As fans continue to devour the first Expansion Pack, Battlefield 3: Back to Karkand, DICE announces three new packs that expand the smash hit with new modes, maps and weapons.

The Battlefield™ army is over 12 Million strong and growing every day as Battlefield 3™ and its first expansion, Battlefield 3: Back to Karkand continues to recruit gamers around the world with its dynamic sandbox gameplay and state-of-the-art technology.

DICE demonstrates its ongoing commitment to fans by unveiling three new themed digital expansion packs* that will enhance the superior Battlefield experience with fresh and innovative gameplay, new modes, unique environments and more ways to wage all-out-war on the battlefield. Powered by the Frostbite™ 2 engine, the next expansion packs are: Battlefield 3: Close Quarters in June, Battlefield 3: Armored Kill in the fall, and Battlefield 3: End Game in the winter.

Battlefield 3: Close Quarters

In Battlefield 3: Close Quarters, players are dropped into a frantic, infantry-only theatre of war. Frostbite 2 high definition destruction makes the environment come alive as everything from furniture to plaster gets shot to pieces. Players will feel the intensity of the world exploding around them as rubble and broken pieces pile up on the floor, while tight level design and vertical gameplay create a highly competitive environment.

Battlefield 3: Close Quarters also introduces new weapons, assignments and unique dog tags to bring back to the base game.

Battlefield 3: Armored Kill

Following the tight infantry gameplay of Battlefield 3: Close Quarters, DICE will release Battlefield 3: Armored Kill that ups the ante for vehicular mayhem as only Battlefield can do.

Featuring new drivable tanks, ATVs, mobile artillery and more, Battlefield 3: Armored Kill also delivers huge battlefields for an all-out vehicle assault, including the biggest map in Battlefield history.

Battlefield 3: End Game

The fourth expansion pack will ship in the winter but details remain tightly guarded.

Battlefield 3: Back to Karkand

Battlefield 3: Back to Karkand is available now for download for £11.99 or 1200 Microsoft points and features four of the most beloved Battlefield 2™ maps (Strike at Karkand, Gulf of Oman, Wake Island and Sharqi Peninsula), all fully re-imagined utilizing the power of the Frostbite 2 engine.

Patrick Bach, Executive Producer, Battlefield 3 said, “Instead of delivering piecemeal map packs, we’re giving players a completely new experience with every themed expansion pack to keep the action fresh. Our expansions are designed to excite our large and active fan base while attracting new recruits with gameplay that is dynamic and unpredictable every time.”

Battlefield 3 is supported by a robust, and completely free social platform called Battlelog that invites players to compete, communicate and play with friends. Gamers track personal stats, compare against other players and join a platoon in an effort to dominate the battlefield. To add to the competitive fervor, a fully integrated rent-a-server program for console players will be available for gamers to play online with friends the way they want to play in either private, public, ranked or unranked matches. For more information about these enhancements and future plans for Battlelog, please visit www.battlefield.com.

Since its launch on Oct. 25, Battlefield 3 has quickly become the fastest selling title in EA’s 20+ year history selling more than 12 Million units since release. Lauded by game critics worldwide for its compelling single player campaign, intense co-op missions and its addictive and world class multiplayer, Battlefield 3 has won more than 120 awards including IGN.com’s “Best Multiplayer Game of 2011.”

Courtesy of EA.com

Battlefield 3’s first DLC, Battlefield 3: Back To Karkand, will be included free of charge for those who pre-order Battlefield 3. The Back To Karkand DLC includes maps, vehicles and weapons from Battlefield 2, remade for Battlefield 3. For those who do not pre-order Battlefield 3, the Back To Karkand DLC will be available for purchase at $15. Here’s a run down of all the exclusive items included in Back to Karkand:

Weapons

• MP5
• PP-19
• L85A2
• FAMAS
• Type 88
• L96A1
• Jackhammer
• MG36
• Type 95
• Type 97

Maps

• Strike At Karkand
• Wake Island
• Gulf of Oman
• Sharqi Peninsula

Vehicles

• F35B fighter jet
• BTR-90 infantry fighting vehicle
• DPV fast transport vehicle

Game modes

• Conquest Assault

Features

• Assignments

Back to Karkand gameplay trailer

Battlefield 3 Back to Karkand

Prepare for full-scale war with Battlefield 3, the third major evolution of the long-running online battle franchise. Using the power of Frostbite 2 game engine technology, Battlefield 3 delivers superior visual quality, a grand sense of scale, massive destruction, dynamic audio and incredibly lifelike character animations. As bullets whiz by, walls crumble, and explosions throw you to the ground, the battlefield feels more alive and interactive than ever before.

In Battlefield 3, players step into the role of the elite U.S. Marines where they will experience heart-pounding single player missions and competitive multiplayer actions ranging across diverse locations from around the globe including Europe, Middle-East and North America.

Battlefield: Bad Company 2 was an amazing first-person shooter. But with every Bad Company release and spin-off, I couldn’t help but wonder what DICE was doing with its main Battlefield franchise. As it turns out, it had something to do with earthquakes.

The core games, including Battlefield 1942 and Battlefield 2, helped define what’s possible in multiplayer first-person shooters. It’s been more than five years since Battlefield 2 on PC, and now DICE is finally getting ready to deliver the next numbered entry. Battlefield 3 has a release date for this fall on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC, and from what’s been shown off, it looks incredible.

That’s because Battlefield 3 is being built using all-new technology developed in-house at DICE. It’s the next version of the Frostbite engine used in the Bad Company games, appropriately called Frostbite 2. It allows for a range of advanced graphical effects and destructible terrain. “We actually started with the engine three years ago,” said executive producer Patrick Bach. “When we finished Battlefield 2 and 2142 we talked about what’s the next big step that changes gaming. We’re good at technology and we wanted to create something that scaled better than Frostbite 1 did. The PCs were already — three years ago — starting to get ahead of the consoles. How could we make good use of that?”

Information Source: IGN.com