Selon diverses rumeurs, EA devrait annoncer dans le courant du mois de Janvier Battlefield 3. Le prochain opus de la saga devrait sortir vers les fêtes 2008, ou début 2009. Tiens presque en même temps de FarCry 2 !

Ce nouveau Battlefield devrait être dans le même même contexte moderne que BF2 (que de COD4 !), mêmes camps, mêmes classes de personnages. L’action se passerait (comme par hasard) au moyen orient, ce qui va devenir un manie des derniers FPS modernes…

Côté nouveautés, les joueurs devraient pouvoir personnaliser leur avatar (comme dans Second Life ?). Il y aura sûrement de nouvelles armes, sans pour autant en inventer ! Un nouveau moteur graphique devrait être au rendez-vous, ce qui permettrait des déformations du terrain etc… Ce que j’espère c’est que le moteur graphique soit plus optimisé que celui de Crysis !

PCGAMER fait une double page sur ce soit disant Battlefield 3 :

Voici ce que dit l’article, en anglais bien entendu !

Our Spies tell us we’ll soon see the announcement of Battlefield 3. This is great for fans of online shooting, long distance sniping, helicopter strafing and comedy tank antics. EA are tight-lipped for now, but here’s what to expect.

Modern Combat
The biggest question: when and where will it be set? We hear it’s going to be modern-day, in a fictional war between NATO and the Middle Eastern coalition [MEC]. Consider the last game – a future of floating artillery and anti-grav platforms – a diversion. Most of the eight maps will focus on urban sites. We’d love to see a return of Strike at Karkand – a frenzied battle across an empty city.

More Online
Since Battlefield 2, the team at DICE have picked up influence from MMO game. Persistent stat tracking and new weapons for experienced players will be present, but we’re hoping for more. Expect to customize your soldier’s appearance, armour, and weaponry beyond unlocks. Choosing a face, voice, tattoos, and badges would be an obvious start.

Heavy Tech
In console land, they’re already being treated to a new Battlefield game, Subtitled Bad Company, it’s debut of the next-gen « Frostbite » engine. Aside from producing staggering draw distance that lets you pick off targets miles away, it’s imbued with some serious deformation technology. Buildings can be blown apart, bridges burst and craters carved. Battlefield 3 will evolve that technology further.

Class Act
Why mess with a near perfect set of abilities? Battlefield 3 won’t alter the standard Sniper, Assault, Medic, Engineer, and Support class balance. Want a quick rev? Call for a Medic. Need a tank busted? Grab the Assault trooper and pray he’s packed an RPG launcher.

Guns, And More Guns
Every soldier needs a weapon, and Battlefield 3 will be chock full of firearms, 34 in fact, split evenly between the MEC and NATO. You’ll have to work for the privilege of sporting the most powerful rifles. As well as weapons, you’ll unlock armour, ammo, helmets and accessories.

Play Together
The best feature of Battlefield 2. Sharing objectives and voice chat with friends as five-man squads. That’s being extended, with squads able to join up to form a battalion – the perfect partner for improved clan support and ranked servers. Commanders can still order grunts to the front and supply them with ammo drops, radar pings, UAV reconnaissance and the occasional artillery strike.

~Tim Edwards