Battlefield 3 Limited Edition

Battlefield 3 didn't just compete in the shooter space. It redrew the map. The Battlefield 3 Limited Edition on Playstation 3 shipped with the Back to Karkand expansion, delivering four maps from Battlefield 2 re-imagined with Frostbite 2 technology, classic Battlefield 2 weapons and vehicles, and additional trophies. It was the complete ground-floor package for what became one of the PS3's defining multiplayer experiences.

Those four reimagined maps were the real draw. DICE took environments that PC players had been battling across for years and rebuilt them with destructible terrain, dynamic lighting, and the kind of audio design that made your subwoofer earn its keep. Strike at Karkand, Wake Island, Gulf of Oman, and Sharqi Peninsula came back looking and sounding like entirely new battlefields while retaining the layout DNA that made them legendary.

The classic weapons and vehicles pulled from Battlefield 2's arsenal added mechanical nostalgia to the visual overhaul. Driving a familiar vehicle through a familiar map that now crumbles around you was DICE at their most confident. The additional trophies gave completionists a reason to dig deep into the expansion rather than just dabbling.

Battlefield 3 Limited Edition represents a pivotal moment in the PS3's library. This was when console shooters stopped being compared only to each other and started being measured against their PC counterparts. Having the Back to Karkand content included from day one meant this edition was the way to experience Battlefield 3 as DICE intended. For PS3 collectors who lived through the great shooter wars of 2011, this belongs in the archive.