To say that the Battlefield 3 multiplayer experience has gotten off to a rough start would be putting it lightly. Though plenty of gamers, at this very moment, are storming Damavand Peak from above or rushing through the subway of Operation Metro, there are still good portions of gamers who are stuck trudging the sub-par single player of Battlefield 3.

While there are a couple different reasons for gamers’ inability to log in to the servers there is one that is actually in direct connection with Electronic Arts' none-too-popular online pass. As it turns out, some Xbox 360 gamers are receiving online pass codes that, when entered, turn out to be invalid.

The kicker to all of this? Electronic Arts has issued a response, and that response is, “We are aware.”

Since, as EA states, this issue is only affecting certain Battlefield 3 retailers, they suggest those gamers simply return to their place of purchase and ask for a replacement code — insinuating that these aren’t isolated incidents and have issued these replacement codes to many retailers.

Unfortunately, this little snafu once again reveals how poorly implemented, and how extremely inconvenient the online pass is. There have been other, more drastic, circumstances that have revealed the inherent flaws in the online pass, like when the PSN went down, but this is still a pretty big deal.

If Electronic Arts can’t smoothly roll out an online pass during perhaps their biggest launch of 2011, it means a ton of gamer and non-gamer eyes are looking at them as the bad guys.

Don’t misunderstand, there’s still plenty to enjoy about both the single and multiplayer in Battlefield 3 (make sure to check out our console review), but that doesn’t hide the little hiccups that are occurring on the road to those experiences. For now, gamers should follow EA’s instructions and return to their retailer for a replacement code that “should” work.

Have you had any problems redeeming your online pass code for Battlefield 3? Are you experiencing any problems once up-and-rolling in the Battlefield 3 multiplayer?

Battlefield 3 is out now for the PC, PS3, and Xbox 360.

Source: Electronic Arts