[HTML1]

Back to Karkand brought Battlefield 3 players a blast from the past by remaking some of the series' most popular maps; Close Quarters introduced an infantry-only set of complexes; Armored Kill offered fans the biggest map in Battlefield history. Now it's time to explore (and destroy) the remnants of post-earthquake Iran with Battlefield 3: Aftermath.

Aftermath, the fourth DLC content pack for Battlefield 3, releases today for PS3 premium players, and over the next three weeks for everyone else. One of the four new maps (Talah Market) included in Aftermath is explored in the latest video from EA Vision.

In the theme of natural destruction, the result of an 8.1 magnitude earthquake occurring outside of Tehran, Aftermath offers an altered aesthetic to nearly every aspect of visual design. From redesigned outfits, to a versatile crossbow weapon and scavenger-style augmented vehicles, Aftermath does more than put soldiers into ruined landscapes.

In Battlefield 3: Aftermath players can weave through the shattered districts, streets and cities in three new vehicles including heavily modified troop transports and a civilian vehicle adapted to deliver deadly force to the enemy. Battlefield 3: Aftermath also sees the debut of Scavenger mode — an objective based conquest where players must brave the environment armed with only one sidearm, as they try to find more powerful weapons in an attempt to survive with their squad. In addition to this, Battlefield 3: Aftermath delivers a new deadly and versatile crossbow for more silent kills, ten new assignments, dog tags, trophies, achievements and more.

Like all of the DLC packs to date, Battlefield 3: Aftermath adds four new maps: Epicenter, Markaz Monolith, Azadi Palace, and Talah Market. The last of which is detailed in the video up top and promises embrace "old school shooter tradition."

As the narrator describes, Talah Market - a beautifully designed and highly detailed environment - offers a symmetric map designed for balanced and focused competitive shooter play in the confined streets and ruins. Due to the spawning system, the maps is designed almost modular in that each section can essentially serve as a separate combat zone, allowing for interesting shootouts in any area of the map, depending on where players travel, attack or defend.

The map is designed to cater to all styles of play, from ranged sniping to mid-range assault play, and close-range encounters, and according to EA, may be the map that best showcases individual and team-based skills. That's the media description for most maps so we'll wait and see how it plays in practice and how the addition of more maps further segments on the online player base.

For the last expansion, Armored Kill, the hype served as a partial let down and the four outdoors-focused maps didn't work well for console players on their limited player caps. For PC players who can play with up to 64 players on the maps, the maps still served to showcase that with massive maps, there needs to be massive player counts as combat encounters - and in some cases, the number of vehicles - were too few and far between.

We're excited at the idea of new urban-focused maps that deliver infantry combat scenarios, but don't drop the vehicle aspect like Close Quarters did. Check out the previous Battlefield 3: Aftermath trailer for more!

Battlefield 3: Aftermath is included as part of Battlefield 3 Premium. It can be purchased separately as well. Here's the ridiculous release schedule which literally includes four release dates for one DLC pack:

  • PlayStation 3 (Battlefield 3 Premium members): November 27
  • Xbox 360 and PC (Battlefield 3 Premium members): December 4
  • PlayStation 3: December 11
  • Xbox 360 and PC: December 18

-

Follow Rob on Twitter @rob_keyes.