Battlefield 3

Battlefield 3 (commonly abbreviated BF3) is a Battlefield game made by Digital Illusions CE, and a direct sequel to Battlefield 2. It was released on October 25, 2011 for the PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.

Battlefield 3 was revealed on February 4, 2011 with a teaser trailer, and was the cover story of the March 2011 issue of GameInformer. The game was first showcased on March 1, 2011 during GDC 2011, which revealed unedited gameplay for the first time.

48-hour early beta access for Battlefield 3 was packaged with every Limited and Tier 1 Edition of Medal of Honor. DICE announced on February 3, 2011 that the release of Battlefield 1943 and Battlefield: Bad Company 2's Onslaught DLC were cancelled for the PC to concentrate all their workforce on Battlefield 3, and that they will make it their biggest Battlefield release yet, even going so far as calling it "the best Battlefield game ever." DICE also confirmed that the different versions of the game would not differ too much, but the PC version would be getting extra attention, in the sense that they would not limit themselves to the technical capabilities of consoles, and that the different versions were being developed separately.

Overview
Battlefield 3 includes both singleplayer and co-operative campaigns and features multiplayer gameplay similar to the classic Battlefield 2.

Jets made their return as pilotable vehicles, prone also returned as an available stance, and the PC version is able to support 64 players simultaneously in a multiplayer match. However, the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions are able to support up to 24 players in a multiplayer match. Nothing is known yet about the Wii U release. As seen in the Battlefield 3 gameplay trailer, it is confirmed that the player can now drag fallen soldiers and heal them from cover. However, it has also been confirmed that this gameplay feature does not carry over into the multiplayer aspects of the game. This installment uses a completely new engine, named Frostbite 2, the successor to the Frostbite Engine used in the Bad Company series.

With the help of the Frostbite 2 engine, Battlefield 3 introduces Destruction 3.0. An improvement over Bad Company 2's Destruction 2.0, version 3.0 allows for a much larger range of destructible objects alongside buildings and more realistic destruction. For example, when the player fires the AT4 into the hotel in the Fault Line, Episode II: Good Effect on Target trailer, the façade of the building shatters and falls to the ground. In the earthquake-prone city of Sulaymaniyah, players experience tremors and earthquakes that further display the capabilities of Destruction 3.0.

Audio was another focus for the game. There are audio cues that, for example, will let the player know if a tank is moving towards or away from them, or if it is having trouble climbing a slope. The developers had recorded real life sounds of vehicles and weapons from a military training exercise with their goal being to create "cleaner and brighter audio." As stated by Thomas Danko, voice over producer at DICE: "No FPS ever had this large amount of VO variations for Multi Play, not even close. Over 300 for the "Man down" event alone."

Several sources confirmed that console versions of the game would get smaller multiplayer maps than the PC version, though there would be little to no change in the graphics of the different versions.

Lead weapon designer for Battlefield 3 Alan Kertz stated in an EA PWNED interview (see video section):
 * "We're going for a really authentic feel in Battlefield 3. So the big thing that we're looking at is what guns are actually being used by armies, and obviously we have the Marines in Battlefield, so first thing we did is go in and look for the Marine weapons, but we also want that little bit extra special, because fun is still something really important in Battlefield. So, we went ahead and looked at other forces and said: "What sticks out? What looks cool? What is unique? What fills a role that we don't have?" And we went and we picked those guns and brought those into Battlefield, as well."

As Battlefield 3 is not a sequel to Battlefield: Bad Company 2, Marlowe, Sweetwater, Haggard and Redford will not make an appearance in the game. An article on Kotaku states that the single-player campaign was inspired by multiple war movies such as Generation Kill, Hurt Locker, Black Hawk Down and the television series 24. It is also said that there is a focus on the characters' (including the player's) personalities and dialog. Additionally, it was confirmed that the date of 2014 was chosen to not politicize the story.[18]

A fact sheet released by EA listed all of the game's weapons, weapon accessories, vehicles, specializations and noted there would be nine multiplayer maps upon release.

Missions

 * 1) Semper Fidelis
 * 2) Operation Swordbreaker
 * 3) Uprising
 * 4) Going Hunting
 * 5) Operation Guillotine
 * 6) Comrades
 * 7) Thunder Run
 * 8) Fear No Evil
 * 9) Night Shift
 * 10) Rock and a Hard Place
 * 11) Kaffarov
 * 12) The Great Destroyer

Gameplay Overview
The gameplay in the singleplayer campaign differs greatly from the multiplayer component, with numerous quick-time events (QTEs) that are spread throughout the levels. DICE stated that the singleplayer levels are a mix of sandbox and linear levels, though many reviewers later commented that they were on the whole more linear.The campaign takes place in numerous locations around the world, but is mainly set in Iraq and Iran, the latter country of which plays an important part in the storyline. The gameplay in the campaign varies wildly, including tank combat, acting as a member of a sniper team, and acting as the rear pilot of an F/A-18 Super Hornet jet fighter.

Plot
The campaign starts with an unknown US Marine running across a street in New York City towards a break in a fence. He the climbs through the fence, and jumps down onto a train passing beneath him, ducking as the train enters a tunnel, and forcing his way into the train. The soldier grabs a gunman's pistol and fights his way towards the front of the train. There, he finds a green container and a final gunman. Before the marine can act, he is tackled and pinned by another man, who holds a revolver to his face demanding if he is alone



The game then shifts to eight hours earlier with the arrival of two CIA agents, Gordon and Whistler in an interrogation chamber with the marine, revealed to be Henry Blackburn handcuffed to a chair inside the chamber. The two then start questioning Blackburn, who goes on to talk about his knowledge of a person named Solomon, who he claims is a terrorist planning an attack on New York City. The agents then ask Blackburn about his involvement in Operation Swordbreaker, to where he then recaps his role in the operation.

Nine months prior, Blackburn's unit was tasked with finding a missing patrol. As they make their way through the city, they engage in firefights with insurgents. After multiple firefights, a huge earthquake tears apart the city, knocking Blackburn unconscious. Blackburn then tells of how he escaped from the ruined city, where he was forced to fight his way through PLR lines to reach an evacuation site. It is soon revealed that, at the time, Faruk Al-Bashir and the People's Liberation and Resistance (PLR) have swept to power in Iran, following a coup d'etat in the country. The US had responded by sending in a Marine invasion force to remove him from power and crush the PLR.

