DICE dishes Battlefield 3 beta tips

By Tom Phillips Published 29 September, 2011

10 hints for Operation Metro.

Battlefield 3's online beta is now available to all, after 48 hours exclusive access for limited edition Medal of Honour owners and those who pre-ordered through Origin.

In the trial, players get a glimpse at BF3 map Operation Metro.

DICE has armed players with 10 top tips for survival in the map. Find them below.

Not got the Battlefield 3 beta yet? On PS3, click Demos from the PSN storefront. On Xbox 360, it's in the Demos section of the Xbox Live Marketplace or set it downloading via Xbox.com.

On PC, the beta is accessible via Origin's "free games" section. Not got Origin? Nab it free here.

DICE's top ten Battlefield 3 Operation Metro tips:

  1. Stick to your team mates, and remember to spawn on them to stay close to the fight.
  2. Use your kit specific abilities to help your team mates. Assault can hand out med kits, Engineers can repair vehicles, and Support can hand out ammo.
  3. Make sure when you have armed an M-COM station, that you defend it to make sure it is destroyed.
  4. The bombed-out tunnel section in Operation Métro is an excellent place to use a flashlight as one of your weapon attachments. Use it to light the tunnels up - and to blind your enemies.
  5. Attach bipods to your weapon and deploy it automatically by pushing up against cover or going prone and zooming in - this gives you a huge increase in accuracy and stability.
  6. Use suppressive shooting (fire close to enemies behind cover) to negatively effect the enemy's fighting capabilities.
  7. Watch out for falling debris as this can hurt you. But you can also hurt your enemies by taking out buildings with the Engineer's RPG.
  8. Shotguns are excellent for CQC (Close Quarters Combat) in the tighter tunnels sections.
  9. Fire automatic weapons in short bursts for accuracy, or switch to single fire mode if applicable.
  10. To grab your enemy's dog tag as a souvenir, do a stealth knife kill from behind.

Battlefield 3's Operation Metro.

Picture of Tom.

About Tom Phillips

Tom joined Eurogamer in 2010 and has quickly made his mark writing news and columns and coming up with puntastic straplines. Questionable beard. @TomPhillips151 on Twitter.

Read more articles from Tom by visiting the Tom Phillips archive page.

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Comments (75) Latest comment 8 months ago

Comments for this article are now closed, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • makeamazing #1 8 months ago

    Two things i am struggling with in the demo:

    How to bloody quit the game, there doesn't seem to be a go back to menu button when in a session (or perhaps i am just missing it)...

    Is it me or does anyone else have trouble identifying who the enemy are... in other FPS, the colours above their heads are quite apparent (like red and blue)... but the amount of times so far that i have been shooting the wrong players or ignoring the enemy is quite high so far.

    Perhaps i am just having one of those days!!!

    [edit[: Getting nagged for making an observation, god fanboys are a bunch of muppets, they probably thought i was making negative comments or i was a cod fanboy (don't like cod just to put the record straight and have never purchased BF before..)
    Edited by makeamazing at 29/09/11 @ 14:47

  • Sodding_Gamer #2 8 months ago

    10 tips that most BF players do anyway. Cheers for the reminder though! However this could just be for the newly converted COD lovers who are getting pwned in the beta.

  • arcam #3 8 months ago

    I should have set up Origin before today, shouldn't I. Took many, many refreshes to get the site to load and a few more to download the client. Now I have the client, but it won't let me sign in.

    edit: Finally got to sign in, but only in offline mode. A couple of restarts later - I'm in! Somewhat surprisingly after all that, the beta is downloading at a healthy 2.6MB/sec.
    Edited by arcam at 29/09/11 @ 14:57

  • Eraysor #4 8 months ago

    The flashlight blinding effect is extremely cool.

  • dadrester #5 8 months ago

    played a few games so far on PS3 and it's a lot of fun.

  • Djimm #6 8 months ago

    If I had my way, a spot assist would be worth more points than a kill.

  • Fork_Handles #7 8 months ago

    Is it me or does anyone else have trouble identifying who the enemy are...


