The two day head-start for those who opted for the Limited Edition of Medal of Honor or pre-ordered is now over, and everyone is now free to experience the Battlefield 3 beta for themselves.

Battlefield 3 :beta zum Ego-Shooter aus dem Hause DICE ist offenbar fertiggestellt. Zum letztendlichen Glück fehlt jetzt nur noch die Freigabe seitens Sony und Microsoft. So zumindest berichtet das französische Battlefield-Portal Planete-Battlefield.fr.

Battlelog, the free social service EA is launching for Battlefield 3, forms a key part of EA's strategy to leverage gamers away from Call of Duty and Activision's own social service, Call of Duty Elite.

Battlefield 3 players will, as they found out during the recent alpha test, find servers and join games from the Battlelog website, meaning you'll need to use your browser in order to play Battlefield 3. On top of that, it's been confirmed that no matter where you buy it, BF3 requires you to have Origin in order to play.

With October 25 fast approaching, I have come up with a number of reasons as to why Battlefield 3will be the best shooter to come out this year, especially over Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3. Before anyone starts screaming “fanboy” and “paid by DICE” know that I am a huge fan of both games but I just see more potential in Battlefield than in the Call of Duty series as a whole.

Recently, Electronic Arts and Valve have been wrangling over digital distribution of EA-published games, as EA is currently making a big push to promote their rebranded Origin service. EA has even gone so far as to remove top-selling games Dragon Age II and Crysis 2 from Steam.

Battlefield 3 producer says EA would never force DICE to release a game every year, expansion packs key to series longevity.

Maybe you missed out on the recent Battlefield 3 alpha test and want to ensure you play the game as soon as possible. Maybe you didn't pick up a Limited Edition copy of Medal of Honor last year. Either way, looking past the recent alpha -- which was "a highly tech focused test period" anyway -- there is a new way to get yourself early access into the upcoming beta, giving you a chance to play it before the vast majority of people: pre-order on Origin.