to expect from both games"
Battle Warfare
There has been a lot of talk about DICE and EA’s upcoming first-person military shooter, Battlefield 3. The game made some huge waves at this year’s Game Developers Conference, showcasing the amazing new Frostbite 2 engine that focuses on an even greater forms of immersion than any previous Battlefield game before it…yes, even more so than Battlefield Bad Company 2: Vietnam. Well, with all this talk surrounding Battlefield 3, a lot of gamers were left wondering what they could expect from the current king of first-person shooter sales, Call of Duty.Infinity Ward’s creative strategist Robert Bowling has confirmed that the newest Modern Warfare 3 game won’t be using a new engine to compete with Battlefield 3. Mainly because a new engine means more money and more time…something that Activision just can’t afford to do if they want to keep the billion dollar franchise coming out annually. However, this doesn’t mean Infinity Ward, Raven Studios and Sledgehammer Games (the three studios currently all working on the newest Call of Duty game) won’t use what they have to make a game that competes with Battlefield 3 in a different way.
Here at Bright Hub, we’ll compare both games in terms of what PC gamers can expect from both titles in this Battlefield 3 vs Modern Warfare 3 showdown.
Old Versus New: Engine vs Engine
The Call of Duty games have been running on a modified version of the Quake III engine, which is now called the Infinity Ward Engine. IW updated the engine to suit the high-end demands of the current generation of gaming and turned heads with the visually impressive Call of Duty: Modern Warfare back in 2007. The engine allows for the developers to streamline fast-paced action, non-stop shooting and explosive cinematics with smooth as butter framerates and gameplay. To this day, newer Call of Duty games can still be played on five year old PCs and laptops at fairly high settings. The games put very little strain on computers due to Infinity Ward and Treyarch having perfected the use of the Quake III engine for modern-day gaming. And while the engine lacks soft-shadowing, realtime dynamic and linear independent lighting, realtime physics, destructible structures or expansive interactive environments, it makes up for it with fast-paced, arcade-style shooting and 60 frames per second gameplay.
Battlefield 3 is running on the Frostbite 2.0 engine, a vastly evolved and improved engine that was originally introduced in Battlefield: Bad Company, a sort of comical military shooter spinoff from the the serious, simulator style experience offered in other Battlefield games such as Battlefield 2 and Battlefield: Vietnam. The Frostbite 1.0 engine featured breakable walls and some other minor physics-based items, while the Frostbite 1.5 engine added completely destructible buildings. The Frostbite 2.0 engine amps it up even further with near real-to-life animations, realtime lighting, advanced pathfinding, new dynamic weapon mechanics and advanced teammate skills and options, in addition to state-of-the-art physics-based destruction. The vehicles in Battlefield 3 have also been enhanced to include more realistic handling and damage.
Gameplay Advancements For The Win
Computer gamers are looking for an experience that takes the best of the keyboard and mouse experience and makes the best use of it by immersing gamers in something totally unique and engaging. In regards to being engaging, it’s hard to deny the entertainment values of Call of Duty, especially after Infinity Ward raised the bar with Modern Warfare. The entire experience offered gamers summer blockbuster moments in short interactive spurts of ultra-intense gaming. The series has now become renowned in the gaming universe for offering up cinematic style action sequences that many other games are currently trying to emulate. What the game lacks in freedom, innovation or originality it makes up for it with pure, arcade style, run-and-gun action, which is something gamers can look forward to in the next installment.
Battlefield 3 approaches the gameplay in a slightly different matter, giving players a heavier focus on teamwork rather than run-and-gun style play. The objectives of Battlefield tie-in closely with the game’s name: large teams of opposing forces are trying to control pivotal battlefield points that will turn the tide of battle using a number of character classes. In the upcoming Battlefield 3 the only thing that may detour some gamers from really getting engaged into it is the control scheme. Given that many previous Battlefield games on PC require a rather cumbersome command setup it could still prove to turn off casual PC gamers who have a decent rig. Still, the fact that it comes so close to being a realistic, team-based shooter still speaks volumes for what DICE will achieve with Battlefield 3.A Battle Of System Requirements
Recent Call of Duty games have been known for one thing: being casual friendly. And along with being casual friendly comes easy-on-the-PC system requirements that allows a broad range of gamers to play without being bogged down with heavy hardware requirements. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare’s original requirements were rather tame, needing only Pentium 4 2.4 GHz or AMD Athlon 64 2800+ processor or any 1.8Ghz Dual Core Processor or higher, 512MB of RAM and nVidia GeForce 6800 or ATI Radeon 9800 or higher. Generally speaking, even old-school noobs will be eligible for running the game. Even Call of Duty: Black Ops only required an Intel Core 2 Duo 2.4 Ghz or AMD Athlon 64 X2 4800+, 2GB of RAM and nVidia GeForce 8600 or ATI Radeon X1950. Over the course of the past four years Call of Duty games have managed to keep system requirements rather slim, and given that Modern Warfare 3 won’t be using any advanced engine tech at its core, it can safely be assumed that this will enable PC gamers to enjoy the newest title in the long-running franchise without having to update or upgrade their computer to do so.
