If you’re planning on picking up Dice’s next big game in Battlefield 3, you’re going to have to learn how to love Origin. That is, if you plan on playing the PC version. You will be required to have an Origin account so you can log into EA’s Battlelog website. Why are you required to log into Battlelog? Well, because you will be launching Battlefield 3 through your browser. This is exactly how it was during the alpha test of the game, having been in the alpha I can tell you first hand that this system is as awkward as it sounds. It’s as if you’re launching a free-to-play game, you even browse servers via Battlelog before you launch the game. It’s a brave move on EA’s part, forcing this sort of thing down the throat of PC gamers. A crowd with a history of expecting things to work a certain way and generally being unhappy when those things are removed or changed, could this blow up in EA’s face? It’s possible, maybe even probable. What it really comes down to is how Battlelog will benefit the player. With my brief exposure to the Battlelog system, all I could really think of was how it seemed like a knee-jerk reaction to the Call of Duty Elite program. Battlelog itself is still very new and actively being developed, but it’s tough to speculate what they’re going to make out of it that will justify this radical departure from what PC games are expected to be. All that said, I’m still excited about Battlefield 3 and I do hope that EA succeeds in their attempt to innovate. The shooter genre certainly needs some innovation.
Thanks 1up.
