Shadows don’t get much deeper than the one cast by the titanic clash between Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 and Battlefield 3. To give that justice, we here at GotGame have split the shooter of the year award into two arenas: “Best Shooter” and “Best Military Shooter.” Despite niche packages like the PS3 exclusive SOCOM 4, the latter is a clearly two-horse race – and it’s our belief that Battlefield 3 won it.

As a release, Battlefield 3 was a momentous occasion. Whereas Modern Warfare milks consumer pockets year after year, DICE’s series has a history of both realistic and stylistic shooters only rarely punctuated with the proud production efforts that a title as concise as Battlefield 3 bespeaks.

But this dog comes out on top for reasons beyond its pedigree.

Graphics

Not much need be said here. Frostbite 2 is a step into the future of gaming. Don’t mistake it for anything else.

Single-player

The storyline in BF3 is pushed along by photorealistic cutscenes that slowly narrow down the villain and the stakes. Between missions, Modern Warfare 3 gives us a fly-over of an aesthetically militarized Google Earth, peppered with counters, graphs, and voice-overs. You know, just like last year.

Multiplayer

Multiplayer may be the only domain in which Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 threatens to snatch the award. 60 FPS and a cycle of eternal reward make the game an addictive experience indeed. But for offering combative encounters that play out in dozens of seconds rather than three, for its destructible environments and far superior graphics, and for its emphasis on teamwork, Battlefield 3 must be recognized as the breakout military shooter of the year.