I've played the beta, pre-ordered the game from Amazon and taken all next week off of work in preparation for Battlefield 3.
Will it be worth it? Am I a victim of the hype-machine? Have I been brainwashed by the constant YouTube videos and twitter posts proclaiming BF3 as the best game ever? My heart says no, but my brain says yes. I didn't see anything revolutionary in the beta. Sure, the graphics and the game play were a "wow, cool!" moment, but nothing in the beta made me say "This is the future of shooters".
So I'll just have to wait until October 25th. If BF3 lives up to at least half the hype it's been given, I will be happy.