Back in the interrogation chamber, Blackburn is told of the actions of Lt. Jennifer Hawkins, a pilot who had performed an airstrike over Tehran, which Blackburn's unit had been tasked with performing a Battle Damage Assessment on. The airstrike, which was aimed to kill Al-Bashir, had unfortuately failed, but the invasion continued, with a general attack on Tehran being undertaken. As Blackburn and fellow marines David Montes and Steve Campo reach their destination in the Bank of Tehran, they discover a nuclear bomb in a Russian suitcase in the bank's main vault. The group also discovers that two bombs from the suitcase are missing. Calling for support/evacuation from other Marine units, Blackburn's squad stays in the bank, awaiting extraction.

Back in New York, Blackburn is told of how eight hours prior, Dmitri "Dima" Mayakovsky and two other GRU operatives, Kiril and Vladimir attempted to stop the bomb from being detonated. As the group chase down the PLR carrying one of the nuclear boms, they engage in multiple firefights in Paris.As the unit begins to move down an alleyway following after the bomb carrier, a PLR insurgent fires anRPG-7V2, missing Dima and Kiril, but hits a bus near Vladimir, setting him flying. As he lands, a large piece of shrapnel is found piercing his chest. Dima drags Vladimir to safety, but he orders them to go on without him, saying that he would "hold them off",eventually succuming to his injuries. The two eventually catch up to the carrier but find it to be a decoy. Moments later the actual bomb explodes at the EURONXT exchange, killing some 80,000 people.

Backburn then tells the agents of how Sergeant Jonathan "Jono" Miller and Anvil 3 answered his unit's distress call from the bank in Tehran. As the Tank Battalion crosses Kavir-e to reach Blackburn's unit, 10 T-72 tanks arrive from behind a sand dune, and fire on the Abrams. The Marines halt and engage in "vehicle warfare"

all throughout the desert. When Sergeant Miller and hia crew finally reach Blackburn, their tank takes heavy damage. He then decides to stay behind to provide cover fire via turret for the unit as they escape. Miller is eventually over run, attacked from behind, and knocked out by the PLR. The agents then show Blackburn the video the PLR released of Miller being executed by Solomon following a short monologue by Faruk Al-Bashir.

Blackburn then responds by telling the agent of how they later captured Al-Bashir, shortly following Miller's execution. After Blackburn and Campo provide sniper support for Misfit they are then ordered to find join them in capturing Al-Bashir. Shortly after, they find Miller's execution site where a small firefight follows. As the unit arrives at Al-Bashir's presumed location, they spot him attempting to escape in a vehicle. Blackburn then quickly disables his vehicle and in incapacitating him. Blackburn and Campo then carry Al-Bashir to a nearby mall to await extraction as the PLR closes in. At the extraction, Al-Bashir gives them information about Solomon, and his plan to detonate the two remaining nukes before dieing. Campo and Blackburn then check his cell phone for further intel.

Blackburn then tells of what happened as the the misfit units moved toward Amir Kaffarov's villa with the intent of killing him to cover up the Russians assumed involvement with the PLR.. While riding in Growler ITVs, the unit is attacked by a Russian unit and engage in a firefight. Shortly after, they proceed on foot to the nearby highway, witnessing hundrends of Russians parachuteing in. As Blackburn, his squad, and Cole reach the end of the highway, most of Misfit has been disabled. A Russian Su-25TM streaks overhead, strafing the Marines. After an initial confusion, it is revealed that the necessary anti-air weapons -- the FIM-92 Stingers -- were on the Growler ITVs that were at the head and rear of the convoy. They then make a dash for the ITVs at the front of the convoy, realizing it was too far to go back to the ones at the rear of the Convoy, moving from cover to cover as the Su-25 makes passes at them. Finally, Blackburn obtains a Stinger and manages to bring down the Russian fighter. On the aircraft's last pass,however, he learns that Christian Matkovic and Campo were both killed. This leads Montes and Blackburn to separate themselves, and arrive at odds with Cole, who seems undeterred.

Blackburn then tells of how Dima, Kiril, and Vladimir entered the villa hours before Blackburn's squad had.After skydiving in and investigating a weapons drop, the squad then enters a vehicle proceed to the villa. Upon being discovered, they drive just outside the villa and fight their way in. Upon entering a variety of rooms in search of Kaffarov, they then hideout containing a meeting room, a shooting range, a vault, and a training room, taking out Kaffarov's men along the discover an underground hideout. After fight their way throught the hideout, they eventually reach a stairway leading up to a helipad, where Kaffarov's chopper is about to take off. Dima then sprints toward the helicopter and grabs onto the edge of it just as it's starting to lift off. Dima and Kaffarov then engage in a fist fight before falling out the helicopter, into the glass ceiling and pool below. Kaffarov begs for mercy and promises to tell Dima about any information about Solomon for his freedom, but is knocked out by Dima with a punch to the face.

Blackburn then arrives at the villa with Cole and is ordered to scout ahead through the burning villa. He then discovers a knocked out Kaffarov at the pool house, and Dima holding what looks to be a MP-443. Dima then explains about how the nuclear WMDs were stolen from Russia, and that Solomon's next target is New York. Blackburn's officer, Cole, attempts to arrest Dima, but Blackburn is quickly forced to shoot Cole. Blackburn then proceeds to stop Solomon from destroying New York while Dima, Kiril, and Vladimir go to Paris to capture the other bomb. Feeling Blackburn has given them enough information, the agents reveal that Solomon is actually a US asset. They then bring Montes in the room and try to persuade Blackburn to falsely confess that it was Dima who planted the Paris bomb and not Solomon. However, as the two men leave after receiving a call that a train has been kidnapped, Blackburn and Montes take out the two men (Agent Whistler and an unnamed guard) when they return. The two then escape and Blackburn jumps onto the train, and jumps through a window onto it. He then fights his way to the end until being ambushed by Solomon. The two then fight and Blackburn disarms him, using another PLR operative as a shield, destroying the train's engine.

