Battlefield 3 most anticipated PC and Console Game of 2011

Battlefield 3 will feature the maximalist combined arms battles that made the series popular across single-player, co-operative and multiplayer modes. It will reintroduce several elements absent from the Bad Company games, including fighter jets, the prone position and 64-player battles on PC. To accommodate the lower player count on consoles, the ground area will be limited for Xbox 360 and PS3, though fly space will remain the same.
During an interview with GameInformer Magazine, EA stated that Commander Mode is unlikely to be included, which was met with some criticism on the EA forum.
The game will feature maps set in Paris, Tehran, Sarajevo, Sulaymaniyah, New York, Wake Island and Oman. As a whole, combat will take place in urban streets, metropolitan downtown areas, and open landscapes suited to vehicle combat.

Single-player
Players will be able to use vehicles during the campaign, but their use will be limited.
Set in 2014, the player will take on the role of Staff Sergeant Henry 'Black' Blackburn, a member of the United States Marine Corps deployed along the Iran-Iraq border. SSgt Blackburn leads a five-man squad on a mission to locate, find and safely return a US squad investigating a possible chemical weapons site, whose last known position was inside a meat market controlled by a hostile militia. After engaging in several gun battles with hostile forces, Blackburn and his squadmates are caught in a massive earthquake whose epicenter is in Iran. Brief shots from the campaign trailer depict an aerial view of a war-torn city, a column of M1 Abrams tanks being attacked by cluster munitions, and an aerial dogfight between US and Russian fighter aircraft.

Multi-player
Battlefield 3 features the return of class-based game play, with four classes: Assault, Support, Engineer and Recon. The abilities of the Frostbite 2 engine will be utilized, with the Engineer's flashlight able to blind other players, and concentrated LMG fire blurring the vision of suppressed players.
Several game modes have been announced: Conquest, Rush, and a new mode, Team Deathmatch.
Development

Battlefield 3's lead platform is the PC rather than a console.
Battlefield 3 will use a new Frostbite engine built especially for the game. Known as Frostbite 2, it will deliver more advanced destruction, sound, and graphics than previous versions. The updated Frostbite 2 engine can realistically portray the destruction of buildings and scenery to a greater extent than previous versions.  Battlefield 3 uses a new type of character animation technology called ANT. ANT technology is used in EA Sports games such as FIFA, but will now be adapted to create a more realistic soldier, with the ability to transition into cover and turn their head before their body, as well as "drag fallen comrades into safety and mount weapons on almost any part of the terrain".

Possible Wii U port
On June 7, 2011, during Nintendo's E3 2011 press conference, the president of EA games came on stage and expressed his interest in Nintendo's new system, the Wii U. He also hinted at the possibility of a port of Battlefield 3 to this console.
Beta
On July 30, 2010, EA announced that purchasers of the Limited Edition and Tier 1 Edition of Medal of Honor for the PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 will receive an invitation to the beta contingent on Beta availability within 1 year of Medal of Honor's release on October 12. At E3 2011, EA announced an open beta beginning on September, 2011.

Marketing
EA CEO John Riccitiello stated that Battlefield 3 is aimed at competing with the Call of Duty series. "This November, we're launching Battlefield 3. It's going up against the next Call of Duty, which is presently the #1 game in the game industry," he said. "A game that last year did $400 million dollars in revenue on day one. Battlefield 3 is designed to take that game down." EA is planning on spending over $100 million dollars on a marketing campaign for Battlefield 3. Frank Gibeau, president of Electronic Arts' EA Games label, stated that Battlefield 3 is a "flat out superior" product to blockbuster FPS Call of Duty. EA has also said it’s going on the "offense" in regards to its marketing on Battlefield 3, saying that it kicked off its campaign early to establish a "beachhead."
Battlefield 3 was revealed on February 3, 2011 by GameInformer magazine. A month of GameInformer coverage included information on building the game and interviews with DICE, as well as three trailers: a teaser and the first two parts in a series of gameplay from the level "Fault Line".
On April 16, a 12 minute trailer featuring all in-game footage was unlocked on the game's Facebook page. This new 12 minute trailer included the 3 previously released in-game footage videos, plus more demonstrations on game play. On April 21 the same trailer was released but with a director's commentary.

Pre-order promotion
Pre-orders of the Limited Edition of the game grant access to a DLC pack called "Back to Karkand", a reference to the "Strike at Karkand" map (a popular BF2 map), to include four maps and several weapons and vehicles brought over from Battlefield 2. The maps from the expansion pack will be: Strike at Karkand, Gulf of Oman, Wake Island and Sharqi Peninsula. All have been re-imagined and recreated for use with the new engine that powers Battlefield 3, called "Frostbite 2.0" and its more advanced physics. Leaks from EA indicate that the pack will become available for general purchase after one month.
In the UK, a limited edition of Battlefield 3 called the "Physical Warfare Pack" is being sold at select retailers. The pre-order features exclusive access to weapons and items, including a light machine gun, sniper rifle accessory, and armor-piercing ammunition. Also included is launch day access to the DAO-12 semi-automatic shotgun, which other players can unlock through game play, as well as the "Back to Karkand" map pack. Fan reaction to the inclusion of exclusive weapons and items as part of a special edition was negative. In response, EA clarified that the "Physical Warfare Pack" would be made available to all players later in the year, with the early access for retail purchases being a timed-based exclusive only.