Things We Know about Battlefield 3 (Updated: 8/15/11)

Battlefield 3 Multiplayer Fact Sheet Confirms Weapons, Vehicles, 9 MP Maps

Red text means new information added on that update date
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Developer: DICE
Publisher: EA
Release Date: October 25, 2011 [1]
Beta Date: September 2011 (Multi-Platform) [1]

Development Stage: Pre-Alpha
Game Engine: Frostbite 2.0 [2]
Genre: First Person Shooter
Audio: All new recordings [3]
Motion Capture: EA Sports’ ANT [2]

Computer Specs used to demo:

• Video card: GTX 580 [19] (This is the high-end, it’s not going to be the recommended video card)

Preorder Bonuses:

• Back to Karkand Expansion Pack [4]
• Physical Warfare Pack (UK) [9]
• Type 88 LMG (Exclusive Weapon)
• DAO-12 Shotgun (Day 1 Access)
• Flash Suppressor (Exclusive Weapon Mod for SKS sniper rifle)
• Flechette Ammo (Exclusive Ammo)
• Physical Warfare Pack (US) [9]
• TBA
• Battlefield Play4Free unlocks [8]
• Battlefield 3 Edition 870 Combat Shotgun
• Battlefield 3 Beret

Expansions:

• Back to Karkand [4]
• Four re-mastered BF2 maps
• Wake Island [*]
• Strike at Karkand [*]
• Gulf of Oman [*]
• Sharqi Peninsula [*]
• Classic BF2 weapons and vehicles
• Unique rewards
• New achievements and trophies

Download Content:

• TBA – Three times the DLC of BFBC2 [17]

Locations:

• North America
• Europe
• Middle East

Game Modes:

• Campaign [5]
• Co-Op [5]
• Multiplayer (Conquest, Rush, Team Deathmatch, and more?)  [10]
• Regular and Hardcore modes [7]

Military Forces:

• US Marines [6]
• PLR (People’s Liberation and Resistance) [6]
• Russian Spetsnaz [12]

Game Features:

• 64 Player Multiplayer (PC) and 24 Player Multiplayer (Consoles) [5]
• A lot more unlocks than BC2 [7]
• Battle Log (social networking) [10]
• Real-time Stats Tracking (updates within seconds)
• Talk to other players
• Create Platoons (clans)
• And more TBA
• Dedicated servers through Server Providers [14]
• Destruction 2.0
• DX 11 Support (Window XP will not be supported)
• Eyefinity Support [18]
• Features land, air, and sea vehicles [5] (Tanks, LAV, Transports, Helicopters, Jets, and etc)
• Huge detailed landscapes, dense urban areas [11]
• Server Browser: PC (Yes) and Console (No) [24]
• Support for Day/Night cycles, maybe weather [20] (Map setting, not real-time)
• Objective based Teamplay [14] (You can also lone wolf just fine)
• Unconfirmed “Community Wishlist” Features:
• Battle Recorder or similar In-Game Recording feature
• Commander
• Commo-Rose
• Infantry Only Mode
• LAN Support
• Larger Squad Size
• Mod Tools
• Public Server Files

New to BF Gameplay Features/Mechanics (or things in older BF games not in BC2):

• Classes: [13]

• Rifleman – Job is to be a frontline soldier and medic. Carries an assault rifle.
• Engineer – Job is to destroy enemy vehicles and repair friendly assets. Carries a sub-machine gun.
• Recon/Sniper – Job is to provide long range support and set traps with explosives. Carries a sniper rifle.
• Support – Job is to provide suppressing fire and ammo resupply. Carries a machine gun.
• Class changes:
• Assault can trade grenade launcher for advanced medical gear
• Assault class getting carbines? [23]
• Scout class can call UAV drones [16]

• Destruction 2.0:
• Falling debris can injury/kill soldiers [27]
• Currently does no damage to vehicles except for soldiers exposed to the elements [27]
• Levels of destruction (balancing) [27]
• Big scale in open exterior
• Less in closed interior

• Game modes restrictions:
• No jets in TDM or Rush mode, but jets will be in Conquest [25]
• Infantry Only mode [31]

• Player interaction:
• Drag fallen soldiers to safety (single-player only?) [6]
• Picking up kits button is different from arming objectives [28]
• So you don’t pick up a bunch of dead soldier kits next to an MCOM without ever arming it (BC2)

• Player movement:
• Knockback from explosions [6]
• Mantling over objects [6]
• Prone [6]
• Balance Check: A sniper’s scope will reflect sunlight giving away their position [21]
• Balance Check: Going prone (somewhat fast) and leaving prone (will take some time) [21]
• Sliding [6]

• Teamplay features:
• 4 man squad, including a Squad Leader [12] (Squad size could change)
• Squad Respawning details
• Displays countdown timer of how long until a squad member can respawn and on who [22]
• Squad leader can spawn on any squad member[30]
• Squad members can spawn only on squad leader and not other squad members [28] [29]

• Hud/UI changes:
• 3D Spotting (new form, TBA)
• Compass [23]
• Death screen stats [22]
• How many you killed? How many times you’ve killed them and they killed you?
• When you die you can see how much health your killer has left
• Health represented as a percentage for both solider and vehicle [23]
• Kill Cam (new form, TBA)

• Vehicles:
• Immobilizing vehicles [10]
• Vehicles will become immobilized prior to explosion to allow crew members to escape or an engineer to repair [15]
• Speed boost for tanks and perhaps other vehicles too [29] (multiplayer use is unknown)
• Thermal imaging [29] (multiplayer use is unknown)
• Regenerative health [29] (still need an engineer to repair to full)
• Vehicle orientation icon now shows where the machine gunner is aiming and turret is aiming [23]

• Weapon interaction:
• Equip-able knife and quick-knifing
• More dramatic animation [12]
• 2 knife swipes to kill from the front (think Counter Stirke’s right mouse click) [28]
• Firing modes: Single, Burst (if weapon supports it), and Auto [6]
• Hold down left mouse button to revive players
• Can opt out of being revived [15]
• After a medic uses defibrillators on a dead solider they then get the option to revive or die and respawn (Think Brink’s revive syringe) [28]
• Hold breath while in sniper scope [16]
• Mega swaying after you let go of hold breath key [28]
• More sway in general use [28]
• Mounting weapons to any surface [26] (possibly only for bipod equipped weapons)
• Shooting out light sources to darken environment [15]
• Steal enemy dog tags via stealth knife kills [15]
• Dog tag customization [16]
• Suppression [6]
• Blurs screen and other effects to discourage enemies from firing back
• Weapon attachments
• Bipods [6]
• Just zoom in next to a mountable environment and bipod automatically deploys [27]
• Reduced aiming angles, but more accuracy [27]
• Disorientate enemies with attached flashlights [14]