Markaz Monolith

Markaz Monolith (Persian: مرکز یکپارچه) is a multiplayer map featured in the Aftermath expansion pack for ''Battlefield 3. ''It was first seen being revealed on a Battlefield Blog post.

The map is very urban with uneven terrain and buildings, making resemblance to maps such as Strike at Karkand with infantry combat at medium range to small tank battles to snipers on top of buildings.

US Base
The US base consist of a junkyard/container yard that leads to the city and is very open, it spawns one M1 Abrams, Phoenix, Rhino and AH-6 Little Bird. Down the highway is base A.

A: Construction Site
The Construction Site appears tiny when compared by the many damaged buildings, it will spawn one M1 Abrams (it will spawn west near the first right of the street coming from the US base) in an out of bounds place for the RU team under USMC control, and is respectively a counterpart to flag D in many (Spawning on MBT in the out of bounds zone for the opposite team) the capture radius include the courtyard the flag is in and the constructed building included with it, so if the flag is contested it is wise to check in the building just in case the enemy is in there. It's also worth noting one can spawn within the M1 Abrams from the Kit selection screen and can spawn within the vehicle similar to other aerial vehicles.

B: Mall
The Mall is the center of the map and where the map gets it's name. There are five entrances and four floors. The four entrances are located on the first floor while the fifth is located on the second floor via a catwalk. The north and west can be entered by main battle tanks via a small dirt road and the south and east can be flooded by infantry. A Missile launcher emplacement is located at ground level on the eastern entrance.

C: Power Station
The Power Station is a small electrical station and is closest to D flag, it spawns a Kornet facing A or a TOW facing the highway towards D. Its capture radius is fairly small. It has a sheet-metal barricade north of it and south is a torn down highway ravaged by earthquakes.

D: Bank
This flag is overlooked by a few tall towers. If under RU control it will spawn a T-90 to the north. The area around the flag itself offers little cover, bar a few mounds of rubble. It also has a large gap in the roof where players could shoot down at attacking/defending players.

RU base
What looked like small houses are now nothing but rubble. The RU spawns on a straight highway that is far less cluttered and isn't ravaged from the earthquake compared to the US side, this can lead to the Russian team getting to C and D quicker then the US team. Apart from that it spawns one Barsuk, Rhino, T-90A and Z-11W

Squad Rush
In squad rush the attackers start out from where flag D would be in base game and attack where the monolith would be and the construction yard

Stage 1
The attackers start from the bank (D in conquest) and go to attack the monolith across the street from were B would be in conquest. The M-com is located towards green grates in the center of the building. When the M-Com is destroyed the new M-com is located the construction yard.

Stage 2
The second M-COM is located at the edge of the corner street, in an open area. This can be a bull rush if the defenders aren't prepared enough. About 20 meters north of it is a destroyed bus which can serve as cover.

Team Deathmatch
Team Deathmatch takes place between Flag A and flag B, there are many flanking spots and buildings to ambush people in, and much more cover than the conquest variants of the map.

Squad Deathmatch
Same map layout as TDM.

B
It is located on the bottom floor of the tower. But it can be captured whilst on the second floor.

Trivia

 * The tall structure the map is centered around gives this map its name ("markaz" means "center" in Persian).
 * A pair of red shoes can be found on a rooftop to the east of Flag B. The same pair of shoes are worn by Faith in Mirror's Edge, another game developed by DICE.
 * Also, if a player near the shoes listens very closely, he/she can hear Faith breathing at moderate intervals.
 * The flying ceiling is very low (80-100 meters) in order to prevent the access to the roof of the tall tower in the middle of the map (the monolith).