    Yep -it also doesn't help that in the beta, the coloured triangles can get off-set from the player, meaning sometimes it's impossible to tell friend from foe.

    But seriously, I cannot emphasise the need for people to spot for their team - that should have been top tip number 1 in my opinion.
    Edited by Fork_Handles at 29/09/11 @ 14:52

  • frunk #8 8 months ago

    Well the store page and Origin are both a total wash out :)

    Perhaps ditching Steam was not such a good idea, eh EA?

  • Dr_Cowley #9 8 months ago

    Another quick tip: Weapon unlocks are for that weapon only alot of the times, for instance if you unlock a scope for the russians ak-74su, it will NOT be unlocked for the American teams equvilent weapon. You need to get the same amount of kills for the american weapon as you did with the russian one to unlock the attatchment for it

    Edit for more: Tapping down on the D-pad will cycle throug modes of fire if your weapon aloows it, semi-auto or full auto are available on the carbines where as the the assault rifles also have a 3 round burst option, I think

    Tapping up on the D-pad will turn on your Laser sight or flashlight if its equiped
    Edited by Dr_Cowley at 29/09/11 @ 14:57

  • evilrobot #10 8 months ago

    Post deleted at 22:12:53 08-05-2012

  • Fork_Handles #11 8 months ago

    Thanks Dr Cowley - I did not know that - I thought it was because some stuff was left out of the beta on purpose.

    I feel stupid now.

    Thanks for the info though!
    Edited by Fork_Handles at 29/09/11 @ 14:56

  • Dr_Cowley #12 8 months ago

    No prob dude, it threw me at first as I unlocked the RDS and laser sight just before the end of a round but they wernt available next round. I thought it was a glitch at first

  • rojjer #13 8 months ago

    well there WAS a vehicle in Metro, then Dice saw fit to remove it. I quite liked it.

  • mattk84 #14 8 months ago

    Does spotting now work 100% iof the time? I find it very frustrating when mashing back on BC2 to highlight an enemy that it doesnt work all the time.
    Also, when reviving team mates do you get an indication of how long you have to get there and are they easier to spot? I always thought that a counter would make sense. I've lost count of the number of times I've left cover to run and revive only for the body to disappear when I get there or be blended in to the background!

  • jstar #15 8 months ago

    Some of this advice is terrible. Spawning on team mates is a sure fire way to get yourself killed before you can reorientate yourself. Newer players should def start at the base spawn unless their team mate is in a quiet spot.

    Everyone with a flashlight gets killed immediately because they are too easy to spot. Don't use it. Just ramp up the brightness.

    Screw the shotgun. It is too situational. You will find yourself out ranged by an assault rifle as often as you get the jump on someone at close range.

    They still have not remotely solved the main two problems that all battlefield games suffer from:

    1. Twats who sit back and snipe because all they want are kills.
    2. Twats who sneak round behind the defenders and spawn camp.

    These two things mean I won't be bothering with it. You would have thought they would have even tried to fix these.

  • Fork_Handles #16 8 months ago

    On the PS3 the spotting can still be a bit 'hit and miss' in my experience, but at least it's no worse than in BC2!

    As for the revive question, I've not got enough XP yet to unlock the paddles. One extremely cool thing though is the ability of the revivee (yes, that is a word, honest) to choose whether or not to accept the revive - so you don't have to be revived only to go down in a hail of bullets again, or run around with no ammo should you survive!

  • SuperBas #17 8 months ago

    Top tip: the beta doesn't work on pc, Origin is shit.

    Wait, that's a warning. Nevermind.

  • revan8 #18 8 months ago

    Question. On xbox how do u ask for ammo or health etc. In bc2 u pressed back, same as to spot. In beta back on your team mates does nothing. Many times I have needed more ammo.

  • Golgo #19 8 months ago

    11: Try not to get stuck on scenery. 12: on encountering iron-sights glitch, switch to secondary weapon then back to first.
    Edited by Golgo at 29/09/11 @ 15:37

  • effinjamie #20 8 months ago

    No indication of which prick is openly broadcasting and no option to mute them?!

  • Cammer #21 8 months ago

    Is spotting as simple as just looking at the enemy?

