DICE has revealed that Battlefield 3 will have years’ worth of unlocks, and will require a lot of time and dedication to unlock them all. 10 times as much unlocks as Battlefield 2, which is a lot. It is so much deep that even the vehicles feature unlocks, “huge unlock tree for vehicles alone,” said the BF3 blog.

There will be a lot of medals that encourage team work and reward skill, commitment, and teamplay prowess, mentioned Valerian Noghin and Fredrik Thylander, the game’s persistence designers. There is a new “concept of service stars” in the game, that challenge the hardcore, who are eligible for service stars under their badge as they level up.

“Anytime your kill card is displayed, everyone will see exactly how experienced you are with your current equipment. The ultimate bragging right would be for a player to be awarded the rank of Colonel with 100 Service Stars attached, and to have 100 stars in all weapons, kits, and vehicles. Getting there will be a massive task – consider that a challenge.”

Battlefield 3 releases on October 25th on the PC, PS3 and the Xbox 360.