EA and Dice have slowly been leaking short gameplay clips of their upcoming shooter, Battlfield 3, over the past few weeks. The footage has been impressive to say the least, and has drawn the game massive attention. 

A new trailer has been release showing off 12 minutes of gameplay footage from the single player campaign, and it may well be the most visually impressive game we’ve ever seen. EA itself has called Battlefield 3 a “next generation game running on current generation hardware”, and many are saying that the 12 minutes of gameplay released this weekend justifies that claim.

The new video ties the previously released videos into a single cohesive play through. The footage has been taken from the PC version of the game, and DICE itself has confirmed that the console version will be scaled down. “The game is still early in development, but I can tell you that Battlefield 3 will have the largest maps we have ever made,” said DICE’s Patrick Bach speaking to Norwegian magazine Gamer.

Of course most core gamers will buy Battlefield 3 for its multiplayer, but DICE is also focusing on the game’s single player campaign. 

“A lot of people don’t want to jump straight into multiplayer. They want to feel around a bit and they’re ready to move over to online,” said DICE general manager to Games.on.net.

“The hardcore online people, they don’t care, they’re just straight in. Maybe they don’t even touch the campaign. But we want to get more people in, invite more people into the franchise. That’s one of the main reasons why we have this different part of the game.”

That may usually be the case with FPSes, but I don’t think many gamers will want to skip the single player after seeing the following footage.

Battlefield 3 is due out on PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 in November 2011. 

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