    I keep reading people telling us we should be doing this fabled spotting but not actually explaining...

  • Eraysor #22 8 months ago

    The beta is working for me on PC, but the game doesn't like my right mouse button.

  • revan8 #23 8 months ago

    At post 23. If u playing on console u have to aim at the enemy then press back. Good when Target is at distance and you might not get the kill.

  • Munkeh111 #24 8 months ago

    Hmmm, I don't think these tips are enough for me, I just kept getting killed when I played this game... I think I might just stick to the tighter battles of CoD as opposed to the much more open battlefields offered here

  • f0nZ #25 8 months ago

    So is this the game that will "destroy" COD?? Battlefield is an offline game, COD is an online game, get used to it ...

  • revan8 #26 8 months ago

    At post 26 u just need to adjust style. Play it like cod n u die a lot. Need to be more strategic n it helps to work with ur squad.

  • PixelPirate #27 8 months ago

    where are the cameros?

    WE WERE PROMISED CAMEROS

  • PixelPirate #28 8 months ago

    So is this the game that will "destroy" COD?? Battlefield is an offline game, COD is an online game, get used to it ...

    And neither of them come close to CS, it points and laughs at them.

    get used to that ;-)

  • HairyEngineer #29 8 months ago

    why map spotting to the back button and not a thumbstick click like GoW?
    Edited by HairyEngineer at 29/09/11 @ 16:00

  • Fork_Handles #30 8 months ago

    Question. On xbox how do u ask for ammo or health etc. In bc2 u pressed back, same as to spot. In beta back on your team mates does nothing. Many times I have needed more ammo.

    On the PS3 the Select button does it same as in BC2, so I imagine it's the same on the Xbox, but all I've seen happen is you shout out 'hey I need some ammo' - I've no idea if the person I targeted got my message or not (they didn't drop me any ammo, but maybe they were selfish and wanted it all for themselves).

    Edit - stupid italics fail! What am I doing wrong? Bah.

    Edit number 7 - Yay! Well that was worth it.
    Edited by Fork_Handles at 29/09/11 @ 16:15

  • king26 #31 8 months ago

    Excellent game judging from the beta as expected. Day 1 for me. The graphics look excellent but not as good as expected on console, I'm no graphics whore but Killzone 3 does edge it in that department. This will surely be a contender for game of the year.

  • metalangel #32 8 months ago

    The bombed-out tunnel section in Operation Métro is an excellent place to use a flashlight as one of your weapon attachments. Use it to light the tunnels up - and to blind your enemies.

    And give your position away! Come on DICE.

  • LR100 #33 8 months ago

    You only need 2 tips for this demo. 1. Pick Recon to use a sniper rifle. 2. Lay on the floor and wait for the enemy to arrive.

    At least, that seems to be what everyone i've played against so far seems to be doing and it's working!

  • CaptainQuint #34 8 months ago

    On the Xbox at least this is one of the ugliest title of the past couple of years.

  • geeza2020 #35 8 months ago

    @Hairy Engineer - becuase then you would have to press back to sprint?

    @Pixelpirate - seriously? CS??? People still play that? LOL ;-)

  • LR100 #36 8 months ago

    Oh yeah, the graphics are really poor, might just be the beta, but the textures are incredibly poor. Let's wait for the "Play it on the PC" brigade to arrive!
    Edited by LR100 at 29/09/11 @ 17:49

  • Fork_Handles #37 8 months ago

    The bombed-out tunnel section in Operation Métro is an excellent place to use a flashlight as one of your weapon attachments. Use it to light the tunnels up - and to blind your enemies.

    And give your position away! Come on DICE.

    Well, you can turn the torch and laser on and off at will, so running up the escalators and giving a quick flash can blind anyone lying in wait. In theory at least.

