Rumor Central: Battlefield 3 Info Leaked

Hold on to your hats, DigitalBattle is reporting that there's been an info leak on Battlefield 3.

The website has received a PDF file containing what appears to be a 3-page document which was prepared to present to investors later this year. Included in the document is a fairly robust feature list.

First off the list is the mention of a 2008 release date, with a possible public beta in summer of next year. The game is powered by "Frostbite DX" and will be returning to the more popular era that Battlefield 2 took place in - modern day - with two playable factions: NATO and the Middle Eastern Coalition.

There are said to be 8 maps, according to the feature set - one titled "Baghdad Burning" - with most of them being Middle Eastern-based urban settings.

New to the series is what will be called "Battalions" - a group consisting of three to four squads. This of course means Squads and Commanders return, as does online stat tracking, which should be more robust with "real world ranks."

Another new addition is listed as the "Solider" feature, which sounds to be something similar to MMO character advancement and avatars. There are of course five playable classes: Sniper, Assault, Engineer, Medic and Support, with 48 vehicles, 34 different weapons and another 22 that are unlockable for a total of 56.

Additional unlocks include ammunition, new types of body armor, helmets, camouflage and accessories.

The document mentions Windows Vista and OS X as operating systems, but that doesn't mean Windows XP is counted out; it also says to expect an announcement and teaser trailer in January 2008, so we'll have to wait and see if this is true or not. Only time will tell.