The Battlefield 3 Beta is over after a mixed reception, and now we have just under two weeks until we see if DICE has managed to make good use of that feedback.
In the meantime, DICE is keeping the hype machine purring, releasing information over on their official blog.
A couple of days ago we reported their map descriptions from the game’s level designer himself, Niklas Astrand. They’ve now followed this up with details of five more maps. Check it out:
Grand Bazaar
Backstory: “The battle for central Tehran has reached its second week, and what was expected to be over within days now continues as Russian and US forces clash for control over this ancient city.”
Designer Niklas Astrand’s thoughts: We knew we wanted to do something very urban in the city center of Tehran. The fiction has you coming in two weeks after fighting started, so the tight and narrowly built city has a great deal of destruction already when you spawn into the game. Grand Bazaar is a classically mirrored map where both sides have very similar pathways, sideways, and possibilities to traverse heights to get a better view of the action. It’s a very short range close quarter combat map where shotguns tend to be favored.
Caspian Border
Backstory: A recon Russian force has set up camp on the Turkmenistan side of Iranian border and proceeded to take over the heavily built up border checkpoint.
Designer Niklas Astrand’s thoughts: Caspian Border was meant to encapsulate the classic Battlefield all-out vehicle warfare gameplay, and also to be a lush and green contrast to the more urban and desert maps in Battlefield 3. The border control splitting the map in two was introduced to add an interesting break both visually and gameplay wise in the otherwise beautiful and open landscape. Caspian Border is one of the obvious map choices if you are after the full vehicle experience, as base distances are generally too long to cover by foot. Pretty much every type of vehicle is available in this map.
Seine Crossing
Backstory: The American invasion of Russian occupied Paris is in full motion. The upscale area in the 7th district of Paris serves as the battleground.
Designer Niklas Astrand’s thoughts: Seine Crossing has two sections of Paris split in the middle by the river Seine. Seine Crossing has a number of larger roads for vehicles to patrol, while infantry can sneak through tight alleyways and climb staircases to reach second or third levels inside buildings to reach a better tactical position – unless the enemy takes down the building facades. The final M-COM stations in Rush are placed inside a bank building, which is the largest indoor environments of this map and forces the attackers to slightly change tactics.
Noshahr Canals
Backstory: U.S. Marines launch a strike on a major harbor by the Noshahr canals on the Iranian coast. The strategically important port allows for deep water vessels to offload essential materials.
Designer Niklas Astrand’s thoughts: When we set out to do Noshahr Canals, we wanted to contrast the urban and rural with something more industrial. So we set Noshahr Canals up as an industrial harbor, featuring a mix of infantry, land vehicle, and boat gameplay. The attackers in Rush start out on an carrier ship and can reach the beachhead by amphibious vehicles, boats, and helicopters. All of the bases on the map have an industrial theme but still have different styles, like a train yard, dry dock, or airfield. Compared with the larger vehicle maps in the game, this allows for tighter infantry combat.
Kharg Island
Backstory: Kharg Island is Iran’s biggest oil export terminal. If the U.S. can stake control over this island, it will deny the Russians critical access to Iranian oil reserves.
Designer Niklas Astrand’s thoughts: Kharg Island is our second map with boat gameplay. Thematically it’s representing an assault against Kharg island in the Persian sea, an industrialized island not far from the Iranian coast. The map is slightly more focused on vehicles with longer distance between flags than for example Noshahar Canals. In the Rush game mode, the beach assault begins on the coastline with a well-defended beach you need to break through to create a beachhead for further attacks on the island, before it opens up wider in the later part of the map.
DICE also leaves us with a final teaser:
Oh, and did you know there’s a sand castle on one of our maps in Battlefield 3? This classic easter egg has been present in many Battlefield maps through the years. See if you can find it!
Complete Map List:
Caspian Border / Level Designer: Diego Jimenez
Damavand Peak / Level Designer: Niklas Åstrand
Grand Bazaar / Level Designer: Niklas Åstrand
Kharg Island / Level Designer: Inge Jøran Holberg
Noshahar Canals / Level Designer: Niklas Åstrand
Operation Firestorm / Level Designer: Inge Jøran Holberg
Operation Métro / Level Designer: Inge Jøran Holberg
Seine Crossing / Level Designer: Diego Jimenez
Tehran Highway / Level Designer: Niklas Åstrand
More Battlefield 3 Multiplayer map details revealed << Comments and views
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