Battlefield 3: Premium Edition

Battlefield 3: Premium Edition is the version to pick if you want the game’s multiplayer offering collected in one place rather than pieced together pack by pack. Five expansions add 20 maps, four modes, 20 weapons, and more than ten vehicles, so the immediate pull is simple: there is always another map, assignment, or loadout goal waiting after a match.

It is a generous compilation, though some of its extras are clearly aimed at regular long-term players. Queue priority, saved Battle Reports, Platoon customization, dog tags, camos, and exclusive events sweeten the deal, but the maps, modes, vehicles, and weapons are the real reason to buy in. For the official breakdown of the bundle, see the Battlefield 3: Premium Edition page.

Retro Replay Review

Gameplay

The first thing Premium gives you is range. Instead of a small set of familiar multiplayer spaces, you are stepping into five expansion packs’ worth of maps and a much broader pool of weapons, vehicles, and modes. That makes this edition feel built for the player who wants to stay with Battlefield 3 for a while, not merely sample a few rounds and move on.

The 20 added maps are the heart of the package. Back to Karkand, Close Quarters, Armored Kill, Aftermath, and End Game promise a changing rotation rather than one narrow flavor of match, while the four extra game modes help prevent the larger collection from feeling like map-only padding. You may spend the first hour simply deciding where to start; that is a better problem than running out of reasons to return.

Premium also leans hard into ongoing goals. More than 30 assignments, additional dog tags, a unique knife, and weapon and soldier camos give regular play a sense of accumulation. If you enjoy setting yourself a small target between matches—unlocking something, chasing an assignment, or changing up your gear—there is plenty to work through. If you only care about the next immediate match, much of this progression garnish will matter less.

The practical Premium perks are aimed at committed online play. Server queue priority can be genuinely useful when you are trying to get into busy servers, and the ability to save up to five favorite Battle Reports is a nice touch for anyone who likes keeping tabs on their results. A stats reset is more niche, but it is a welcome escape hatch if you want a clean slate.

Graphics

Premium’s concrete visual extras are the unique soldier and weapon camos, plus additional Platoon emblem decals and more emblem layers. They give frequent players more ways to make their gear and group markings look distinct across the expanded map collection.

Story

This edition’s story is really the story of building out a multiplayer game over time. Its five named expansions are the main arc: a base experience expanded with new maps, modes, weapons, vehicles, and challenges rather than a single new narrative hook.

That makes the package easy to judge on its own terms. You are not buying Premium for a neat beginning-to-end tale; you are buying a larger playground and more reasons to revisit it. The different expansion names help the collection feel like a series of distinct stops instead of a single anonymous pile of add-ons.

The strongest sense of progression comes from your own record: assignments completed, dog tags earned, Battle Reports saved, and perhaps a reset when you decide to start over. It is a player-made history, which suits a multiplayer compilation far better than forced narrative framing would.

Overall Experience

Battlefield 3: Premium Edition is a substantial compilation because it puts the important material together: five DLC packs, 20 maps, four game modes, 20 weapons, and more than ten vehicles. That is the sort of bundle that changes how much of the game you can actually explore, not just how many cosmetic trinkets sit in an inventory.

There is still a clear split between the essential and the incidental. The expansions themselves carry the value; the queue priority, exclusive events, Double XP weekends, strategy guides, videos, Platoon decorations, and extra cosmetic items are bonuses for people who expect this to be part of their regular rotation. Treat those as pleasant extras, not the reason to commit.

If you are returning to Battlefield 3 or want its multiplayer content gathered into one edition, Premium is the sensible route. It has enough maps and side goals to reward persistence, enough new equipment to encourage experimentation, and enough practical membership perks to acknowledge the players who keep showing up. The payoff is strongest when you plan to make use of the full collection rather than dip in once.