After a short chase in the sewers, Blackburn proceeds out onto the streets of New York. Montes arrives with a stolen police car and picks him up, chasing Solomon to Times Square. In the end, Montes rams the car into Solomon's and both Montes and Blackburn barely escape. Solomon then leaves his vehicle, and prepares to excecute Blackburn. Montes tries to shoot Solomon, but is shot, causing some onlookers to run in fear. As Solomon pulls the trigger, the cyclinder is empty. The two then engage in a short fist fight and. After Solomon gets the upper hand, Blackburn is able to weaken him, and then proceeds to bash his forehead in with a piece of debris. He then finds the nuke, and quickly disables it.

The scene then goes to Dmitri Mayakovsky, now diagnosed with radiation poisoning from the explosion in Paris. Overwhelmed with what he had to do in the Russian military, Dima writes a suicide note and is believed to have shot himself. However, a knock was heard on the door and the screen goes black before the shot is heard, leaving it a mystery whether he shot himself, and whoever was at the door.

Co-op Campaign
The mode supports two players online (no split screen play), spans six missions and is a standalone section, separate from the single player game (Although the first co-op mission is right after the second story mission but before the third). The missions revolve around minor operations by marines of Snake 6-6 as they encounter the PLR. Players will have to work together to complete objectives. The missions include ground and air vehicle missions, as well as tight urban arid warfare.

Also, after gaining enough co-op points, weapons in the multiplayer will be unlocked.

The first co-op gameplay debuted at EA's Gamescom 2011 Conference. It featured DICE general manager Karl Magnus-Troedsson and EA Games executive vice president Patrick Soderlund demoing the mission Exfiltration. The gameplay showcased the the new thermal weapons, smarter A.I., teammate reviving, and Bad Company 2's spot mechanic.

David Spinnier, lead co-op designer stated that the levels will have randomized elements that change each time a co-op level is played, making it a different experience every time, Spinnier also said that the missions will be shorter, to aid replayability.

Operation Exodus
In Operation Exodus, both players, and a convoy of six M1114 HMMWVs, are ordered to hold a defensive line, using an overpass to get a good view of the road from whence the PLR insurgents would be attacking. Nearby, on ground level, is an arms and ammunition stash. During the first wave of insurgents, several dozen PLR infantry advance up the street towards the convoy. After two more waves of infantry, a BMP-2 begins to advance, firing at the convoy, and most likely destroying one of the vehicles. The players, using their Javelins or their anti-tank mines, destroy the BMP, only for the PLR to renew their attack by attempting to flank from an alleyway to the west of the defensive line.

As the players kill the PLR infantry and RPG teams, another BMP appears. Again, the players destroy it and kill any remaining infantry, when another wave begins to advance down the main street(from the east this time), supported by a technical. During the eastern advance, there is an ammo crate in a building directly south of the road(to the right of the M1114 "Humvees." There is also an ammo crate on the roof of this building. After the east wave is defeated the players are exfiled in a helicopter in the southwest corner of the map. Mission Complete.

Fire from the Sky
Two fireteams, callsign Warrior, are air assaulted into the village in which a high-ranking general with top-secret intel is being held captive with the intent of safely recovering him. The players serve as close-air support, offering overwhelming fire to allow the marines to move safely through the village to their destination

As the two units meet heavy resistance on their way,they disembark from their UH-1Y Venoms, and the marines come under fire from two mortar positions. The two players use their rocket(pilot) and 20mm cannon(gunner) to destroy the emplacements where the units then advance towards two bridges leading to the village. After the two mortar positions are destroyed enemy infantry (x10-15) attack the fireteams from outside the two house nearest the teams. They get pinned down by RPG(on the roofs) and small arms fire(on the roads in front of the buildings), and call upon the players to destroy the enemy infantry holding them back. Once the way is clear, the marines advance into the village over the bridges.

They are again bogged down by RPG and small arms fire. As they trade fire with the PLR insurgents, two BMP-2s are deployed from the center of the village.Once the enemy armor is destroyed, the marines work their way towards a building in which the general is being held. Meanwhile, several BMPs and mobile anti-aircraft platforms begin to advance on the complex to stop the marines from succeeding in recovering the general. By this point, the general has been recovered and is being extracted to a clearing near the complex, where the two UH-1Y Venoms will again pick them up. Players must then fly to the extraction to complete the mission.

Exfiltration
Players attempt to work their way silently through an apartment to retrieve a defector, Hamid El Zakir, who defected due to his immediate family being taken hostage.

Once he is taken, the players and Hamid head back to the convoy from where they started, and begin to move down the road, defeating several ambushes by PLR and Iranian infantry. In a courtyard, the convoy gets caught up in a crossfire, where two marines are killed. Snake 6-6 boards the HMMWVs and man the M2 machineguns that had been left vacant, and the convoy continues on its way. However, an IED destroys the lead jeep, and the convoy must turn into another courtyard to be ambushed. Players then bail from the HMMWVs, and take cover in a small room, where the players and the remaining marines hold off attacking PLR and Iranian infantry. After several minutes, an AH-6 Little Bird arrives, providing fire on several PLR insurgents who had taken up a position in a highrise opposite of the bogged down marines. Meanwhile the marines and Hamid make their way to a UH-1Y Venom for exfiltration.

Hit And Run
Tied loosely to the events of the main Battlefield 3 campaign, Hit and Run takes place in the office building of a corrupt business in Paris that is a front for terrorism. It is the players job to extract vital files from the top office floor, at the same time, survive waves after waves of heavily armed PLR, and escape.

At the start of the mission, players are given a few seconds to fortify the starting room with claymores, needing to work tegether and to look at things at a tatical approach to progress further. After descending into the lower floors of the building, players enter a quite corridor containing display cases with antique items. As the players proceed into the room, the PLR ambush them and a firefight erupts. Players must then fight their way to the parking lot below to the escape vehicle. When arriving, dozens of PLR are gathered around the vehicle and must be taken out. Players then enter the vehicle and drive out of the parking lot, on the streets of Paris above as the PLR closes in.

Drop 'Em Like Liquid
The players, two marine designated marksmen, begin amongst a Parisian police operation, where several PLR insurgents have been arrested. The two proceed into a sewer tunnel leading up to a back alley. After killing the lone guard in the sewer, the two marines make their way up to street level, where they stealthfully eliminate duos of PLR insurgents on their way to the vantage point from whence they will support yet more marines.

