PushSquare's Most Anticipated PlayStation Games Of Holiday 2011: #3 - Battlefield 3.

There's a venom in the gaming community that's wishing Call Of Duty would fail. The philosophy behind that sentiment is clear: Call Of Duty is a mainstream hit and people really dislike that. Battlefield is a popular alternative — an underdog if you will.

Everything we've seen of Battlefield 3 thus far suggests DICE still hasn't got to grips with constructing a good single-player campaign. It was interesting watching our Twitter feed during Modern Warfare 3 and Battlefield 3's respective demos. We follow a lot of PushSquare readers and gaming journalists, and there was an overwhelming sentiment of disdain at the Call Of Duty demo. It underlined our theory that people just want Call Of Duty to flat-out fail. While Activision showed off an under-siege New York with sinking war-ships and boat rides, EA settled for a tank in the desert. The Battlefield 3 demonstration was boring, but no-one dared say so. How dare the casual-friendly Modern Warfare 3 look superior after all?

What Battlefield 3 does have going for it is presentation and multiplayer. From a graphical perspective, Battlefield 3 looks nothing short of astounding. Even the PlayStation 3 footage revealed recently was very impressive, especially considering DICE has still got some months to tune things. But Battlefield is all about multiplayer, and this is what we're most excited about playing. Forget the single-player, forget the visuals, if Battlefield 3 is going to be a major success like EA hopes, the multiplayer needs to be absolutely tuned to perfection. It's a different cup of tea to Call Of Duty, but we have faith that Battlefield's more varied experience will convert a lot of COD fans.

It's the potential that excites us. Competition breeds excellence, and this year's face-off between Call Of Duty and Battlefield 3 should result in a net win for gamers. Both franchises need to up their game. And while Modern Warfare 3 is pretty much a known quantity at this stage, we're eager to see where Battlefield 3 ends up.