There are few publishers out there brave enough to go head-to-head with Activision in the first-person shooter genre. The Call of Duty series’ indisputable popularity and intimidating sales figures more often than not cause developers to shy away from the challenge, justifying their abstention with statements such as “we’re going in our own direction”, or “we’d rather focus on making our game the best it can possibly be”. But not Electronic Arts. Since the unveiling of Battlefield 3 in February EA has poured scorn upon its rivals, marketing the title’s technology and gameplay as leading-edge, and downplaying Infinity Ward’s Modern Warfare 3 quite considerably.

After eight months name-calling, hair-pulling and multimillion dollar publicity stunts the final product has reached the PS3Vault office, and it’s time to find out whether B3, produced by Digital Illusions Creative Entertainment, is the David or Goliath in this clash of the titans.

From a narrative point of view, DICE’s FPS is a complex beast. Set in 2014, one Sergeant Blackburn leads a five-man team on a mission to infiltrate a Middle Eastern market town controlled by a paramilitary insurgent group called the PLR, and retrieve US soldiers investigating a suspected chemical weapons site hidden within. Long story short, an effort to apprehend a high-value target connected to the PLR follows, during which Blackburn’s unit discovers that the hostile regime plans to attack America with portable nuclear warheads provided by the Russians. Things get messy, a convoy under the command of Sergeant Miller is deployed to extract Blackburn's group, and it’s all politics, plot twists and betrayals from then onwards. Blackburn is ultimately captured by the CIA, and under the interrogation of two unsympathetic agents his tale is told through flashback. This is top-notch military fiction, but to stand any chance of deciphering the convoluted goings on players need to remember a lot of names, faces and occurrences. It is therefore likely that many will simply point and shoot their way through the game caring little for what’s actually happening.

A perplexing plot is not the single-player’s sole sore point either. For one thing it’s plagued by an obscene number of arbitrary quick-time event segments that ask you to synchronise button presses with onscreen prompts, robbing you of control when you want it most. Take mission four, ‘Going Hunting’, for example. As you climb to the deck of an aircraft carrier you’re teased with the prospect of flying an F/A 18 Super Hornet on a strike operation over Tehran. You emerge into the open air and sure enough there it is, glistening in the sunlight, begging to be barrel-rolled. The anticipation’s uncontainable, so much so you’re re-enacting scenes from Top Gun in your head instead of listening to your wingman’s brief… until your character enters the co-pilot seat and initiates a 20 minute-long episode of on-rails, ‘press this button on cue’ action. Sob.

The campaign is stiflingly linear at times too. Wander from the prescribed path or stray too far from your AI chums and you’ll be met with an angry “Return to Combat Zone!" message, and if you fail to comply before the five second countdown reaches zero you’ll die. Fun this is not.

Cooperative Mode, however, is a less frustrating endeavour. Although the six objectives available are no less linear, they focus entirely on teamwork and tactics – no complicated backstory, and no tedious QTEs. Fending off militia, rescuing hostages and sweeping enemy fortifications with a dependable friend is a good laugh, and the scenarios themselves are paced and designed well. It’s just a shame that DICE didn’t provide more of them. Still, taking into account the developer’s ambitious DLC strategy there’s every possibility that more missions will reach the PlayStation Network at a later date.

While it is regrettable that B3 fails to deliver a poignant, straightforward narrative, and that its co-op component is short-lived, its online multiplayer definitely lives up to the pre-launch hype. There are game modes to suit every preference, whether that’s capturing flags domination-style in Conquest, protecting or destroying strategically positioned M-Com stations in Rush, or striving for the highest kill count in 12-on-12 Team Deathmatches, and the title’s gorgeous and distinct intercontinental maps feature a variety of land, sea and air vehicles with which to cause chaos, from heavily-armoured tanks and amphibious APCs to AH64 Apaches and Sukhoi Su fighter jets. Still want to re-enact that scene from Top Gun, Iceman?

Players can choose from four classes before they spawn which fall into the categories of Assault, Engineer, Support and Recon. Each specialisation’s kitbag consists of specific weapon types and gadgets, and as you progress through the ranks you’ll unlock countless attachments, upgrades and devices with which to customise your loadout, including magnification scopes, tactical flashlights, suppressors and bipods. Like 2009’s Battlefield: Bad Company 2, there’s more to earning experience points than simply eliminating members of the opposition. It is an Assault soldier’s responsibility to revive fallen comrades and hand out medical supplies. The primary function of the Engineer is to disable and repair vehicles; do both, regularly. Support gunners have a duty to distribute ammunition to squad mates in need, and the Recon is expected to counter sniper fire and reveal enemy positions using reconnaissance equipment. Play each role properly and you’ll not only amass various proficiencies, medals and ribbons that grant you additional XP, but you’ll end every skirmish having thoroughly enjoyed yourself.

As inevitable as it is that the gaming community will squabble over which IP is better, Battlefield 3 or Modern Warfare 3, my personal belief is this debate is superfluous. Neither is superior or inferior because they are fundamentally different; one’s a convincingly authentic simulation, the other a cinematic arcade shooter. Thus, in the interest of fairness, DICE’s title deserves to be scored on its own merits and pitfalls, not by the criteria its competition does or doesn’t fulfil.

To that end, those seeking a gripping, unrestrained, easy-to-follow single-player escapade will probably be disappointed by what’s on offer here, but the game’s sensational and long-lasting multiplayer will keep FPS fans satisfied for months to come.