[twitchyzero]

Battlefield 3: Aftermath Premiere Trailer - YouTube

... Epicenter, reminded me of a ravaged and war-torn mix of Strike at Karkand and Grand Bazaar. Fallen debris provided all sorts of different routes, man-made or not, to the objective, but still provided plenty of room to grab a modified Vodnik with multiple gunner positions to patrol the streets in. What was particularly interesting to me was that hidden passage ways could be discovered by blowing up certain barriers with either explosives or conveniently placed gas canisters. These could then be used to flank the enemy or as a quick escape, should you find yourself cornered. As mentioned earlier, tremors literally shake the battlefield at random moments throughout a match. These tremors cause falling debris in certain areas, so if you’re not situated correctly, your looking a major headache, literally. All Aftermath maps will support vanilla Battlefield 3 game modes like Conquest and Rush – even the popular Gun Master mode from Close Quarters – as well as the newly introduced Scavenger mode.

Scavenger is a heavily-themed new game mode that revolves around the story that Aftermath tells. As a soldier that has just survived a devastating earthquake in the middle of a heated battle, you’re left with nothing but your pistol and a limited amount ammo. However, just because an earthquake may have knocked you and a number of other soldiers off their feet, it doesn’t mean all those weapons have disappeared. They simply need to be found again.

Upon starting up a match, you’ll only have your choice of class (which, in this case, only dictates your skin or look) and your choice of sidearm and specialization along with one grenade. On top of your assigned task of capturing three objective points (exactly similar to Conquest Domination introduced in Close Quarters), you’ll need to search every corner of the area to find yourself some better gear. Scattered among the battlefield are three different tiers of randomized weapons. Tier one includes your basic SMG’s or PDW’s while tier two sports your more powerful shotguns and sniper rifles. Lastly, the third tier grants you your more effective LMG’s and assault rifles. However, don’t get too comfortable with your M16A3, should you find one. Chances are, you may blow through one or two mags before you’ll need to find some more firepower. This provides an interesting, non-class-based twist on your action-packed Conquest Domination (similar map sizes can be expected) and adds a whole new layer of gameplay.

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