SummaryBattlefield 3: Back to Karkand is a massive themed expansion pack featuring four of the most loved maps from Battlefield 2, boldly reimagined for Battlefield 3 with the power and destruction of the Frostbite 2 engine. It also gives you classic weapons and vehicles from Battlefield 2, unique dog tags, and all-new Assignments.
Rated Mfor Mature
Developer:EA DICE
Battlefield 3: Back to Karkand
Released On:
Dec 13, 2011
Metascore
Generally Favorable
86
User score
Mixed or Average
7.3
My Score
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Metascore
Generally Favorable
86
89% Positive
8 Reviews
8 Reviews
11% Mixed
1 Review
1 Review
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Jan 10, 2012
93
A must buy and hopefully only the first of many map packs and add-ons! [Jan 2012]
Mar 1, 2012
90
So good that it's become the only way to play Battlefield 3. Buy this now, and enjoy a bit of nostalgia in a new light. [March 2012, p.56]
User score
Mixed or Average
7.3
62% Positive
115 Ratings
115 Ratings
23% Mixed
43 Ratings
43 Ratings
15% Negative
28 Ratings
28 Ratings
Feb 26, 2021
10
Disclaimer: Due to the behavior of premier servers, buying BF3 DLCs individually doesn't allow you to play on them even if you own the DLC of the map that is currently in rotation. In other words, none of the DLCs are worth buying over premium. If you want a specific DLC, get premium or don't bother getting it at all. New weapons: by completing assignments, 10 new weapons are unlockable to the player. Most of these weapons are excellent with the L96 being the best in the game. New vehicles: the F-35 fighter jet (Oman & Wake), BTR-90 APC (Oman, Sharqi, and Karkand), and the DPV buggie (Oman & Wake) all make a return from BF2 on these classic maps. New maps: 4 maps return from BF2 with the worst of these maps being better than the best of the launch maps. Gulf of Oman, Strike at Karkand, Sharqi Peninsula, and Wake Island. They're much more detailed than their BF2 counterparts but only Karkand provides a better experience than the BF2 version. Conquest Assault: 3 of the 4 maps retain their original Conquest configuration with one team controlling all the capturable flags but containing no friendly uncap. This provided an experience not unlike rush with one team being attackers and the other team being defenders. It was much more appealing than regular conquest and the excellent balance on the maps led to some very down to the wire end results. Overall, it's an excellent DLC that is infinitely better than the booster packs of BF2. The existence of premium doesn't make it worth buying though.
Apr 20, 2012
10
The vanilla BF3 maps are a little cramped for 64 players, but these classic BF2 maps take care of the cramped problem. Oman is still awesome with all the tanks. I've never been spawn trapped on these maps unlike some of the bottlenecks in some of the vanilla maps.
Jan 19, 2012
90
I simply can't imagine Battlefield's multiplayer mode without this brilliant DLC. [February 2012, p.60]
Jan 18, 2012
90
Back to Karkand is an enjoyable expansion, that increases the value of Battlefield 3 itself. You should look at it in a most positive way, but we still hope for more. DICE have hit the nail on the head and have given the fans a solid piece of great fun.
Jan 26, 2012
84
These four fantastic maps are pricey, but they're more than just a nostalgic throwback. They present Battlefield 3 at its best. [Mar 2012, p.74]
Jan 10, 2012
75
Three of four new maps offer full-scale urban combat that was sorely missing in Battlefield 3. But why this expansion is so sparse on content?
Dec 17, 2011
70
If you want an excuse to jump back into BF3 or you want to play Wake Island again, you should pick up this expansion. You'll have fun and you'll give that 2.7 GB of data a purpose to exist on your hard drive.
Mar 17, 2012
10
Great addition of maps, new twists to familiar scenes. Stunning graphics as expected from Frostbite 2. Infinitely better than Operation Metro garbage.
Mar 29, 2012
7
An improvement on the vanilla game, of which I gave a six. The one point extra is for (edited) BF2 maps that provide a small escape from the inferior vanilla infantry maps. However, the strange filter is really annoying unless you get an FXAA injector (highly recommend), and the guns are not particularly interesting or different. Also, more BF2 maps would have notched this up to an 8. An improvement, but there is still far to go to 'a proper sequel'.
Feb 27, 2012
7
Definitely not bad for free addition (if you preordered BF3 as in my case). But its cost is OK only in favor of BF3 game itself (as benefit for devs) not for DLC alone.
Feb 8, 2012
4
Pretty mediocre, all things considered. Not only is the install folder all kinds of screwed up (Battlefield-something instead of 'Abcd'), but they're saying it's an intended feature, too. I'd rate it higher but the problems listed before tax the score to just six.
Mar 27, 2012
0
Untill you bring us back the previous way to play the game is COMPLETELY useless!!! Guys don't let you be blackmailed by the game dev. Simply because the wake-up one day and thought:"Oh, lets make some more money, from the gamers!!!" Great game, ruined by its creators!!! TRAGIC!!!