Once in the apartment, the players provide overwatch for the marine strike team, who will secure the hostages taken aboard a bus by the PLR. As the players reach the buses, where they wait for the go ahead to deploy flashbangs into the buses, the eliminate the pairs of PLR guarding the hostages.

The strike team then begins to make their way towards the embassy, where even more hostages are being held. After a short melee with several PLR insurgents who had made their way up to the vantage point apartment, the players head back to street level, and from across the Seine river, and support the marine strike team via elimination of unaware insurgent patrols. After a small troupe of insurgents discover them, players then kill those fewand make their way up to a balcony outside of a cafe.

Players then continue to offer sniper support to the strike team until finally, the strike team makes their way up into the embassy, where they deploy flashbangs into the same room where the hostages are held. As the hostages are rescued, Abu Muhammed attempts to flee by leaping from a window on the first floor. He does not, however, get far as he is gunned down by the players.

The Eleventh Hour
The mission starts out with players dropping through a hatch in an elevator and immediately encountering a corridor filled with terrorists. They gun down the startled terrorists and the reinforcements coming from further down the corridor and then proceed across a subway platform to find an armed bomb. As they attempt to disarm it, they are ambushed by more terrorists. After a brief firefight, players manage to defuse the bomb and escape the subway. As they escape, they are informed that the leader of the terrorists, Abdul Rahman, is on site at the stock exchange.

They then arrive at the exchange building, surrounded by police barricades. Players then push past the barricades and enter. While fighting throughout the building, they finally reach Rahman's saferoom. As the two breach the saferoom, Rahman grabs one of the players and threatens to kill him. The "captured" player, however, pushes Rahman away as the other shoots him, instantly killing him. They then positively I.D Rahman's body and recover the nuke he was attempting to arm, dealing a major blow to the PLR.

Multiplayer
The locations of the multiplayer maps, like the campaign, includes Europe, the Middle East, and North America. More specifically, the game  takes place in the cities of Paris, Tehran, and New York.

In the magazine GameInformer, it was also hinted of various tweaks, some of which were mentioned above, such as player count, prone, etc. There is an improved character customization system, with possibilities of limited personal soldier customization, although such a system would be limited to avoid players shooting at their own side. The "Commander" position of Battlefield 2 does not return, and it has been hinted that there will be open-access benefits for all players, as in Battlefield: Bad Company 2. The streamlined four class system and killcams of Battlefield: Bad Company 2 continues, and a Hardcore mode is present in the game, whilst a better pre-game lobby will be implemented (for squads and parties). A replay mode has been hinted at, to allow players to capture one-off moments from games, and a co-op mode will be included.

Additionally, DICE confirmed at the Chicago Comic and Entertainment Expo that the size of multiplayer maps for the console versions of the game would be scaled down due to hardware restrictions, possibly having relation to the smaller player count. Also made known was the fact that players would be able to fly around in jets to the full extent of maps, even in otherwise "out of bounds" areas. Another detail revealed was that the melee system was going to be considerably different than the standard knife stab. Battlefield 3 will instead have a quick-time event process that allows the player to throw left or right punches at an opponent, or counter an attack.

Classes
There are four playable classes in the game. Karl Magnus Troedsson at E3 2011 stated:
 * "Players will have a choice of four classes. For example, you have the classic Assault class, which goes in a destroys things and kills people. However, he always had to stay near his buddies. If he died, he would need to wait for a Medic to come. Now that didn't work out very well, and now, what we did is that we sort of mixed the classes together. So you can have a sort of assault medic."

The classes have also been tweaked in relation to their roles from Battlefield: Bad Company 2, whilst still utilizing the same four class system. The Medic class has been replaced by the Support class from previous Battlefield games. They are equipped with Ammunition boxes and a light machine gun, ideal to suppress opposing players with the new suppressive fire mechanic which causes them to have no health regeneration and debilitating visual effects. The Assault class takes on the role of the Medic in the team, similar to the Medic class in Battlefield 2, with an assault rifle as a primary weapon yet Medkits and Defibrillators for reviving and healing players, instead of ammunition boxes. Players can also opt for using a grenade launcher instead of some medical equipment however. The Recon has also been changed, with the speed of scoping in reduced and requiring players to hold their breath in order to fire an accurate shot Recon players are equipped with either a bolt action or semi-automatic sniper rifle and C4. The Engineer class retains its functions of Battlefield: Bad Company 2: they are able to fix friendly vehicles and are equipped with a rocket launcher, either an anti-armor or an anti-aircraft launcher, to destroy enemy vehicles. They also equip a submachine gun or carbine, which can have a Tactical flashlight to blind opponents.

Game Modes
In terms of game modes, there are currently six modes. All game modes except Conquest Assault are available in all nine multiplayer maps for the base game.

Rush

 * Players: 64 (PC), 24 (Consoles)
 * Focus: Objective-based all-out Warfare.
 * Goal: Attack/defend M-COM stations
 * Victory conditions:
 * Attackers - Destroy all M-COM stations
 * Defenders - Deplete the attackers' respawn tickets
 * Description - The Rush game-mode was confirmed at E3, where the Operation Métro trailer/map was revealed. The main essence of the game-mode has changed very little, with attackers trying to destroy M-COM stations and defenders trying to kill the attackers. However, in Battlefield 3 there are three main changes to the game-mode - only the M-COM charge can destroy the station, instead of the charge and explosives; if the attackers run out of tickets while the M-COM charge is still active, the game will continue until the charge is disarmed or the M-COM destroyed; and if the timer on an armed M-COM charge runs out when a defender is disarming the charge, the charge will continue until the defender disarms it or is killed. As an all-out warfare mode, Rush features a large variety of vehicle setups tuned specifically to that map’s landscape and features. Players can find all types of vehicles on Rush maps, including transport vehicles, armored vehicles, helicopters, and of course, jets. Rush offers a compelling objective based all-out warfare game mode for Battlefield veterans.

Squad Rush

 * Players: 8 (4 vs 4)
 * Focus: Squad-based Infantry Combat
 * Goal: Attack/defend M-COM stations
 * Victory Conditions:
 * Attackers - Destroy all M-COM stations
 * Defenders - Deplete the attackers tickets
 * Description: Returning from Battlefield: Bad Company 2, Squad Rush is a test to show which of two squads is the superior unit. Squad Rush is an extremely tight duel between two squads that borrows the main rules from the normal Rush mode, but in a much more confined setting. In Squad Rush there are only 2 bases with 1 M-COM station per base, meaning that every M-COM taken or defended in Squad Rush is vital to the victory or defeat of the game. There are no vehicles in Squad Rush, making the game-mode more about infantry skills and tactics rather than brute force and firepower.