    I'd prefer it if you had to score a 'headshot' with the torch in order to blind people rather than just have it pointed in their general direction.
    Edited by Fork_Handles at 29/09/11 @ 16:21

  • makeamazing #38 8 months ago

    I've never understood why many games companies still today think that everyone who plays a MP game wants to hear other players over the comms. Not been able to find the mute button in the Beta... if anyone knows where it is please let me know, seriously i don't know why it's so difficult to add it, it's like they feel that everyone who plays online "has" to hear their team mates.. when sometimes you just want to play online and shoot some things. :(

  • geeza2020 #39 8 months ago

    @makeamazing - if you're on 360 and you dont want to hear anybody, just go start a party with just you in it, then you wont hear anybody elses ramblings! Except your own of course...

  • arcam #40 8 months ago

    This is a game where voice comms should be encouraged every step of the way. It's impossible to fight as a squad without communication, and squad play is vital to the whole game - or at least it was in BF2.

  • HairyEngineer #41 8 months ago

    @geeza2020: Ok, I didn't remember sprint was on that button; my point was that DICE might want to consider a more accessible mapping for such a critical feature in a team-focussed game.

  • geeza2020 #42 8 months ago

    nah its really not arcam, as long as the players no what they should be doing (medics medicing, assault ammoing and laying down smoke, engineers fixing, recon errr havent figured out what they're for in BF3 yet) you really dont need voice comms. Sure I had better games of BFBC2 with people I knew, and the majority of random players are rubbish, but I have also had very very good games with a random squad as well. People just need to know their roles and stick to them, and stick with your squad.

    @Hairyengineer - I do agree with you, spotting should be easier, and in a better place than the back button, I just think its the restrictions of the modern gamepad. I'm not sure where else DICE could have put it without disrupting some other key feature.
    Edited by geeza2020 at 29/09/11 @ 16:35

  • dsmx #43 8 months ago

    The torches and lasers blind people even when your out in the open at close range so it's worth having it on your gun no matter where you are.

  • metallicorphan #44 8 months ago

    i use spotting,but all i get is beeping,sometimes works,sometimes doesn't


    the outside is the worse when you spawn in front of that big building and pretty much every window has an enemy spawn sniping you,ridiculous

  • NHDavid #45 8 months ago

    Yeah, the spawns seem messed up I have been killed instantly when spawning on my teammates.......the sound is amazing on my headphones though..........

  • orangpelupa #46 8 months ago

    to exit the game mid-game just press ALT F4.

    btw the HUD colors need more useable... i hard to see where is the mcom, i hard to see the person is enemy or friend,
    the map is useless too.

    this is comparing the play experience with BFBC2 with colorblind enabled.

  • metalangel #47 8 months ago

    @Fork_Handles: In practice, as soon as I saw a flashlight in the distance I fired at it, and scored a kill. As I hadn't displayed a lightsource myself, they never saw I was there.

  • rtk79 #48 8 months ago

    "Engineers can repair vehicles". Not in Operation Métro, they can't !
    Edited by rtk79 at 29/09/11 @ 17:04

  • torment74 #49 8 months ago

    I had a quick play on the 360 version with no probs apart from the limits of the BETA. I have to say that this looks no better than BC2....me thinks were really seeing the limits of 7 year old technology )-:

    I think the PC's guys have a right to brag

    Fun game though and on my radar if the final version is whipped into shape (-:

  • abzddon #50 8 months ago

    @Mattk84

    No, spotting still doesn't work 100% of the time. I think its to do with the lag though. However, I think people get marked if you shoot them before dieing; which means 1 on 1 confrontations can go without thinking about spotting! Happened a few times for me so far, haven't played enough to confirm. (could be that someone else spotted)

    And to all those asking how to spot. Look at the enemy and press SELECT.

  • effinjamie #51 8 months ago

    Seems so unresponsive! I've had occasions where it won't zoom/sprint or stand.

  • ballshock #52 8 months ago

    Top tip: wait for PSN to finish maintenance.

  • Fork_Handles #53 8 months ago

    @metalangel - oh yeah, I agree. The whole 'turn them off and on again' thing is there for the torch wielders to try though - but all the time they keep them on, they're easy pickings for the non blinded that's for sure.

  • bobfish09 #54 8 months ago

    Best tip...

    In metro, as Russians, don't defend the first two objectives, just wait until you have to fall back (stay alive), then camp the three tunnels, especially the one on the right which you can only get into from the park end.