The same compliment can’t be shared for the Battlefield series, however. The original Battlefield 1942 required very basic system requirements when it released for PC back in 2002, allowing even basic 500mhz Pentium PCs to run the game at its most basic level. The game quickly changed course by the time Battlefield 2 came along in 2005, amping up the system requirements by nearly three times that of the original game. Battlefield Bad Company and Bad Company 2, utilizing the more advanced Frostbite engine, really pushed PCs to their limits, obliging some more modern hardware from PC gamers in order to run the games. It’s safe to assume that with the Frostbite 2.0 engine powering Battlefield 3 that PC gamers who have yet to upgrade in the past two years will probably need to do so if they want an enjoyable experience out of the latest title in the highly lauded series. This especially rings true for a lot of physics-based damage properties that will come along with Battlefield 3.
Both games are scheduled to release in 2011 for the PC, PS3 and Xbox 360. You can learn more about Call of Duty’s Modern Warfare series by visiting the Official Website, and you can learn more about Battlefield 3 by heading on over to the Official Website.
For a complete list of some of the best and upcoming online shooters, check out Bright Hub's Online Action Game Directory.
Tips & Tricks
This is the real mission hiding behind Second Sun. We need to storm the White House and then punch through to the rooftop to pop a green flare and save the day. It's a lot of tough fighting in very tight quarters. Just keep the following in mind. 
- Treat the charge to the White House just like a beach landing. Stay low and behind the barriers to survive.
- Remember to move quickly and flank enemies.
- You're in close quarters anyway, so melee attacks are always an option for a lightning strike.
- The only solid cover is metal. Remember that.
- There may not be a timer in the corner, but the 2 minute deadline is serious. If you can't fight through to the stairwell, then you'll get caught in Hammer Down.
Storming the White House
Move through the bunker to the exit point and join in the battle. This is D-Day, the lawn is the beach, and the White House is the bunker line. We need to use the tank barriers as cover against the machine gun fire. Move forward along the trench line, but mainly cut to the left. I would suggest sticking to the trench, but I always had better luck by following the fence to the left, even though it leaves you a little more exposed to the machine guns. If you're hurt, then take cover behind a barrier. You need to go to the crashed Soviet helicopter. If you stay back, then you shouldn't draw too much fire. There should also only be about 5 soldiers by the crash. Take them out on the run.Get to the Oval Office and take cover by the truck. Go around to the left to flank the Russian position and gun them down from the side. Peek inside and fire to clear the way and realize that you've got a lot of fire coming in on you. We really need to get to the roof.
Stopping Hammer Down
Wait for Dunn to open a door and start the next big part of the fight. The first area is split between 2 rooms. There are Russians to the left and right, so just get behind something solid and use your shotgun to take them out. Clear out both rooms and feel free to use a few grenades. Go straight through to make it to the press conference area. Start clearing the press room as best as you can. Focus your gunfire and try to stay close to the rangers.
Your goal is to get over to the press stands and metal monitors in your way. Kill the 2 Russians that charge forward to the left side. Once that's done, you can basically just settle in at this safezone. Lay down steady gunfire to thin out the Russians at the other end of the room. Once you've got a path cleared out, you can move over to the left side and go out. Take cover behind one of the garden walls. There should be about 3 guys near your position, if the rangers didn't kill them already. 3 more should rappel down the White House to get on the roof opposite of you. Take them out as they descend for a few easy kills. 2 more should come out at the end of this little path. Kill them. You should then be able to charge down to the end and flank the remaining Russians.
We're close to the time limit, but it shouldn't be any problem if we just follow Foley and hustle a bit. Get up the ramp and kill the Russians at the top. Then spin around and quickly gun down this final position. There should be about 5 guys spread through the area. Stay back by the ramp and snipe any enemies that you can, then gun them down with a simple charge. Sprinting up and stabbing a guy is also surprisingly effective. Get up the steps in back to meet up with the other team on the roof. Follow the marked soldier out to wave your green flares and call off Hammer Down.
Your goal is to get over to the press stands and metal monitors in your way. Kill the 2 Russians that charge forward to the left side. Once that's done, you can basically just settle in at this safezone. Lay down steady gunfire to thin out the Russians at the other end of the room. Once you've got a path cleared out, you can move over to the left side and go out. Take cover behind one of the garden walls. There should be about 3 guys near your position, if the rangers didn't kill them already. 3 more should rappel down the White House to get on the roof opposite of you. Take them out as they descend for a few easy kills. 2 more should come out at the end of this little path. Kill them. You should then be able to charge down to the end and flank the remaining Russians.
We're close to the time limit, but it shouldn't be any problem if we just follow Foley and hustle a bit. Get up the ramp and kill the Russians at the top. Then spin around and quickly gun down this final position. There should be about 5 guys spread through the area. Stay back by the ramp and snipe any enemies that you can, then gun them down with a simple charge. Sprinting up and stabbing a guy is also surprisingly effective. Get up the steps in back to meet up with the other team on the roof. Follow the marked soldier out to wave your green flares and call off Hammer Down.
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