When Battlefield 3 was first announced back in February developer Digital Illusions and publisher Electronic Arts announced that anyone who pre-ordered the upcoming modern military shooter would get a free expansion pack, Back to Karland,. The expansion will have new versions of four classic maps from previous Battlefield games. Today the official Battlefield blog site has more info on the Back to Karland expansion pack.
As revealed on the blog site, the four maps will be Strike at Karkand, Wake Island, Gulf of Oman, and Sharqi Peninsula, all from the previous game in the series Battlefield 2. In fact Wake Island has also appeared in different forms in other games in the Battlefield series, including the original Battlefield 1942, Battlefield Vietnam, Battlefield 2142, and the downloadable console game Battlefield 1943). The four maps will also have vehicles and other items from their Battlefield 2 versions.
Today"s blog entry concentrates on the remake of the Strike at Karland map including a concept art piece (shown above). The blog, which has an interview with the expansion"s lead designer Niklas Fegraeu states that the Frostbite 2 engine will allow the map to have some new elements compared to the original. Fegraeu says. "I remember this particular building by the square in the original where players could defend very effectively. Now, with the destructive power of Frostbite 2, someone can just RPG that building and expose the defenders within. At the same time, we need to be careful not to add destruction that breaks the tried and tested game flow of the map."
Battlefield 3, due out this fall, will likely be going up directly against the next game in Activision"s Call of Duty series which the publisher is still keeping a secret for now.