Conquest

 * Players: 24/32/64 (PC), 24 (Consoles)
 * Focus: Objective-based all-out warfare.
 * Goal: Capture and hold flags.
 * Victory Conditions: Deplete the opposing team's tickets.
 * Description: Conquest is the most classic of Battlefield game modes. Introduced in Battlefield 1942, Conquest has been as staple of the entire Battlefield series throughout it's entirety. Set over a series of large-scale maps, Conquest is the game mode best suited for the experience of all-out vehicle warfare. In Conquest, two teams fight for control of a number of flags by being the dominant force in the vicinity of each base. Capture and keep control of a majority of the flags and the enemy team will bleed tickets. Killing enemies will also reduce their ticket count, and the first team to run out of tickets loses. Conquest is a strategic and tactical game that often asks players to make important decisions on whether to attack an enemy base or defend one of your own. The limited forces available to each side will rarely be enough to hold each and every flag in the map, so in-game communication and quick thinking is necessary to be victorious.

Squad Deathmatch

 * Players: 16 (4 squads of 4)
 * Squad-based Infantry Combat
 * Goal: Eliminate a set number of enemy combatants
 * Victory Conditions: The squad that reaches the designated number of kills first wins.
 * Infantry Fighting Vehicle is an advantage for team who acquires it.
 * Description: Squad Deathmatch is a larger and more dynamic variety of deathmatch that also features the inclusion of an Infantry Fighting Vehicle (IFV). The IFV can help break any stalemate in the game, as long as a squad keep it alive. The 4 squad setup means that there is a constant battle throughout the game to gain and maintain the lead. Sticking together, keeping squad members healed up, supplied, and vehicles repaired are the keys to victory. The squad that can combine the potent Battlefield mix of team play and combat prowess will be proven the winner.

Team Deathmatch

 * Players (PC and Consoles): 24
 * Focus: Team-based Infantry combat
 * Goal: Eliminate a set number of enemy combatants
 * Victory Conditions: The team that reaches the designated number of kills first is declared winner.
 * Description: Team Deathmatch is of the true classics when it comes to multiplayer game modes, and a game mode that makes its first appearance in the Battlefield series. In Team Deathmatch, two teams of 12 players fight it out on tight knit maps with a distinct infantry focus – there are no vehicles available in Team Deathmatch. For that quick instant action fix, this is the perfect game mode. For players new to Battlefield, this is a good place to start. Once players get the hang of the infantry gameplay, they can move on to deeper modes that include the signature vehicle warfare for which Battlefield is known and loved.

Conquest Assault

 * Players: 24/32/64 (PC), 24 (Consoles)[30]
 * Focus: Objective-based all-out warfare.
 * Goal: Capture and hold all flags.
 * Victory Conditions: Deplete the opposing team's tickets.
 * Description: Conquest Assault was first introduced in Battlefield 1942 and has been re-introduced in all four maps in the Back to Karkand DLC released on December 6th for all PS3 owners of Battlefield 3 and a week later on the Xbox 360 and PC. The gametype is currently exclusive to the DLC.

Attack Helicopters and fighter jets are available in Rush as well as in Conquest and Conquest Assault. At launch, there was no "Air Superiority" (jets-only) mode as seen in earlier Battlefield games, though it may be added at a later date. Also hardcore and infantry-only options are present.

Note: The infantry-only option only removes all classes of vehicles except transports, such as the HMMWV, RIB, etc.

Ranks and Unlocks
There are 45 regular ranks. After rank 45 (Colonel), Colonel service stars are introduced, requiring 230,000 points for each. There are 100 Colonel service stars in all, for an overall total of 145 ranks. In comparison to Battlefield: Bad Company 2 ' s multiplayer, Battlefield 3 has 10 times the unlocks over weapons, weapon attachments, gadgets and an unlock tree for vehicles alone. In addition, unlocks are more spread through the ranks, instead of ending after rank 22.

There are also Battlefield 3: Ribbons and Medals (similar to BC2's Pins and Insignias) with examples being Rush Ribbon, Shotgun Medal etc.

A new feature in Battlefield 3 are "Service Stars." These are added to the player's weapon skill badge, kit, vehicles, and their overall rank, and allow for further promotion.

Weapons unlocks obtained from the co-op campaign will be carried over to Multiplayer.There are currently over 50 weapons to unlock, and also each primary weapon contains three attachment slots ranging from foregrips to optics. Weapon accessories are unlocked per weapon unlike in Bad Company 2. Unlocking an attachment such as a Red Dot Sight while using one class still enables it for every other class that can use that weapon. However, the attachment will not be available on other weapons until it is unlocked.

DICE stated that it will take over "100 hours" to unlock everything for a kit in Multiplayer. They also said that there are over 20 vehicles at the player's disposal with the vehicles split into 12 different "classes".

Assignments
Assignments were first mentioned via Battlelog and come with the Back to Karkand DLC. Players must complete a series of tasks for each assignment to unlock a new weapon with a matching set of dog tags and new assignments. The game will automatically tract the players progress whether they're playing the base game or the Back to Karkand DLC.

There are a total of 10 assignments in the DLC and more may be added in future DLC. The game will automatically tract the players progress whether they're playing the base game or the Back to Karkand DLC.

Factions
There are currently two multiplayer factions; The Russian Army and the United States Marine Corps. Like with previous Battlefield games, their default kits are equipped with faction-specific weaponry until others are unlocked.

