A few days ago we gave you a quick glimpse of what you can expect in the Back to Karkand expansion that’s about to launch for Battlefield 3, but at the time we were still unaware of the exact release date. That changed today, as EA have now announced when we can expect to see the new maps, vehicles, and weapons that are all included in this add-on, and we won’t be waiting long.
December 6th is the date they gave us for both the Americas and Europe, although since the PlayStation Store updates a day later in Europe, it may actually be the 7th before it shows up in your region.
Speaking of the PlayStation Store, that’s the only place you’ll be able to find it for the first week of release, per the previously announced agreement EA made with Sony to release all add-ons on the PS3 first. You can expect the Xbox 360 and PC versions to launch the following week on the 13th. Regardless of platform, the expansion will be free if you purchased the Limited Edition of the Battlefield 3.
Has anyone had a chance to play the PC or PS3 versions of the game since the patch went live on those platforms?
Source: US PS Blog
bacon_nuts
Really looking forward to playing this, getting it free, so that’s a massive bonus too, especially since they renounced the 1943 game too.
TROPtastic
actually there’s a way to redeem 1943 after EA put back the option. Just follow the steps on this website: http://www.ps3blog.net/2011/11/24/how-to-redeem-your-free-copy-of-battlefield-1943/
seedaripper1973
Many Thanks TROPtastic, i didn’t know about this (now all i have to do is faff around with EA’s bloody convaluted sodding online system in order to ge it to bloody work!) Ta mucker!!
Forrest_01
It’s actually pretty easy, you just pop in your origin details (or old EA account sign in details) & it gives you your download code. Worked a treat for me.
bacon_nuts
See, the funny thing here is that i didn’t mean to type renounced. I meant re-announced… I know you can get it now, but thanks anyway! :P
Forrest_01
Isn’t it amazing how a couple of letters can completely change the meaning of a sentence?
Served a purpose though – At least seedaripper now knows about it! :)
bacon_nuts
Yeah, I suppose that makes it worthwhile… Hilarious – ish.
carson321
Won’t be able to enjoy this till January, I’m getting married tomorrow then off on a 4 week honeymoon!!
jediryan123
congrats mate
StevenHibs
Sucks to be you dude!
Matt W
4 week honeymoon??? Wow! Congrats!
MICKY17
Congratulations :)
minerwilly
Good luck for tomorrow Carson .
bacon_nuts
Mate! You’re missing Christmas for THAT!? :P
Seriously though, good luck and best wishes.
Winkle
On the ps3 the patch has broken more than it fixed. :(
Matt W
Really? I played last night and everything was very smooth for me.
yogh_wayne
What problems do you have? I just played a few rounds and it works really fine. Also some good tweaks, like being able to spot enemy mines and claymores. Oh, and if you want to look at your stats, they now show up directly instead of first giving you some error message each time.
Forrest_01
He’s probably whining about the IRNV nerf – People on battlelog are going mental about it for no real reason.
Personally, i only found it useful on the darker maps anyway, so its no particular hassle for me.
cnutard
@Forrest_01 before the patch IRNV was way over powered, it was so easy to use. I dunno why people are complaining though, it’s still over powered, it just doesn’t work that well indoors any more. I use it, and still do.
david24
other then nerfing the IRNV scope and very slightly increasing or decreasing the maximum range of some guns everything in the patch has made the game better (i also thing the balance changes are for the better but obviously some don’t)
the IRNV scope was way overpowered before the patch, all they’ve change to it is a slightly grainy filter over the top and takes a few seconds to get clearer as well as greatly reducing the range of it so its more similer to the scope in the beta that wasn’t as powerful. i think its a big improvement and would say thats its neither over nor underpowered now.
monty2k
Game plays really well for me. I love that they reduced the xp needed for the co-op weapons! No more grinding!
iAvernus
Fixed minor issues. Nerfed the IRNV and made it almost useless on dark maps.
No word from DICE about the VOIP issues and the input lag on the PS3, but hey, now we can hear ourselves climbing a ladder -___-
Forrest_01
What? How is it useless on dark maps?? maps with a lot of light on i can see it not working as well (which it shouldn’t), but it should be fine on darker maps.
Oh & i have never had any input lag either – It’s always been pretty smooth for me. I agree that the VOIP needs lookig at though.
DR-DAVROS
VOIP has never worked properly with battlefied games – 1943, BC, BC2 and now BF3. You would think that they could get it to work by now. I resorted to skype \ oovoo for in game chat now and have never looked back. I don’t want to be speaking to someone I don’t know. Anyone great game a looking forward to Karkland expansion next week.
Forrest_01
Can’t comment on 1943 as i have only just got it & never played BC, but i found that BC2 was actually pretty good for VOIP – Apart from the off hiccup from tiome to time, it was pretty faultless for me.
iAvernus
On maps like Demevand Peak, the dust in the atmosphere and fires make the scope useless. Also on Op Metro. Now you can’t see people that’s 10ft in front of you. You can’t see people’s heads either. So if their on the escalator and only showing their head, you won’t see them.
Forrest_01
With Metro, are you talking about in the dark tunnels, or in the lighter areas at the top of the escalators/outside etc? As it should really only be any good/effective in really dark scenarios.
It should also be good on Damavand, but it’s obviously been made extra sensitive to the extremes of the light produced by the fire against the darkness of the tunnels. The dust i can’t explain though as i can’t say i have noticed an abundance of dust before.
I’ll reserve judgement until i play this evening though – I don’t use the IRNV as a rule as i don’t find it particularly useful compared to the holo or similar (& i am talking pre-patch), but i may take a look to see what the difference is now.
DJ Judas
Can’t wait, 6 year old maps over new ones anyday, honestly no sarcasm!
My current pet -hate is timed dlc though, what’s the point in a week?
TROPtastic
Honestly I don’t see any point in it either, and this coming from a PS3 user. Atleast though, its not a month like for COD.
Moakesice
Played last night on PS3 after downloading the massive patch, seemed ok mine end, actually managed to get quick match to work, yay! looking forward to this expansion pack, especially because its free!
Burgess_101
seems fine on my PC apart from the fact it seems to take me a hell of a lot longer to get into a game now which can be quite annoying if i dont have much time
razz1909
I have found the tactical light stll seems to burn holes in my retina’s when its clearly broad daylight! ;-(
Forrest_01
That’s supposed to be getting a nerf in a later patch – Which makes sense as if it is outside & sunny, the tactical light is hardly going to be as effective as it would be in the tunnels of metro (for example)!
No idea when this is supposed to be happening, but they have stated that they will address the issue.
david24
here’s some before after after shots of the nerfed tactical light
http://bf3blog.com/2011/11/battlefield-3-flashlights-toned-down-in-new-update/
Bilbo_bobbins
Personally I think they have actually broken the game balance with this patch. THere are so many problems with the game now its not even funny. For me loving the beta and enjoying the game till I got bored a week ago, I tried the patch and gave up.
I’ll wait till b2k comes, and hope the old maps can bring the real battlefield to us.
monty2k
What problems are you encountering?
I’ve actually had less issues (crashes, disconnections, etc) since the patch came out.
Kreisash
PS3 patch seemed fine for me yesterday – also saw new weapons and maps already in, just no servers with them on (but you can filter for them already).