Quick Look: Battlefield 3 on PC (Gameplay Video Included)

Battlefield 3 has been eagerly awaited for quite some time, ever since Electronic Arts, its publisher, and DICE, its developer, confirmed it late last year. Since then, we've been assaulted with news, details, videos and screenshots of the stunning first person shooter.

Now, after a very successful beta stage, Battlefield 3 is finally here, promising to deliver a great shooter experience powered by the beautiful and extremely impressive Frostbite 2 engine.

So, is Battlefield 3 as good as the hype has led us to believe or should it be dishonorably discharged from military shooter service? Let's have a quick look.

As I've said in my multiplayer beta impressions, the first thing that really strikes you when you start it up is the stunning beauty of its visuals. Frosbite 2 has been called a next generation engine for current generation platforms, but nowhere is its beauty more apparent than on the PC, especially if you have a computer worthy of its requirements.

Lighting is also extremely sharp, with great shadows contrasting beams of light coming from windows, while particle effects and lens flares make the whole experience feel even more surreal yet still realistic, especially when you start the Iraq stage.

After getting over the great graphics, you can then enjoy the extremely sharp shooter mechanics, with aiming feeling very slick and enemies going down after just one or two bullets, provided their more vital limbs are targeted.

Besides that, the final version of Battlefield 3 feel much sharper than the beta stage, overall, and the the quality levels have been increased a bit, at least in the single-player campaign.

There are, of course, quite a lot of scripted moments, but they feel pretty organic. There are also some quick time events, but the game doesn't require that much attention during cut scenes when the story is being showcased. During actual gameplay, you might be required to be on your toes, especially when trying something out of the ordinary, like pulling a wire out a bomb.

Except the aforementioned scripting and quick time events, the core gameplay follows the same basic Battlefield 3 formula, with players following their squads into combat and taking out enemies that are either attacking the player's position or defending their own.

Overall, Battlefield 3 is looking pretty good, both figuratively, due to its sharp gameplay, but also literally, thanks to the stunning Frosbite 2 engine. If you're not convinced, check out the gameplay video below of the first two stages from the game.