14 DAY TRIAL // Battlefield 3 isn't a game that seeks out controversy, as its developer, DICE, has confirmed that it doesn't want any cheap publicity by putting any scandalous features in its upcoming shooter.
First-person shooters have been at the center of quite a lot of controversies in the last few years, with media outlets demonizing them for all sorts of things, besides their glorification of killing, including the racy jokes in titles like Bulletstorm, or the inclusion of a Taliban faction in the multiplayer mode of last year's Medal of Honor.
DICE, the studio behind the upcoming Battlefield 3, isn't trying to get some sort of controversial features into its experience, as it's much more focused on building a great game, with top not modes to satisfy all sorts of gamers.
Talking about the main conflict in the game's story, Battlefield 3 Producer Patrick Bach confirmed that adding various political or religious themes wouldn't serve to enhance the experience.
"First of all: it's fiction," he told Edge. "We're not trying to base it on any political or religious conflict - controversy is probably a good marketing tool, but we make games. Our goal isn't to make controversy. I don't want people to feel bad playing our game. Our goal is to create a fun, entertaining experience. So we are trying to stay away from things that are real - authentic and real don't have to be the same thing."
Bach highlights that the classic Russia versus U.S. conflict won't receive any large details or backstory, as Battlefield 3 is out to deliver the war experience from the view of a single soldier, not that of an army or nation.
"When we say Russians versus Americans, it's like Red versus Blue," he added. "We try not to depict the reasons for the war, because then it can end up in a very bad place. We depict it from the perspective of an individual rather than an army - it's about you as a soldier on the battlefield, because no matter who you are or on what side you are, it's still drama. I don't want to create a war simulation or a game which picks sides. I think that would be tasteless."
Battlefield 3 is out on October 26, published by Electronic Arts, for the PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.