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Battlefield 3 Back to Karkand Expansion Pack Preview

Posted on Wednesday, November 9 @ 08:00:01 Eastern by Kuulei_N

Just when you thought Battlefield 3 couldn’t get any bigger, an expansion pack called Back to Karkand is on its way to give players more of that Battlefield goodness.

You may be aware of the four new maps and also the new mode, Conquest Assault. That’s right, this downloadable content is called an expansion pack for a reason. If you’re familiar with Conquest already, then this is straightforward.

At the start of the round, all flag points are captured by the Attackers while the Defenders spawn at home base and are ordered to retake those flags. The Defenders win if they secure all flag points and wipe out any remaining enemy reinforcements. The Attackers can turn it around if they are able to recapture a flag; otherwise, it’s game over. Since all flag points are initially occupied by the Attackers, the Defenders have 50 more tickets, giving them to a chance to take those flags. It’s a whole lot of Conquest with a touch of Rush: Capture your points but be mindful of your depleting tickets.

One of the best features about the Battlefield franchise is its vehicles. The expansion pack introduces three new ones: DPV, BTR-90, and the F-35B STOVL jet fighter. Players will instantly be drawn to the buggy (DPV), as it’s simple to maneuver, easy to use when evading tank fire, and small enough to speed through the back streets. Not to mention, it comes in handy when playing on a couple of the new, yet classic, maps, such as Strike at Karkand and Gulf of Oman.

Both maps are medium to small in size and feature many buildings throughout. Tanks and buggies rule the road but are vulnerable to any demolition junkies hiding in tall buildings that, for instance, surround every capture point in Conquest Assault. Snipers occupy the rooftops or anywhere up high that they can climb to, such as a massive crane at the construction site in Gulf of Oman.

Strike at Karkand has more close-quarter combat situations, as many alleyways turn into chokepoints and, as mentioned before, buildings play a key role in defensive roles, harboring campers and being used as shortcuts to get to certain areas of the map. Gulf of Oman, which also includes many close-quarter shoot-outs, is fairly spread out. Highways and main roadways separate capture points in Conquest Assault, leaving players easily exposed if they dare to cross from one building to the next.

Both maps, however, influence players to move quickly. Once players get into the heat of things and find easy accessways to get from one area to the next, gameplay moves fast and the round is over before you realize you were just about to lose with only five tickets left.

Aside from bringing forth classic maps, new vehicles, and the new Conquest Assault mode, there are 10 new weapons, 5 new dog tags, 5 new achievements/trophies, and a handful of unlockable items and rewards to add toward the progression system. Free with your limited edition purchase of Battlefield 3, expect Back to Karkand in December.

Related Games: Battlefield 3

Tags: Battlefield, Electronic Arts, DICE

Comments

Delta47
Joined: Feb 2008

Posted: Nov 9th, 2011 at 1:51 pm
in the title you put Karland not Karkand...

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Josh_Laddin
Joined: Nov 2009

Posted: Nov 9th, 2011 at 2:18 pm
Fix'd. Thanks for the heads up.

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Fezza
Joined: Nov 2011

Posted: Nov 13th, 2011 at 11:16 pm
I just don't get it. Why do people keep saying things like "Just when you thought Battlefield 3 couldn’t get any bigger, an expansion pack...". This is not free content. BF3 shipped with less maps, less factions, less vehicles, less classes, less features, less aircraft, no VOIP, no battlecorder, and smaller maps with less control points than any other game in the series.

Why is there never any perspective? This is a sequel in a groundbreaking series and it has virtually nothing new. Maybe reviewers think they've got to say what their readers want to hear? If you look at the Battlelog forums you'll see there is massive dissent regarding the issues I mentioned, and that's without even touching on the bugs with the game. Just guessing it looks to me as if there is a 50/50 split between those who appear to be happy with the game, and those rating it as a "massive disappointment", it seems to be one or the other. And that in my view is certainly noteworthy.

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