    Easy.

  • Bravestinsane #55 8 months ago

    A few bugs that's getting me (on PC) When i change weapon attachments, for the remainder of that life the screen is grey/blue all over until i die then it goes back to normal colours.

    Occasionally right click stops working and i can't aim down sights have to switch weapons then back to do it.

    Players on the PC in general are complete idiots, i mean seriously push 3 once in a while and drop a fucking ammo/med box

    Seems to be no teamwork at all. (no idea what the console players are like but still)

    Overall the game is awesome, really good graphics, runs surprisingly well on a 3 year old gfx card, good 30-45fps.

    The sound though, wow its just amazing best sound i have ever heard in the game, the tunnels really come to life with the echos and bullet shots going around everywhere.


    60/60 Well done EG, with 23 weekdays to go until BF3 launchers, you have managed to crack out 60 CoD/BF3 related articles in just 37 days, almost 2 a day.... really EG?.....REALLY?

    Yes their big releases, so was GoW3, so are other games, i don't see them being spammed in our faces everyday....

  • Dr_Cowley #56 8 months ago

    metallicorphan
    29/09/11 @ 16:42
    i use spotting,but all i get is beeping,sometimes works,sometimes doesn't

    As far as I can tell that beeping is caused by the recons gadget, its some sort of jammer that can be placed down and prevents being spotted when close to it

  • makeamazing #57 8 months ago

    @makeamazing - if you're on 360 and you dont want to hear anybody, just go start a party with just you in it, then you wont hear anybody elses ramblings! Except your own of course...

    @gezza, nah i am on the PS3, can't be bothered to pay for Gold on my Xbox. :) But i do wish mute was an option :(... i agree that its a MP game side of the game, but if i want to go and just shoot other people online, i don't want to hear random people rambling and even worse swearing down the line. A game like this can easily be played online with the kids in the same room, but not if there are idiots swearing all the time (of course i could turn the sound down, but that ruins the game a little)... anyway i will stop complaining now :D

  • metalangel #58 8 months ago

    Some footage from someone playing Caspian in the PC beta (why the hell isn't Caspian in the console one?)

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kwJK1KedEPs

  • waggy79 #59 8 months ago

    Well i downloaded it on ps3 and 360. Didnt see any difference in graphics but the 360 pad is miles better for this game. Spotting is easier as the back button is right next to the thumbstick and the triggers just 'feel' right.
    I had more trouble finding a game on xbox though whereas got into a game instantly on ps3.

  • metalangel #60 8 months ago

    I love how there's no control list, and you also can't redefine the controls. I want B to crouch and prone... nope, it's always right stick. I want right stick to stab... nope. You choose between the two control sets (four if you count the 'lefty' versions) and have no idea what's been changed.

    For fuck's sake. Fully customizable controls, guys, do it. And fire your writers. Some of those 'vehicle spotted' soundbites from that Caspian beta video are as embarassing as the infamous 'fix yourself up with that shit' from BC2.

  • hiscore #61 8 months ago

    This console beta cries "please dear COD player convert to BF3" all over.. hence the metro map. Seen footage of Caspian Border on pc today: THAT's Battlefield. This map is just...

  • chrisola #62 8 months ago

    PC initial impressions are good -- but the stupid control bindings (or lack of!) are annoying.

    It looks good aswell - auto settings put me on High but i cranked it to Ultra for bit -- very nice on either setting, silky smooth!

  • Dr_Cowley #63 8 months ago

    Another quick Tip: Whilst playing as an engineer and you have access to the mines, plant a few round the charges when on defence. Explosive damage no loner harms charges so you can just lob a grenade in to set them off.

    Also just plant one and look at it as you back off... Thats awesome!

