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Battlefield 3: Back to Karkand incentive revealed

The pre-order incentive for EA & DICE's Battlefield 3 is a huge pack of hi-res, Frostbite 2-enhanced nostalgia.

Say one thing for EA - the company's doing good work trying to figure out how to make pre-orders and legitimate sales look attractive to consumers, rather than coding in aggressive DRM to combat priacy. And for the upcoming mega-game, Battlefield 3, EA's utilising the power of nostalgia to make gamers pony up some pre-order cash.

The pre-order incentive content is called Back to Karkand, and if you're anything like us you may have just gotten a chill down your spine. This map pack features four classic maps, all re-tuned and re-mastered into the impressive looking Frostbite 2 engine.

And yes, Strike at Karkand is one of them. Here's how sexy that classic map is going to look:

Gnuh. Wow, jaw-dropping.

The package will also include classic Battlefield 2 weapons and vehicles, new rewards and achievements, and even trophies. To get hold of Back to Karkand, you need to pre-order the Limited Edition of the game.

Might just have to do that ourselves...

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10 Comments

Metasynaptic May 11, 2011 11:22 AM	Yeah ok, I'll preorder on the back of that. I am wondering if there's a collectors edition or something though.
RandomWally May 11, 2011 12:07 PM	Is that a hand painted picture or a screenshot run through a computer 'painting' filter? It looks amazing but not really a true representation of the actual map. Anyway, glad to see publishers actually adapting to the market and trying to add value for those who pony up the cash rather than punish them with draconic DRM software. Not so happy about the player base being fragmented from launch. Guess it means there'll be special servers running the extra maps? Anyway, it's worked, I'll be preordering.
Devit May 11, 2011 12:08 PM	would be better if it was an actual in engine shot.... regardless ive got it on preorder anyway :P
Hawkeye May 11, 2011 12:15 PM	It's a concept shot, but I suspect it's going to look not too dissimilar.
philo-sofa May 11, 2011 12:51 PM	They had me at 'Karkand':D Now just make the game meet my expectations you utter bastards!
DishD May 11, 2011 3:07 PM	Very nice, had pre-ordered the LE as soon as i was able to, Still have flashbacks to some great BF2 battles on Karkand.. cant wait to see it with FB2.0 engine. Oh EA/DICE pls, pls don't turn this much awaited game into a "HomeFail"
GhostFaceKilla May 11, 2011 8:17 PM	I logged well over 1000 Hours in BF2 and at least 200 or so of them were on Karkand. Awesome map. So much tactical variety available. It was also a map where having a good commander on your side could win the round for you. True. TBH I kinda am not that interested in playing that same map again even if it is re done graphically. If it was a 'different' Karkand then maybe. My mind may change on this though. As some one else mentioned I would love to see some actual real in game MP footgae, as well as some details on gameplay. Jalalabad was a good map. Mashturr city was also cool, Sharqi, (I did prefer more infantry focused maps ) . . . ooo im getting all goose bumpy. Fuck i still remember the first time I ever played Karkand. I was on the US side. I spawned on the right hand side near the arty. The sounds of battle were not far away. Then the arty started firing. there was smoke everywhere. Then as I ran past the house and over the ridge I just stopped and went "whhhhhhooaaaaa". Laid before me was a a burning city, smoke everywhere, wrecked cars, people dieing, in the full throes of a massive violent battle. My headphones were full of people screaming for ammo, for medics, for their mothers. I looked left, looked right, took a deep breath and went in. this was serious. Im still waiting for more details on the Multi player. Im a bit annoyed that so little has come out about the Multi. I dont know if thats a good thing or bad thing. My fingers are crossed.
alexdtree May 12, 2011 2:54 PM	i really hope they bring the map Gulf of oman back too that my favourite, just chilling on the carrier till a plane came and if your teammate took it just C4ing there arse... Winning!
boltronics May 12, 2011 8:31 PM	Didn't you guys learn anything yet from Brink? Wait and see. I'm not interesting in pre-ordering a sight-unseen game at probably $20 more than it'll be a month down the track with patches and reliable reviews out.
V1RUS May 13, 2011 12:25 PM	IF i remember correctly this does not come out until november so 6 months to pre order the limited addition to get Back to karkand, wake island golf of oman and sharqi peninsual seems fair to me no excuses if you don't pre order it 6 months is a long time. @GhostFaceKilla I too have logged many many hours on Bf2 and karkand i see your point the exact same map but revamped isnt what i had in mind but they havnt shown us jack in the mp side which i belive is a good thing look what homfront did they praised there sp and mp and everyone got really hyped and it sucked as said in full metal jacket "i bet it could suck a golf ball trough a garden hose"

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Issue: 137 | June, 2012

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