It’s no secret that I have a massive man-nerd crush on the Battlefield series – I’ve been playing it ever since the first one had me kicking Nazi ass in Battlefield 1942, so it delighted me to no end to find out that Battlefield 3 now has a firm release date: October 25, 2011. There’s also a few details now released, including multiple gameplay videos (both singleplayer and multiplayer which we’ve linked below) and the classes available.
Classes:
Classes are what sets the Battlefield series apart from other FPS games. While other games regard teamwork as optional in Battlefield it’s an absolute requirement. Battlefield 3 has different classes available that have distinct roles on the battlefield, aside from the obvious duties of putting rounds on the back of the other team’s skull. Here’s the revealed classes so far:
- The Assault Class will be carrying a medic kit and will also be able to revive fallen teammates on the Battlefield with a defib kit.
- The Support class can throw out ammunition as well as using an LMG to fight his way through hordes of enemies. The LMG is equipped with a bi-pod that you can fold out when you prone to give you that extra accuracy. Also, if you lay down some of that heavy suppressive fire on an enemy, you could also score some extra points as you’ll blur the enemies vision.
- The engineer class is equipped with a submachine-gun with a flashlight that can actually be used to blind people thanks to the great tech provided by the Frostbite 2 engine. This is especially useful in the Operation Metro map due to the narrow spaces and darker areas of the map. The class also comes with a welding tool to repair friendly vehicles as well as an RPG to destroy enemy vehicles.
- The Recon class has a semi-automatic sniper rifle and is also equipped with some powerful C4. Those C4 explosions can cause destruction – a Battlefield favorite – anytime, anywhere.
Player count:
Player count has always been a big part of the Battlefield experience, at least for the PC. While console players will get a maximum of 24 people playing at any one time, PC players can expect a chaotic 64 players present in one server at any given time. If the hectic 32 player slugfests in Battlefield Bad Company 2 is any indication, PC players are in for a wild time come Oct. 25.
Other tidbits:
Knives now take a bit more skill to use, and judging from the multiplayer video, players are rewarded with a nice kill animation for doing knife kills. There’s now prone (yay!), perfect for those campers who like putting up tents. There’s also some talk of vehicles having location specific damage, meaning that an RPG shot up the ass of a Bradley or a BMD kills the passengers in the back and immobilizes the vehicle but the gunner can still work the main gun. A new community feature, Battlelog, helps players build their platoon, communicate with other gamers, and compare their multiplayer prowess with friends and foes alike. Battlelog is free on all platforms. We’ll add more as soon as soon as we get access to the beta.
Source: Battlefield Blog