Last seen in Battlefield 2141, the ability to call in artillery strikes belonged to the Commander, a role in which DICE recently admitted was “a bit flawed.” With the announcement that the Commander would no longer be a playable option in Battlefield 3, many wondered how his role would be filled.
One of DICE’s core problems with the Commander role “is that only one person per team could play it, and it was always the highest ranking one.” In addition to that, “they basically spent the whole match lying on the ground on some obscure corner of the map, hoping not to get knifed in the back and trying to support people.”
Rather than just completely eliminate the Commander role and all of the abilities, DICE has decided to divide many of the Commander features to the regular soldiers through the form of squad leaders and gadgets. The UAV is now available to everyone, and there will be an unlockable UAV for the Engineer class.
Along with that, DICE’s Karl-Magnus Troedsson confirmed at the recent Eurogamer Expo, that the squad leader will now have the ability to call in artillery strikes. This is in addition to the unlockable mortar strike, which is now available to the Engineer class.
“We’ve tried to push this down into the squads so they can both fill the roles that the Commander had, but then also be an active soldier on the battlefield,” DICE’s Karl Magnus Troedsson explained at Eurogamer Expo.
I see the Commander role is now filled by Jay-Z
Battlefield 3 launches for PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 on October 25, and an open beta for the game begins on September 29.
* Improved Goalkeeper's response towards long range shots.
* Readjustments to the strength of the Skill Card "Speed Merchant". (Toned down as it was deemed too strong)
* Changes in Search Conditions when looking for Opponents in Online Mode. ("Friendly Match" changed to "Pass Support")
* Improvements to a variety of modes for an enhanced overall gaming experience.
