Battlefield 3 is a 2011 first-person shooter video game developed by DICE and published by Electronic Arts for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.

It reintroduces several elements absent from the Bad Company games, including fighter jets, the prone position and 64-player battles on PC.

[9] Battlefield 3's new Battlelog social network, DICE noted, would be tied to all co-op matches, allowing players to try to beat friends' scores and to track their performance.

For most of the story, the player controls Sergeant Henry "Black" Blackburn (portrayed by Gideon Emery), a member of the U.S. Marine Corps 1st Recon Battalion and main protagonist.

[19] Non-player characters include: Misfit 1, Blackburn's squad (David Montes, Steve Campo, Christian Matkovic, Jack Chaffin, and Cpt.

Quinton Cole); Dima's GRU squadmates Vladimir and Kiril; and CIA Agents Gordon and Whistler, who interrogate Blackburn for much of the Campaign.

In the aftermath of the air strikes, Misfit 1 is sent into Tehran to perform battle damage assessment and apprehend the leader of the PLR, Faruk Al-Bashir.

[22] While investigating an underground bank vault in the target's suspected location, Blackburn and his team learn that the PLR has acquired Russian suitcase nukes, with two of the three devices missing.

Miller facilitates Misfit 1's helicopter extraction, but his Abrams tank is disabled and overrun while the crew awaits the arrival of the Quick Reaction Force.

Evading police, Blackburn manages to sneak into the hijacked Long Island Rail Road commuter train full of Solomon's men and explosive charges.

In the melee, Blackburn gains the upper hand by obtaining and activating the detonator to the charges, causing the train to crash.

Having obtained a vehicle, Montes picks up Blackburn and engages Solomon and the PLR in a brief vehicular chase, ending with both cars crashing in Times Square.

Still, Blackburn manages to kill Solomon by bludgeoning him to death with a brick in the ensuing brawl and prevents the nuclear bomb from detonating.

This updated Frostbite engine can realistically portray the destruction of buildings and scenery to a greater extent than previous versions.

[45] Battlefield 3 used a new type of character animation technology called ANT that has been used in EA Sports games such as FIFA, but for Battlefield 3 is adapted to create a more realistic soldier, with the ability to transition into cover and turn the head before the body, as well as "drag fallen comrades into safety and mount weapons on almost any part of the terrain".

[53] Patrick Liu, the executive producer of Battlefield 3, stated that DICE currently have no games in development for the Wii U and a port for the console "probably won't happen".

[60][61][62][63] Several dinosaur Easter eggs—such as a flying pterodactyl on the map "Nebandan Flats" and tyrannosaurus skulls or toy statues on various maps—have led others to believe a dinosaur-related game or DLC would be released in the future.

[64][65][66] The idea of a dinosaur-related minigame originated from fan feedback through social media outlets prior to Battlefield 3's release.

The coverage included information on building the game and interviews with the developer DICE, as well as three trailers: a teaser and the first two parts in a series of gameplay from the level "Fault Line".

[75] Anyone who had watched a trailer for the upcoming film Act of Valor through the official Battlefield 3 website could receive free downloadable dogtags for use with any version of the game.

[77] In January 2017, the game was made backwards compatible with the Xbox One (alongside Battlefield: Bad Company 2) and was subsequently added to the EA Access service.

[80] Pre-order at select retailers also provide the "SPECACT Kit Upgrade", the "Dog Tag Pack" and Battlefield 3 gear for the player's console avatar.

[56] Originally the "Physical Warfare Pack" was to be exclusive to pre-orders, but fan reaction to this was negative, causing EA to clarify that it would be made available to all players for free later in the year.

[87] The first DLC pack, "Back to Karkand", was announced before launch and was released on 13 December 2011 for PC and Xbox 360, while PlayStation 3 owners received it a week earlier.

Andy McNab penned a tie-in novel titled Battlefield 3: The Russian, which follows the story of GRU Spetsnaz commando Dmitri "Dima" Mayakovsky and his involvement against the PLR, as well as his connection to the antagonist, Solomon.

Complaints were also made of the multiplayer aspect, stating that destruction was less than expected: "It's not Bad Company 2, and levels won't start out intact and end looking like the surface of the moon the way they often did in that game."

[117] Electronic Arts stated that the title sold 5 million units within the first week of availability, easily becoming its fastest-selling game.

[119] Peter Moore, the high-profile COO of EA, insisted that Battlefield 3 successfully captured a slice of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3's market share.

[124] A scene in which the player is prompted to kill a rat that is attacking their character was criticized by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA).

In a press release issued by the organization's German office, it claimed that the game "treats animals in a sadistic manner".