Price, release date revealed for Battlefield 3 Aftermath DLC

By Earnest Cavalli October 18, 2012

Battlefield 3 Aftermath

The official Battlefield 3 blog was updated today to include a full rundown of the features found in the upcoming Aftermath downloadable content addition. Crucially it also includes pricing details and an official announcement of the DLC’s planned release date.

We’ll get to that in a moment, but for those of you who just walked in, the Aftermath DLC for Battlefield 3 is focused on long-range combat and vehicles. The maps in this DLC are larger than any of those so far seen in the game, and it also adds new weapons, new game modes and a wide range of vehicles.

Additionally, those who played through the singleplayer portion of Battlefield 3 will recall a scene in which the entire city is torn apart by a massive earthquake. Aftermath, in what might be the first display of continuity in the main Battlefield series since its debut, takes place after that earthquake, and all of its maps will feature rubble and other noticeable effects of the ‘quake. If nothing else this should set its map designs apart from those currently available for the game.

As for what it specifically adds to the game, there’s the new silent crossbow (pictured above), four new maps, and a new “Scavenger” game type in which players spawn with only a pistol and are forced to scavenge for better gear. As per usual, the DLC also brings with it new Achievements/Trophies and dog tags for dedicated fans to spend obscene amounts of time collecting.

Assuming all of this has your interest piqued, you’ll be glad to hear that Aftermath arrives on November 27. PlayStation 3 owners who have purchased the Battlefield 3 Premium service will be able to use the new content first, while Xbox 360 owners and PC gamers will have to wait until December 4. Assuming you have Premium, you’ll be able to download the DLC addition for free the moment it’s available, but those who choose to pick up this DLC by itself will be charged $15 and will be unable to play as early as November 27.

Unless Battlefield developer DICE has secret plans for future Battlefield 3 DLC, it’s also important to remember that after this Aftermath DLC arrives, the game will only receive one more downloadable addition. It’s appropriately dubbed “Endgame” and is expected to appear in March of 2013.

Editors' Recommendations

Earnest Cavalli

Former Digital Trends Contributor

Earnest Cavalli has been writing about games, tech and digital culture since 2005 for outlets including Wired, Joystiq…

Gaming

Bayonetta 3 completes the holiday game lineup with October release date

bayonetta 3 release date

Everyone's favorite Umbra witch is finally making her grand return. Bayonetta 3 will officially launch for Nintendo Switch on October 28. With the release being right before Halloween, it seems PlatinumGames wants to bring a new meaning to "Season of the Witch" after redefining Christmas with Bayonetta 2 back in 2014.

Bayonetta 3 – The witch returns this autumn! (Nintendo Switch)

Gaming

Xenoblade Chronicles 3: Release date, trailers, gameplay, and more

Xenoblade Chronicles 3's protagonist Noah wields a glowing sword.

While the Wii didn't have many JRPGs in its library, one that stood out for being one of the generation's best was the ambitious Xenoblade Chronicles. It took a long time for a sequel to eventually come to the Nintendo Switch, though the company made up for it by remastering the original game and offering it bundled with the sequel to get any fans who missed out on the original a chance to catch up on the world. Those plans now make more sense because they were building up to the next entry in the franchise.

Xenoblade Chronicles 3 was announced during the Nintendo Direct in February 2022, sending fans into a whirlwind of excitement. The announcement came out of nowhere, catching everyone off guard -- but in the best way possible. The new title isn't tied directly to the previous two entries; instead, they are set in parallel worlds or times. The setup is a little complex but worth the investment for how well-crafted these games are, both narratively and mechanically. If this is your first dive into the world of Aionios -- or your third -- here's everything we know about Xenoblade Chronicles 3.

Gaming

Battlefield 2042 Season 1 is an improvement, but a late one

A specialist holds Battlefield 2042's new crossbow weapon.

Battlefield 2042's launch didn't go quite as planned for EA. While it was poised to be the publisher's next live service hit, it floundered at launch due to an overwhelming number of bugs, a controversial ability-driven specialist system, maps that felt way too big, and more. While Digital Trends' reviewer loved the base game, many players didn't, so EA spent months fixing it. As a result, Season 1: Zero Hour was pushed back all the way to June 9, over six months after the game's launch. Ahead of its release, I got the opportunity to try out some of Season 1's new content a see if Battlefield 2042 has really changed for the better.
This primarily consisted of going hands-on with the new Specialist Ewelina Lis on the new map Exposure. Is Battlefield 2042 in a better state now than it was at launch? Yes. Will it make enough compelling additions and changes to bring you back if you're not a hardcore Battlefield fan? Not really.
Battlefield 2042 | Season 1: Zero Hour Gameplay Trailer Premiere
What's new?
The main additions coming to Battlefield 2042 at the start of Season 1 are a new rocket launcher-wielding specialist named Ewelina Lis, a new map set in the Canadian Rockies called Exposure, new weapons including a crossbow and marksman rifle, and a battle pass containing lots of free and paid unlockables. It's definitely the meatiest batch of content Battlefield 2042 has received since launch, but it doesn't revamp or fix every core problem with the game.

Starting with the battle pass, don't expect any wild crossover or crazy outfits, just a lot of new realistic looks for your specialists, vehicles, and weapons. It is challenge-based, which Halo has shown the downsides of, but thankfully 30 tiers of it are free and the only things unlocked by paying up are cosmetic. That means everyone will be able to try the new specialist Ewelina Lis. She is a helpful Engineer Specialist as she always has a rocket launcher at her disposal to help destroy vehicles.
While I found the new Ghostmaker R10 Crossbow and BSV-M Marksman Rifle to be too slow and not powerful enough to be very useful in a game with such a quick time to kill, Lis may be a useful specialist that will stick around on most squads. She's particularly useful on the brand-new map Exposure.
When previewing the new season, I got to try out both Conquest and Breakthrough on Exposure, a map that supports both 128-player and 64-player matches. As it takes place in and around a base built into the side of a mountain, it has one of the most distinctive and vertical layouts of any new Battlefield 2042 map. The tensest firefights took place in a spot nestled on the side of the mountain, as players could flank from within the mountain on foot or from the skies in new stealth helicopters. While I enjoyed those moments and attacking the base in the helicopter, it still felt a bit too big to traverse on foot outside of that base, a common problem with all of Battlefield 2042's maps.