Who is Battlefield 3 going to save?

Now don't get me wrong- I love me some Battlefield, and I also love me some Call of Duty. I think they're both great series with (generally) good gameplay. However, here's something I just don't understand: why do people seem to think that Battlefield 3 is going to "Save" them from Call of Duty?

I'm not saying Battlefield 3 is going to be worse than Modern Warfare 3 or anything like that, but I mean, do people really think that the experience of Battlefield 3 is going to be wildly different from Modern Warfare 3? They're both military shooters, they both have fancy graphical engines, they both have gameplay mechanics like sprinting, ironsights, knives, etc, and if Bad Company 2 is anything to judge by, they're both going to have perks, attachments and possibly even killstreaks. So tell me, what exactly is Battlefield 3 going to save everyone from?

I know its easy to get locked up into the hype train, and DICE has done a great job creating it. They give Battlefield 3 this image of being the "advanced" game, the "cool" game, the game thats "innovational". But really, come on, its not going to be that much different from Modern Warfare 3. Yes, it'll probably have bigger environments, vehicles, and superior graphics, but the basis of both games is essentially based in running around a map killing people with weapons and "ranking up" to unlock new items. Minor differences aside, these are some pretty similar concepts.

Now some people might say something along the lines of, "But all shooters are the same! All shooters are just guys running around killing each other! You can't make that argument!". Yes, to a certain extent, that is true. However, compare, say, Call of Duty 4 to Serious Sam. One game is a shooter where you and your fellow squad mates try to take down an opposing force in a, small, condensed, urban environment with modern weaponry and the assistance of perks and killstreak rewards. Another one is a game based around blowing aliens into pieces in a gigantic, cover-less environment with over-the-top, unrealistic weaponry. Do these really sound similar to you?


I'm not trying to demean Battlefield 3 here. I am a huge fan of Bad Company 2, and I am eagerly anticipating the launch of both BF3 and MW3. However, I wish that people would stop touting Battlefield 3 as the next coming of Christ. While it may have very good graphics, and a slightly more open-ended style of play than Modern Warfare 3, the games are really going to end up delivering an extremely similar experience that isn't different or innovational enough to warrant this much praise. They'll be in the same setting, with the same objectives, with the same concepts and probably a lot of the same guns, attachments and perks too. So please, give credit where credit is due- if you want to compliment the game on its great graphics or tight gameplay, do so, but don't act as if its something we've never seen before.

Timesplitters 4 Possible?

 

According to a recent discovery in Official Playstation Magazine, the long-awaited Timesplitters 4 is soon to be announced. This was discerned from a small snippet of the October issue was found beforehand. Take a look for yourself:

Now if you ask me, this looks pretty legit. Not only does the photo look like it was taken from a physical copy of the magazine, but it doesn't appear to be a fake as it features both a screenshot from the last game in the series, Timesplitters: Future Perfect, as well as little snippets of surrounding stories, such as where it says "seeing a Rage 2" above. If this is simply a forging or photoshop, the person who's done so has some major skills. 

To further compound on this recent finding, I'll add in a little something I managed to sniff up recently as well...

This is a picture of Graeme Norgate, a famous (and extremely good) composer/sound designer for the Timesplitters series who use to work at Free Radical Design before its closure, and now works at Crytek UK, the studio which now owns the Timesplitters name. This picture, taken from his Facebook page, was uploaded in January of this year. Timesplitters 4 was announced in 2007, and FRD closed in 2008. This leads me to believe that this is either a very, very old photo, or shirts are being produced in anticipation of the release of a new entry in the series. Its also possible that this is just a shirt he had from when the game was in production, but 4 years is a long time to keep a shirt like that in such good condition, and if this was an old picture, why wait 4 years to upload it?

Either way, I can honestly say that I am eagerly anticipating the (possible) release of Timesplitters 4. As someone who puts Timesplitters: Future Perfect in his top 5 games of all time, the possibly of this game's existence brings me nothing but joy. Only time will tell if it will actually happen, but here's to hoping.