  • WE5T1EZ #64 8 months ago

    OK, been waiting months for this. Watched every advert, read every preview online and in mags, managed to convince most of my friends this was the shooter to buy this year, as COD had gone stale. Promptly downloaded BETA and instantly feel anger towards Dice for getting my hopes up. Yes I'm playing it on Xbox 360 and this game is clearly aimed at PC gamers, but I can't help the feeling I've been lied to. 360 mag told me something along the lines of "if you haven't seen it on PC then it looks amazing on 360". NO IT DOESN'T. what's worse is I wanted this to be good. I actually pre ordered this. Cancelled that. Not just because it didn't live up to my expectations, but because it didn't even come near to what I think is expected from a basic low budget game. Shame on you DICE! Shame on you for getting my hopes up. I know the 360 is outdated, but I personally don't have £2000 to invest in a great PC, so I will be going back to old faithful this year...Call of Duty - short campaign, average graphics (better than Battlefield 3 BETA by a country mile), overpriced DLC, and yet hours upon hours of fun online.Oh how I look forward to 8 November now

  • Chrasomatic #65 8 months ago

    @EddieMink - oh good so they still have spotting (one of my fave things from BC2)

  • Uncompetative #66 8 months ago

    Any idea what the controls are for the 360 version EA? There is no mention of them anywhere in the UI.

  • Uncompetative #67 8 months ago

    When I spawn in the tunnel I can't tell which way I am facing. The map appears to be upside down, player markers are inverted, the compass is at the bottom of the scree so it rotates the "wrong way".

    Halo 3 never had any of these problems as is more fun.

  • Gammerz #68 8 months ago

    In BC2 you could spam the back button to spot enemies. In BF3, I believe there is a limit to its usage and you get a warning beep if you press the back button too often, possibly resulting in the spotting failing.
    Edited by Gammerz at 30/09/11 @ 00:47

  • Totza #69 8 months ago

    I hardly ever spot because I mainly play HC :( plus I just hate the whole idea of spotting an enemy and then a triangle appearong above his head... its unbalanced and needs to go

  • DeadlyByDesign #70 8 months ago

    I'd love to be able to login and try these tips, but as of last night I was still getting the "cannot connect to EA online"

  • Slipstream #71 8 months ago

    Spotting can only be done by squad leader now *The member with the star next to their name* =(

  • Dr_Cowley #72 8 months ago

    I've been able to spot when not as the squad leader, spamming back button doesnt help but I'm sure thats not what causes the beeping.

    Recon players have a gadget that they place on the floor that prevents anyone closs to it from being spotted.

  • Joco84 #73 8 months ago

    People, use "Select" or "Back" button to highlight enemies on your teammates radars - makes it much easier to find enemies and you get a 'spot' bonus if they manage to kill them! :)

    Fookin love BF!!!!!

  • ShovelyJoe #74 8 months ago

    I cried myself to sleep last night. I was so excited about this game. Turned on the beta and within 1 second I realised why they hadn't released console footage. I mean there is shit and then there is shit and this is shiiiiiiiit. Even my flatmate who plays nothing but FIFA commented on how terrible it was. It's just awful. Hit detection is woeful. Gun models are ugly. I pretty much hated everything about it. And my KD ratio was over 2 and I didn't just lie in a random bush either but was actually taking objectives. About the only good thing was the sound - which was immense.

    And sorry, a disgustingly textured tree that looks like it has been made out of lego falling down next to me after a few grenades is never going to make up for the framerate difference. That's about the only destruction I saw. No bullet holes ripping chunks through walls. Me and some guy were exchanging quite a few shots at either side of the same wall and I saw ZERO environmental impact.

    Honestly never been a massive fan of the series, getting spawn raped by some cock in a chopper for 10 minutes never really struck me as fun...that was my lasting impression of the game. Sure others of you have very different experiences : ) Might rent it for the campaign which looked promising but in my humble opinion that MP beta sucked massive balls.

  • RichyRichh77 #75 8 months ago

    @Shovelyjoe. It's not just you having put in over 200hrs into BF:BC2 this game was instantly pre-ordered the moment it came out - after 15mins with this beta (XBox360) I'm cancelling that order!

    The hideous graphics, 2 hit instant kills, dire loadout screen setup and God awful prone bush campers left me feeling utterly demoralized - one of my most anticipated games of the year destroyed by the most woeful beta ever.

    I bet Bobby Kotick pissed himself laughing when he saw this, COD killer my arse if this beta is anything to go by. :(