As AUN gets bigger and we further dominate the internet, we’re getting into more segments. Here’s another. I choose one side (the right side) and then everybody debates over it and either agrees with me or shows me how wrong they are.

This Pickin’ A Side will feature two blockbustah shooters ready to lay out the masses this Fall. On one side, Call of Duty, the massive mega corporation game made by like 3 different fucking studios at once versus Battlefield, the big EA DICE shooter that’s planning global dominance.

Battlefield 3

It’s been 6 long years since Battlefield 2 was released to the masses on PC. It was also one of my favorite games of all time. I mean, I played that shit religiously. So much that I was still booting up a game every now and then just this past December. Cut to 2011 and we’ve seen several more awesome (and others, not so much) Battlefield titles ranging from Modern Combat to the absolutely fantastic Bad Company 2. However, there was never a straight Battlefield THREE. All the time, I wondered, “when?” Well that time is finally now, and finally FINALLY on October 25th. Let’s check out their argument.

Well for starters, Battlefield 3 has been in development for essentially five years under the same team. That means even throughout all the other titles and updates INCLUDING Bad Company 2, which is arguably one of the best console/PC multiplayer shooters out right now, BF3 was being worked on every single day with a separate team. Give or take a bit, that’s about 1800 days of developing the same video game. Think about it.

BF3 also brings us the new Frostbyte 2 engine, the sequel to the dynamite Frostbyte engine of Bad Company 2. You know, the one that could tear buildings apart in random spots? This one is that on crack. The new engine is capable of bringing entire skyscrapers down and is so powerful that a developer was even quoted as saying if somebody took the time to design in-game the Burj Khalifa from Dubai (the world’s current tallest building at almost a half-mile in height) Frostbyte 2 is absolutely capable of demolishing it in real time. Try THAT shit on for size.

As always, BF3 is going to bring something that COD severely lacks: actual teamwork. I think that’s probably one of my biggest pet peeves with COD is that no matter how team coordinated the game is, everybody is still in it for themselves. Battlefield has always seemed different to me. Top all this with the involvement of crazy guns, vehicles, forced teamwork, an incredible looking  campaign (based on what we’ve seen from PAX 2011 and E3),  big maps, graphics on a scale we have never ever seen before, 64 player PC combat (24 on consoles)  AND bringing back four COMPLETELY REMADE classic maps from BF2? It’s really fuckin’ hard to beat this one.  I’d be shaking pretty hard if I was Activision right now. Another big feature? The battlelog. The battelog is a free website that will keep track of all your stats in a very sophisticated manner, allow you to make clans, and show you how your soldier is progressing throughout combat on ways similar to Bungie’s stats site for their Halo games.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3

MW3 was announced not too long ago via a giant ass leak that released pretty much everything to the public. Activision pretty much had no choice but to reveal everything early. The game is developed by three (four if you count the Wii version) different publishers who were all commanded to come together and work on the game in order to compete with BF3 and get it out in time to do so. I’ve always been a big fan of Infinity Ward, but that was also before they went down the shitter for making MW2. I loved MW1 and the multiplayer quite a bit, and I loved MW2′s campaign even more..and slowly hated the multiplayer more. Activision answered with, “Hey asshole. We know you’ll buy our shit anyways. Here’s round 3!” Touche, Activision.

