This is the year of two FPS titans clashing in a battle so epic it may very melt our brains and make our eyes pop from exposure to sheer awesomeness! I am, of course, referring to Battlefield 3 vs Modern Warfare 3, an argument that spans the entire internet.

The point is, though, that the highly controversial Battlefield 3 Beta has now officially come to an end, leaving some fans angry and others ecstatic. No more can we jump online and snipe away, no more can we battle through the ruined subway and no more can we curse that bastard on the other side of the map who just wiped us out with a freaking machine gun with a scope. Ok, so we’ve only got a few more weeks to wait, but that’s not the point, the point is that those few weeks are going to suck! Well, they would if Forza 4 and Batman: Arkham City weren’t coming out, anyway.

EA have promised that the raft of glitches and problems found within the Beta won’t exist in the full retail product and that the graphics seen in the Beta weren’t representative of the final game, as the game build used for the Beta was around a month old.

DICE also stated that the biggest reason for the Beta was actually to test the dedicated servers that the game will use by putting it under as much stress as possible to ensure the best experience possible when Battlefield 3 releases at the end of October. 

The game is yet to go Gold, meaning it has been sent to the factory and gone into full production, and so gameplay tweaks based on the Beta are still possible, so be prepared for a final game that could feel considerably different to play.

But the big question is whether the Beta has damaged Battlefield 3’s sales or improved them, with many gamers being put off of the full product by the amount of problems found in the Beta, while others readily accepted that, since it’s a Beta and not a demo, the final product would not include these problems

And to round of this quick news post, here’s the top ten things that DICE are promising to have fixed, tweaked or changed by time the game releases, straight from the developers mouth:

1. Squad issues: Cannot play with friends within same squad, squads get split up onto opposite teams, etc.
There will be improved squad functionality in the retail game (including but not limited to): the ability to create squads prior to launching into a game, sticking with your squad when joining a game and continuing together through future games (If team balance on the server allows it), inviting friends to a squad and changing squads once in game.
2. Regarding additional Open Beta content and fixes/patches for consoles, including PlayStation 3 issues with chat and party systems
While we would like to patch the Open Beta, DICE is currently focusing its available resources on polishing the retail game.
3. Will DICE have enough time to iron out everything by release?
Please see General Manager Karl Magnus Troedsson’s blog post regarding this question.
4. Can we have ability to change settings/options before deployment into match on PC?
The ability to modify your settings via the deploy screen has been added into the retail game.
5. Issues with terrain stability and “falling into the map” on Operation Métro
This has been fixed for the beta via a server side update.
6. Kill cam sometimes zooms out too far or outside the map
This has been fixed for the launch of the retail game.
7. A bug that sometimes keeps some players from being able to sprint
This has been fixed for the launch of the retail game.
8. Screen flickering/stuttering. Blue screen remains after respawn. Game locks up after deploying C4 (360)
This has been fixed for the launch of the retail game.
9. Downed bodies appear to be dead, but are not
The DICE team has been looking into this issue – which is caused by a combination of incidents in a confined area – and are working hard to address the issue for the launch of the retail game.
10. Why is the hit detection seemingly different from Battlefield: Bad Company 2?
The netcode is one of the many things that we are testing as part of the Open Beta and is not necessarily reflective of the final retail game. The DICE team appreciates and has heard the feedback you’ve provided and is further optimizing online play.