User blog:Heatedpete/Battleblog 9: Online vehicle warfare

Ok, so in their... er... eighth? ninth? tenth - no, ninth Battleblog, DICE have shed some more info on vehicles, both land, air, and presumably naval as well.

The first thing DICE reveals is that Battlefield 3 will have over 20 driveable vehicles split up into 12 different classes of vehicles - not kit classes such as the Support Kit, the Assault Kit, etc. Some of the vehicle classes include armored transports, infantry fighting vehicles, main battle tanks, scout helicopters, attack helicopters, fighter jets, and attack jets, leaving 5 classes to be confirmed, but from the Caspian Border gameplay we can guess that there will be light ATVs similar to the Quad Bike from Battlefield: Bad Company 2.

As well as a huge stack of vehicles, Battlefield 3 will include much more in-depth, tactical vehicle customisation, on a scale far beyond the seven vehicle specialisations from Bad Company 2. With over eighty unlocks for vehicles alone, and three slots for each vehicle to be customised - secondary armament, gadget, and an upgrade slot - and unlocks unlocked from using each class of vehicle. To use the words of the Battleblog, "Vehicle customization in Battlefield 3 is just as deep and tactical as the weapon customization" - and we all know how good that looks...

The unlocks available, and the way they are structured, makes vehicular warfare more focused, rather than making a "super vehicle" that can do everything - for instance, a fighter jet like the MiG-29 can be either set up for air-to-air dogfights, or set up for air-to-ground with laser-guided munitions. Stuff like choosing between flares/chaff or an on-board fire extinguisher are also mentioned within the blog.

[More info to be added]

Source - Battleblog #9