Wow. I guess I've never really flirted with the word 'simulator' while talking about a modern shooter before, because that word implies a lot of possible shit, but there are games that can attempt to be 'simulations' or recreations of something as real as you can possibly observe them to be, albeit in a digital format with digital input/interaction keys. But f**k, let's not get off on an Oculus Rift or otherwise VR tangent.
I'm just comparing Battlefield to about every other shooter almost everyone else plays, and the vast majority of f**kers that play the BF series, on all platforms. The game speaks for itself, and in the console world, it's one of the only options for an anywhere-near-realistic shooter that you actually have to play fairly slow and involves a lot more factors than 'run and shoot the dude, repeat.'
Sure, the Rainbow Six games still hold the standard for 'realism' in gun handling, physics, aim, penetration, etc... but that's Tom bloody Clancy. They've always been that way. I guarantee you boot up the original Rainbow Six for some of today's kids, and they'd f**king be uninstalling within three minutes of the first mission.
There are many factors to consider when discussing what an FPS game is and how good it does whatever that is that it is.
That sentence...