I don’t know. It seems to me like Activision has kind of hopped on the, “hey try and touch us motherfuckers. Wait, you can’t,” train and is riding it around in circles like there’s no tomorrow. Let’s face it, we’ve all seen the campaign in action. While yes, storming the streets of our own country is pretty rad, the emotion just isn’t there and never will be. This is Call of Duty. The entire series is one big shooting gallery. While yes, you could argue that with BF, look how much better they’re doing it. This is Activision’s third game of the same shit. It takes place MINUTES after MW2 and just runs with it. Like I said, we’ve all seen it in action. It’s more of the same. Shoot this guy, run behind that car, get blown up by a shitty grenade throw, repeat. There’s no pleasure in it anymore. Sure, the levels are cool the first time through, but once you replay them on Veteran Mode, not only do you not care, but just become frustrated. Where’s the multiple paths? The giant levels? The epic landscapes? They don’t exist. Just cinematography on a small scale mashed in with bullets and explosions. It’s so linear you know your goal before the level even loads. Don’t even tell me you don’t. While some of the campaign looked promising, what we saw just felt duplicated. And it’s not even just me, hundreds of sites like ours are all saying the same exact thing.  Oh yeah, remember that battlelog BF3 is offering for free. COD has one coming out too, titled, “Call of Duty Elite.” Oh. And you pay for it. You know, a service the competition is offering for free and a service Bungie has ALWAYS offered for free. The only positives I can give here is the game has a WW3 setting and is another game showcasing our own country being torn apart, which is rare because we usually play games that take place right before it, or 50 years after it these days. On that note, where’s the fucking BOSTON level? You wouldn’t see the big red getting very far in the city of champions.

Then there’s the multiplayer.

I have an absolute hate relationship with COD multiplayer. COD multiplayer is that shitty ex girlfriend that keeps calling and begging you to go on a date, to come back to her. So you agree and once you get there, she’s making out with 8 different guys every single time trying to make you jealous while giving you the middle finger. Sure, it was fun in MW1, then 2 came out and it just got all competitive and up its own ass. Perks here, customization there. How can I improve every little detail to get my K/D up, bro? I don’t give a shit. This isn’t a fucking RPG. It’s Call of Duty, for christ sakes. Give me a gun and let me go shoot a 12 year old until he cries into the mic. MP5 IS AWESOME WITH THE RED DOT SI..I don’t give a SHIT. Seriously. It’s too much work for a game where a helicopter comes down and fucks you up the ass with bullets while more pitbulls than a rap video come out and chase you around only so you can die every 5 seconds anyways. And don’t even tell me it’s because “I suck at COD.” Fuck you. I’ve held my own in COD and I maybe swap my guns around once in a while to see how shitty they are compared to the one I’m using. A game shouldn’t make me want to commit murder in real life. If there was ever a violent video game to blame, it’s absolutely this one. While MW3 promises “NEW STUFF,” can we really expect THAT much different for it? It’s going to look exactly the same, run exactly the same, and make you hatefuck your Xbox live party members with rage until they kick you out for being a jackass. It honestly sucks that COD has gone from COD2, one of my favorite FPS’ of this generation, to a giant cesspool of recycled bro-fucking while pounding Keystones bragging about their K/D. Will I buy it? Of course I will. I enjoy the campaigns. Sure, I’ll play a level of multiplayer or two, but nothing special. Because it’s going to be more of the same. But this is Activision’s thinking. “Welp. They just want more of the same, I guess. So let’s give it to them. They’re going to buy it regardless.” It drops on November 8th, by the way.

Winner (by an absolute landslide): Battlefield 3

How would you even put up an argument in COD’s favor? Seriously. It’s more of the same recycled garbage. Sure, it looks big and fancy with its big battles and cinematography, but it’s masking a poor product that is essentially rushed to be a cash cow. Stack her up with BF3, a game greatly worked on by DICE over five goddamned years whose effort clearly shines through. There’s no competition. While I will play both for the sake of my own fun and for my job here, I can already safely say I’m going to enjoy BF3 not only way more, but for years to come. Easily. It’s built for that. While I will say parts of MW3 will I’m sure make me go, “wow,” BF3′s entire experience will be a long, “HOLY SHIT,” for me, and I like to think the majority of gamers on the fence here. After the campaign of each, I’m going to boot up the multiplayer. BF3′s will definitely have me playing for hours and hours, as I get in a helicopter and pilot around my team like an absolute boss, getting in squads and coordinating attacks, while MW3 I’m sure will frustrate me to the point where I’ll do what any Vancouver Canucks fan does when his team wins the Stanley Cup: turn off my Xbox.

PS: If you really need ANY more convincing for some reason, watch the gameplay demos of both videos and tell me which one you would rather play for hours and had you going, “wow” more.