Battlefield 3 (commonly abbreviated to BF3) is a first-person shooter action video game, being developed by EA Digital Illusions CE and to be published by Electronic Arts. The game is set to be released on October 25, 2011 on Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.[3] Despite its name, it is the eleventh installment in the Battlefield franchise, and the direct sequel to Battlefield 2, released in 2005.
Battlefield 3 will feature the maximalist combined arms battles that made the series popular across single-player, co-operative and multiplayer modes. It will reintroduce several elements absent from the Bad Company games, including fighter jets, the prone position and 64-player battles on PC.[4][5] To accommodate the lower player count on consoles, the ground area will be limited for Xbox 360 and PS3, though fly space will remain the same.[6]
During an interview with GameInformer Magazine, EA stated that Commander Mode is unlikely to be included,[7] which was met with some criticism on the EA forum.[8]
The game will feature maps set in Paris, Tehran, Sarajevo, Sulaymaniyah, New York, Wake Island and Oman. As a whole, combat will take place in urban streets, metropolitan downtown areas, and open landscapes suited to vehicle combat.[9]
Single-player
Players will be able to use vehicles during the campaign, but their use will be limited.[10]
Set in 2014[11], the player will take on the role of Staff Sergeant Henry 'Black' Blackburn, a member of the United States Marine Corps deployed along the Iran-Iraq border. [10] SSgt Blackburn leads a five-man squad on a mission to locate, find and safely return a US squad investigating a possible chemical weapons site, whose last known position was inside a meat market controlled by a hostile militia. After engaging in several gun battles with hostile forces, Blackburn and his squadmates are caught in a massive earthquake whose epicenter is in Iran. Brief shots from the campaign trailer depict an aerial view of a war-torn city, a column of M1 Abrams tanks being attacked by cluster munitions, and an aerial dogfight between US and Russian fighter aircraft.