Battlefield 3

   If you look back two posts you'll read how excited I was for the upcoming release of Modern Warfare 3.  I had the hardened edition arrive from Amazon.com on release day and played it lot until realizing it isn't as good and refined as Black Ops.  MW3 lacked certain elements from Black Ops that should be in it.  The ability to join a friend and group up before entering a game lobby without the constant need of an invite is one.  MW3's graphics have a hazy (almost over fog) look to it in multiplayer. Compare this to Black Ops where everything is super sharp and nicely colored.  MW3 may play at a faster frame rate than Black Ops but if the colors are blending too much due to poor graphics than what's the point of 60 FPS.  Finally, the multiplayer maps all felt way too small (to force close quarter combat probably) and similar with too many forced choke points.
   Fast-forward to black Friday I see Battlefield 3 on sale for $37 so I picked it up.  My previous impression of BF3 was from the multiplayer beta demo and it felt underwhelming .  The full game doesn't feel this way in fact it can be overwhelming with so much to do and be apart of in the larger multiplayer maps.  I have played over 60 hours of multiplayer and not even close to tired of it in fact I still get excited every time I play.
   One week after I got my MW3 hardened edition I realized as well I didn't need the Elite code for access to the Elite stats app on the PS3.  Thankfully I didn't use any of the codes and I sold the hardened edition eBay for a small $10 profit.  Perhaps I may buy MW3 again if I see a really good sale just to see if anything has improved since launch but I'm not in a rush or hurry.  I can quite easily play BF3 for years and it has opened my gaming beyond Call of Duty much like MAG has.