First Details of Battlefield 3: Back to Karkand Expansion

Battlefield 3 developer DICE has released the first details of their free expansion pack for Battlefield 3, called Back to Karkand.

Players who pre-order the game will receive the expansion pack, which contains four classic Battlefield 2 maps: Strike at Karkand, Wake Island, Gulf of Oman, and Sharqi Peninsula. Each of the four maps will be remade in Battlefield 3's Frostbyte 2 engine.

Players with access to the expansion will also get unique rewards, achievements and classic BF2 weapons.

"There are evidently some of the very best maps we have ever built. We have unquestionable data and feedback from the community saying so," said lead designer Niklas Fegraeus on the official Battlefield blog.

Fegraeus also spoke in-depth about how the new maps will play in the new engine.

"From a gameplay perspective, destruction is the biggest addition compared to the original Battlefield 2 back in 2005," he said. "I remember this particular building by the square in the original where players could defend very effectively. Now, with the destructive power of Frostbyte 2, someone can just RPG that building and expose the defenders within."

"At the same time, we need to be careful not to add extraction that breaks the tried and tested game flow of the map."