Battlefield 3 Game Guide

The second segment was a trailer for the new Frostbite 2.0 game engine that powers Battlefield 3. The presentation concluded with a lengthy live demo of a tank battle against the enemy forces of the PLR that took place in "the Teheran desert" (unclear if he meant a fictional desert or one in the vicinity of Tehran, Iran). The wind blew dust clouds, and the sun glinted off of specks in the players vision, creating a solid sense of atmosphere.

As the convoy approached a smoking settlement on the horizon, the player climbed down into the tank and took up control of the main gun. Fortunately, the radio chatter told the player when he had scored a hit, and the dust eventually cleared to show the flaming husks of enemy tanks. Tanks destroyed, the convoy trucked on until it was brought up short by enemy rocket artillery. The player then switched monitors in the tank, peering into a camera attached to the airplane providing close air support for the assault. Enemy soldiers took aim at the tanks with rocket-propelled grenades, and with the closer combat and soft targets (read: human soldiers) came a more zoomed-in view and lower-caliber ammo. The player went into to full assault mode, switching between larger shells to destroy fortified positions and rapid-fire bullets to gun down fleeing enemies. Battlefield 3 launches for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC on October 25, 2011, though players will get a shot at it in September, during the multiplatform open beta.