New Features
Battlefield 3 includes a number of new and/or improved multiplayer features:


 * Destruction 3.0: With Frostbite 2.0 comes the Destruction 3.0 engine. This engine allows debris that can injure/kill players and micro-destruction, as well.
 * Suppressive Fire: Firing at an enemy with the shots going near them, the enemy's health regeneration stops and resets, their accuracy drops, and the edges of their screen become blurred. While suppression is most effective with the Support class and their LMG's, any weapon is capable of suppressing an enemy.
 * Disable Vehicles: Vehicles can now be disabled before they are destroyed. This makes land vehicles immobile (but turrets are still operable), while air vehicles become extremely difficult to control. When a vehicle is disabled, it can be repaired, but will also slowly bleed health.
 * Vehicle Health Regeneration: Vehicles now slowly regenerate health when damaged. Repairs from an Engineer are still far more effective, and regen is canceled if the vehicle is disabled. Vehicles will start regenerating when it is under 75% health (server option).
 * Console Server Browser: At Gamescom 2011, DICE confirmed that all consoles will have a server browser option.
 * Immense Customization System: DICE claims that there will be years worth of unlocks and specializations to use in multiplayer.
 * Each kit (all weapons, gadgets, attachments, etc.) will take roughly 100 hours to unlock
 * Over 80 vehicle specializations (one secondary weapon slot, one gadget slot, and one upgrade slot)
 * Pistol variations available
 * Weapon Fire Modes: Returning from Battlefield 2, the player now has the option of choosing what fire-mode some weapons can fire in, instead of a single fixed mode.
 * Prone: The ability to go prone returns from Battlefield 2. The player is also able to dive, though there is a delay in the ability to fire as the player does so.
 * Scope Glare: If a player is using a high power scope (6x and above ) and is aimed in the direction of another player, a visible glare/glint shines off of the scope. This was added to balance the addition of the prone position.
 * Commo-Rose: Also returning from Battlefield 2 is the Commo rose, or communication rose.
 * BattleRecorder:A feature to record gameplay and screenshots.

Open Beta
An Open Beta for Battlefield 3, announced at E3 2011, ran across the PS3, Xbox 360 and PC starting September 29, 2011 and ending October 10, 2011. The maps featured were Operation Métro and gamemode Rush (the same as in the Alpha trial), and Caspian Border in 64-player Conquest gamemode (PC only). DICE, during the announcement of the Beta, stated that there would be no level or unlock cap in the Beta, allowing players to unlock any weapon in the game.

Owners of Medal of Honor: Limited Edition and Medal of Honor: Tier 1 Edition, as well customers who preordered Battlefield 3 on EA's Origin service, got 48-hour early access to the beta. This early access was originally intended to be a closed beta for owners of the special editions of Medal of Honor, although for an unknown reason this was changed to the early access.

Glitches and Bugs
Battlefield 3's game modes contain several glitches and bugs.

Singleplayer

 * When enemies are killed, there is a high probability that they may remain in the shooting postion. However, this has since been fixed by patch 1.01.
 * Major A.I.s, such as Cole, who must be followed to proceed may freeze when going into cover or checkpoints, causing the player to restart the entire mission to get past that point.
 * Occuring with the bug mentioned above, A.I.s, like Montes and Campes, will run to the exact same position, stop, and "phase" into each other.
 * Dead A.I.s or objects may float in the air or get stuck in other objects and vehicles. Also, during some A.I. animations, the characters may have the bug of freezing in the air with their model being idle. This occurs in several instances of the game where there are many NPCs, one example is in the last scene of the mission mission, The Great Destroyer, where there are many civilians
 * Like other Battlefield games, the game may freeze up during gameplay or in the menus.
 * On the mission Operation Swordbreaker, sometimes the game will freeze and the charcters won't move making it unplayable.
 * Some maps are unable to load properly, especially in large levels like Kaffarov, in which the map will not continue, including the scripts and enemies. Restarting the mission fixes this bug.

Multiplayer

 * Players may fall through or get stuck in a map (rocks, pits, etc.)
 * Like Battlefield: Bad Company 2, when exiting a vehicle too fast, the player may shoot his/her weapon.
 * Guns may not reload when pressing the reload button the first time or they reload but without the reloading animation.
 * Players will get killed for no apparent reason with "Bad Luck" appearing. This has supposedly been patched though has still been experienced on the Xbox 360.
 * When spawning on a spawning beacon, the player can spawn hundreds of feet in the air with a parachute, though this is probably intended as it only happens in maps where there are air vehicles and will not happen if the beacon is placed inside of a building or under sone other type of structure.
 * Lagging and disconnecting from EA servers occurs.
 * Player's bodies may get stuck in walls or moving vehicles once killed.
 * Opposite to a glitch in Bad Company 2, after winning a round the music played is the losing music even though the player's team clearly won. The same applies to the opposing team
 * A green or white screen may flash during gameplay.
 * Like other Battlefield games, the game may freeze up during gameplay or in the menus.
 * Players may sometimes spawn with their arms raised like when free falling, with out their gun showing. The player can still shoot but the gun won't appear until switching weapons.
 * In-game, the leaderboards may only show the top player on the other team and vice-versa when there are obviously more then one player on a team, though your team can still see everyone on their team in the leaderboards.
 * Players can exit a vehicle before hitting a teammate, killing them but only labeled "Bad Luck". This is one of the most unpopular glitches in the game.
 * When using a gun such as the M4, the game can get confused, thinking the player is using the M4A1.
 * When joining a game with a squad, the game may splits the squad up either by kicking players to other squads or to the other team.
 * When flying a jet out of bounds, the pilot may eject but die under the map.
 * When viewing ribbons after a round, the Assault class icon will only lightly flicker where it should be.
 * Getting killed while looking trough an IRNV scope, the killcam can remain green as if viewed through the scope. The same can apply to the post-game menu.
 * A player can sometimes noclip through houses and floors.
 * When in the spawn menu, if looking at the leaderboard and pressing circle, the game will freeze. This is currently only known to occur on PS3.

Co-op

 * Players may be unable to revive teammates. This glitch was experienced in "Hit and Run" before the garage.
 * When being shot down, the player may still keep their main weapon out.
 * Like all other modes, the game may freeze in the menus or in-game.
 * In Exfiltration, after leaving the jeep for the last time players may be unable to move or switch weapons only aiming, firing, jumping, and crouching respond. This glitch has so far only been documented on PC.

Limited Edition
The Battlefield 3 Limited Edition was formally announced at GDC 2011. A post on the Battlefield Blog confirmed that it will include early access to Battlefield 3: Back to Karkand (see below), at no extra cost.

