New Battlefield 3 Info Surfaces

We’ve known for quite a while that Battlefield 3 was going to be featured in the newest issue of Game Informer, and today the information has hit the web and we finally have some of the details that so many of you have been waiting to hear. So what exactly is going down in Battlefield 3?

For starters, we have confirmation that there will be a full blown single player campaign to go along with the main course that is multiplayer, but DICE made a point to say that they’re not taking manpower away from the multiplayer portion of the game. The team working on Battlefield 3 is huge and it sounds like the majority of the team is still focusing their attention towards online play. There will be co-op out of the box but we’re not yet sure how many players it will support or if it’s online enabled.

Speaking of online play, that’s what the majority of the new information reveals. PC gamers will get to experience the full 64 player warfare from Battlefield 2, while console gamers will be playing with a more modest field of 24 players. DICE says that they are putting a lot of work in to making sure the multiplayer remains balanced. They’re bringing back the option of going prone but they say they’re also making sure that there are new ways to identify those pesky enemies lying in the grass. Another thing we know is that the controversial kill cam will be making a return, but players will have the ability to turn it off.

They said that there will be 4 classes, just like in Bad Company 2, and that Battlefield 3 will feature a lot more unlocks this time around. They also made mention that the progression system would be getting an overhaul.  They also said that the squads from BC2 are making a comeback but they’re going to be handled differently – hopefully with the ability to have more than four players in one squad. Jets are making a comeback as well (from Battlefield 2) but DICE talked about making sure their implementation makes sense for the maps included in the game.

One of my biggest complaints about BC2 was the lack of real post-launch content. Sure we had the VIP map packs but most of those maps were just rehashes of boards already in the game, reconfigured for different game modes. DICE said that they underestimated how popular BC2 was going to be, as well as how high the demand would be for DLC – a mistake they say they won’t be making this time around.

Putting the actual modes of the game aside, there’s a lot of other work going in to Battlefield 3 that will benefit the game as a whole. Like a new animation system that’s being fine tuned for each portion of the game to look more realistic than ever. For instance, when a character turns in Battlefield, you may actually notice his head and gun turning before the rest of his body. The game’s audio is also being meticulously perfected. They even mentioned recording audio cues at different distances so you’ll be able to hear how close an enemy is in real time without having to take your focus off whatever it is you’re looking at.

Last, as most of you know, Battlefield 3 is running on the Frostbite 2 engine, which is supposedly going to be the mother of all game engines. The level of lighting is going to be taken to a whole new realm, and destructibility looks to be better than ever. DICE made mention that this engine allows them to fully realise what it is they want to create without having to include the ‘can we handle it’ questions.

Granted, none of us here at TSA have actually seen this game running but it certainly seems like DICE is putting everything they have in to this. Pair the details we have now with the DICE’s track record and you have just about every reason to be excited. Battlefield 3 is set to launch in Q4 of this calender year, but not before they give us the already announced multiplayer beta that has yet to receive a go-live date.

If you want to get the complete low-down, you can always check out the latest issue of Game Informer, but seeing as how it’s unavailable for most of you chaps in Europe, you may have to continue to rely on us for news. Don’t worry, we won’t let you down.