Review: Battlefield 3 “Back to Karkand” DLC

With a happy heart, I queued up “99 Problems” by Jay-Z and went back into the Battlefield with the recently released “Back to Karkand” DLC pack for Battlefield 3.

Well, actually – I thought I was going to hit the Battlefield after downloading the pack itself, and then I realised I had to wait until a 2GB Battlefield update also found its way from the internet to my Xbox 360. But I digress.

Download gripes aside, “Back to Karkand” is an excellent freebie for those who’ve purchased the Limited Edition of Battlefield 3. For those who didn’t, you’re looking at dropping $23.95 on Origin or the PlayStation Network and 1200 Microsoft Points on Xbox Live. Is the steep price tag worth it?

In short, yes. The pack’s pricey, but there’s a lot included for your hard-earned dollar.

Included in the DLC are four re-imagined maps from previous Battlefields – “Strike at Karkand,” “Gulf of Oman,” “Wake Island” and “Sharqi Peninsula” – ten new weapons, three new vehicles, new assignments to complete during multiplayer gameplay and a returning game mode titled “Conquest Assault.”

If you’re a Battlefield veteran, the maps will delight you with a sense of nostalgia mixed with a touch of the unknown. “Wake Island” and its sunny exterior has been replaced with the backdrop of flaming battleship wreckage off in the distance. The maps are as you remember – more or less – and subtle changes ensure that the wreckage generated by the Frostbite 2.0 engine will provide new nooks and crannies to explore and reign supreme over.

Before we leave the subject of maps, it’s been speculated that an eagle-eyed gamer has spotted an Easter Egg on the “Wake Island” map. It’s a subtle reference to “2143” – perhaps signalling we should be expecting a sequel to the PC-only Battlefield 2142? It’s history repeating itself if so; Battlefield 2142 was hinted at in Battlefield 2.

You’re not going to be unlocking any of the ten new weapons by levelling up, oh no! Instead, you’ll have to meet the objectives of the new assignments introduced in Battlefield 3. On the whole, they’re very fun to achieve, and for some, they’ll mean you’ll have to break from your normal class; if you want to unlock the FAMAS assult rifle, for instance, you’ll need to heal and revive ten players.

As far as the vehicles go, they’re fun to use, and as always, difficult to learn to drive. If you have a favourite returning from Battlefield 2, go jump on it. Otherwise, try to take a spin in the F35B jump jet, a cross between a helicopter and a jet, really. It controls like a psychotic helicopter, but to me, so do all Battlefield vehicles.

The (old) new mode, “Conquest Assault,” is great fun as well, and really rewards cooperative gameplay. It’s like “Conquest” mode itself; one team spawns without a central rally point, but with all of the checkpoints in their control, and the other team, with a home base, needs to reclaim each control point. It’s a fast-paced and ever-changing game mode which proved to be very enjoyable.

Overall, it’s more Battlefield, and that’s never a bad thing. Considering the amount of titles we’ve been swamped with over this holiday season, the DLC provides a great excuse to get back into the game, and love it even more than when you left it.