People who pre-ordered via the EA Store received a unique version of the 870 Combat shotgun and an exclusive beret for use in Battlefield Play4Free, although the unique shotgun only differs aesthetically, and stats-wise is exactly the same as the normal 870 Combat available from the game's store. Also, pre-ordering from EA's Origin Digital Download or Gamestop included the Physical Warfare Pack (which includes the Type 88 LMG, DAO 12, Flechette ammo for the DAO-12 and a flash suppressor for the SKS), the Back to Karkand expansion, and pre-loading the game, which meant the game could be downloaded before release and played as soon as it is released. 48 hour early access to the Beta was granted to everybody who pre-ordered the Limited Edition from the EA Store.

It was also announced that the owners of the Limited Edition will get early access to the Mass Effect 3 demo in January 2012, another game DICE is helping to develop.

Downloadable Content
Battlefield 3 featured many different pre-order bonuses in the form of DLC, available through different retailers. The first map pack, Back to Karkand, has also been announced. A post on the Battlefield Blog hints that there will be more downloadable content to be developed following the game's release, all more or less the same size and quality as Battlefield: Bad Company 2: Vietnam. Niklas Fergraeus, lead designer of Back to Karkand, states: "Well, with Battlefield: Bad Company 2, we did a lot of experimenting with DLC, and I think that we learnt a lot along the way. The goal is that any content for Battlefield 3will be of the same quality as Battlefield: Bad Company 2 Vietnam." Other sources state that Battlefield 3 will have three times the DLC of Battlefield: Bad Company 2.

Exclusive Preorders
Players who preordered the Battlefield 3 Limited Edition from worldwide select retailers got exclusive access to eight multiplayer dog-tags and SPECACT skins. They were released on the Playstation store on January 16th, 2012 in a bundle for $2.99 or 240 Microsoft points and were released a week later to the Xbox LIVE Marketplace.

Dr. Pepper Promotional Offers
DICE has released codes on BF3 labed Dr. Pepper drink. A code unlocks one of five different dog-tags to be used in multiplayer. On January 16th, 2012, DICE released the dog tags along with 5 more dogs tags and a new multiplayer skin on the Playstation store dubbed the "Promo Bundle" for $2.99 or 240 Microsoft points and were released to the Xbox LIVE Marketplace a week later.

Acts of Valor Dog-tags
A Download code for five dog-tags was released exclusively for gamers 18 years or older in North America on launch day. To obtain the codes, players must watch a trailer at the Act of Valor website for a new movie, Act of Valor, (releasing Febuarary 17th, 2012) and sign into EA. The download code for the tags expires on March 31st, 2012.

Physical Warfare Pack
Players who preordered Battlefield 3 Limited Edition form selet retailers such as Gamestop in the United States, GAME in the United Kingdom, and Origin got temporary exclusive acess to the Type 88 light machine gun with deployable bipod, a flash suppressor for the SKS sniper rifle and flechette ammunition for the DAO-12, as well as the DAO-12 itself.

Having sparked widespread controversy because it would deprive players that will not receive the pack of some in-game content, DICE addressed the issue and announced that it was a time-based exclusive. It was released for free on the Playstation Store on December 15th and later for the Xbox 360 and PC on December 20th.

Back to Karkand
Battlefield 3: Back to Karkand is available for free to anyone who preordered the game. It is a multiplayer expansion based on Battlefield 2 content. It includes four classic maps (Strike at Karkand, Sharqi Peninsula, Gulf of Oman and Wake Island),[1] [2] newly enhanced with Frostbite 2, as well as three new vehicles (the VCTOL fighter get, Desert Buggy, and an APC), 10 new weapons,, and five new acievements/trophys. All new weapons, including the MK3A1 Jackhammer shotgun and the MG36 machine gun are unlocked through Assignments.

Unlike the base game, all maps in the expansion take full advantage of the Frostbite 2 engine such as tall buildings capable of being destroyed. On December 1st 2011, via Battlefield Blog, the Back to Karkand DLC was offically announed to be released exclusively for all PS3 owners on December 6th and one week later for PC and Xbox 360.

Marketing
In a similar fashion to Battlefield: Bad Company and Battlefield: Bad Company 2, Battlefield 3 has been heavily marketed since it's official announcement, thanks to a marketing budget of nearly US$200 million from owner Electronic Arts. The first set of trailers after the Teaser Trailer was the introduction of the Fault Line series, starting with the Battlefield 3: Gameplay Trailer and ending with the full twelve minute Battlefield 3: Fault Line Gameplay Trailer, as well as a developer commentary by Patrick Bach and being the setting of the Battlefield 3: My Life Trailer, which has commonly been shown as a TV advert during popular TV events such as the FA Cup final in the United Kingdom. During E3 2011, the Thunder Run trailer was unveiled, alongside two gameplay trailers set on the multiplayer map Operation Métro. Following the huge success of the three trailers after E3, a new trailer, the Caspian Border gameplay trailer, was released after being shown at Gamescom 2011, showcasing jet and vehicle gameplay. In late September 2011, during the build-up to the Open Beta, a new trailer, set to the rap song "99 Problems" by artist Jay-Z, was revealed to be a new TV ad. A final three trailers for the game were released in the week before the release - a multiplayer trailer, a story trailer, and a live-action/gameplay trailer - each being well-received by the gaming community. In the live-action/gameplay trailer, a new tagline was introduced - "Is it real? Or is it Battlefield 3?"

Criticism
However, despite the positive attitude towards the trailers, the marketing from certain senior EA executives and staff hasn't been met without some criticism. A number of high-level EA staff began attacking main rivals Activision and, in particular, the Call of Duty series, saying, on several occasions, that Battlefield 3 would soundly defeat the Call of Duty franchise, or words to that effect. However, Activision employees, including publishing boss Eric Hirshberg, responded negatively to these statements, saying EA's attitude was bad for the industry as a whole.

PS3 Owners vs. EA Lawsuit
At Sony's E3 2011 press conference, EA announced that for all PlayStation 3 players, each new copy of Battlefield 3 would come with a free copy of Battlefield 1943 for free. This had caused many people to buy/pre-order the the game, greatly boosting the game's overall sales. Slightly before the release of the game, it was revealed via Battleblog and Twitter that Battlefield 1943 would not come with new copies of Battlefield 3 for Playstation 3 for free in the disc. This decision was made as it was reputed by DICE that many of those who had pre-ordered Battlefield 3 already owned Battlefield 1943 and had been playing it for years. To compensate for this, EA and Sony announced that all PSN users would get a week early access to Back to Karkand. In spite of this, several PlayStation 3 owners filed a class action lawsuit against EA. Edelson McGuire, head of the group, alleged that EA ”misled and profited from thousands of their customers by making a promise that they could not, and never intended, to keep”. The group stated they weren't upset over the retraction of the offer but by what the group calls a “shoddy makeup deal”. This being that the new content given was not exclusive to PS3 owners. EA has since apologized for this and later issued codes for PS3 users to download Battlefield 1943 in response to the lawsuit, and also kept the one-week early access deal as well.

Soundtrack
The sound track for Battlefield 3 has been changed somewhat from previous Battlefield games, but returns to the "classic" Battlefield theme tune that was missing from Battlefield: Bad Company 2. The entire soundtrack features a more techno-feel to the music, and can be heard throughout the game.

Novel
The Battlefield 3: The Russian novel is written by respected author Andy Mcnab, the novel takes place during the Global War of 2014 but there noticeble differences and it tells Dmitry "Dima" Mayakovsky point of view as well as Henry Blackburn's.

Differences: *SPOILER ALERT* New York isn't mentioned in the book nor set unlike the campaign in Battlefield 3.
 * Dima stops the nuke from exploding inside Paris therefore contradicting the campaign story in the Game.
 * Vladimir (from the mission Comrades) dosen't get killed in action.
 * Kiril is instead replace by a man named "Kroll" who later dies.
 * In Operation Swordbreaker, Blackburn stabs a girl.

Trivia

 * A single-player mission was probably first hinted at in Game Informer.[16]
 * One lighting probe from Frostbite 2's lighting system contain(s) more lighting information than an entire level from Bad Company 2."
 * This is the first non-EA Sports game to utilize ANT, an animation program that powers EA games like FIFA, to create realistic third person animations and smoother transitions for AI and multiplayer characters.
 * Sounds such as weapons firing is unique in different environments, at different angles, and at different distances.
 * A dev console is present.
 * "Fault Line Series - Episode 1: Bad Part of Town" was released the morning of March 2, 2011; 1 day after a reveal event by EA and DICE showcasing 15 minutes of gameplay.[17]
 * Reloads of the Weapon reloading differs when a changed magazine is empty or when it still has rounds in it.
 * For the first time in the Battlefield franchise, the player is able to see their body, as one can see in the gameplay trailer when the character jumps down from a ventilation shaft.
 * When Battlefield 3 got 800,000 likes on Facebook, the 12 minute, full-length trailer originally supposed to be uploaded on April 17 was released early. The producer's commentary was released on April 22.
 * According to a GamersSpot article, the dinosaur at the beginning of the E3 demo and Thunder Run trailer was placed in response to a 4chan thread in which a supposed Activision sales manager wondered why their Call of Duty game didn't sell as well on PC as it did on consoles, with several responses saying it was due to a lack of dinosaurs. Gustav Halling, a gameplay designer for Back to Karkand, tweeted about it.
 * Battlefield 3 is the first Battlefield game released on a Nintendo system.
 * A tweet by senior gameplay designer Alan Kertz stated the detail in the shell casings are different based on US and RU weapons. He later tweeted that shotguns and personal defense weapons would be all-kit weapons.
 * In the Multiplayer of Battlefield 3, the player can actually engage in a small kill animation when attacking an enemy with his knife. If successful, the player will stab the enemy, and continue to snag his dogtag, that is hanging around the victim's neck.
 * Vaulting, and the player being able to see their own legs and arms, was inspired by Mirror's Edge, a game that was also developed by DICE
 * On September 20, 2011 DICE officially announced the Battlefield 3 Beta Date.
 * On the back of the online pass in the Battlefield 3 case, there is a possible teaser for a new Medal of Honor game that has a badge outline with a devilish smiley face and the number 1 in the middle of it's head. Another possible hint for a new game is that the rating is RP (Rating Pending).
 * Battlefield 3's version of the infamous Wake Island is much larger and "darker" than in earlier counterparts.

Trailers
Video:Battlefield 3 / Jay-Z -- |Television Ad Gameplay Teaser Trailer

Video:Battlefield 3 - Xbox 360 Operation Guillotine Gameplay Trailer|Extended version of the Op. Guillotine Trailer

Video:Battlefield 3 Guillotine Gameplay Teaser|Operation Guillotine Teaser Trailer

Video:Battlefield 3 Physical Warfare Pack Gameplay Trailer|Physical Warfare Pack DLC Trailer

Video:Battlefield 3 EA Press Briefing Gamescom 2011|Gamescom 2011 EA press briefing, featuring coop mode gameplay

Video:Battlefield 3 - Caspian Border gameplay trailer|Caspian Border gameplay trailer

Video:Battlefield 3: Paris Multiplayer Gameplay|Paris multiplayer gameplay trailer

Video:Battlefield 3: Thunder Run Gameplay Trailer|Thunder Run gameplay trailer

Video:Battlefield 3 BF3 Live From E3 2011 HD|E3 2011 Battlefield 3 conference

Video:Battlefield 3: E3 Frostbite 2 Features Trailer|E3 Frostbite 2 trailer

Video:Battlefield 3: Operation Metro Multiplayer Gameplay Trailer|Operation Métro multiplayer gameplay trailer

Video:EA PWNED - Battlefield 3 Special|EA PWNED interview with DICE, featuring information on Frostbite 2, Back to Karkand, Battlefield 3 weapons, and more

Video:Battlefield 3 Fault Line Full length and Commentary with Executive Producer|Full length Fault Line trailer with developer commentary

Video:Battlefield 3 - Full Length Fault Line trailer|Full length Fault Line trailer

Video:Battlefield 3 - "My Life"|My Life trailer

Video:Battlefield 3: Gameplay PC Ep3 |Fault Line Series - Episode III: Get that Wire Cut

Video:Fault Line Series - Episode 2 |Fault Line Series - Episode II: Good Effect On Target

Video:Fault Line Series - Episode I: Bad Part of Town| Fault Line Series - Episode I: Bad Part of Town

Video:Battlefield 3 Premiere Gameplay Trailer|Premier gameplay trailer

Video:Battlefield 3 - Teaser Trailer|Teaser Trailer