The Battlefield Blog announces the launch of open beta testing of Battlefield 3, the next installment in DICE's military shooter series. Here's word on how to get the Windows PC edition of the beta: "If you have already installed our new download service Origin, go to the section “Free games”, where the Battlefield 3 Open Beta will appear for download. You can also head to this product page via the web. If you have not installed Origin yet, it will ask you to do so before proceeding with the download of the Open Beta itself." Here's word:

Played on the Operation Métro map in Rush mode that won us Best Action Game and Best Multiplayer Game at E3, this is your chance to experience one of many flavors of Battlefield 3.

Make sure to head to our free social platform Battlelog to check your in-depth stats progression, start your own Platoon, and see how your friends are doing in the news feed. To get you started on the Operation Métro map, here are some playing tips straight from us at DICE. Enjoy, and let us know what you think!

We would also like to invite you to leave any feedback to us at DICE via the forums in the social platform Battlelog. Remember that this software is in Beta and does not represent final quality. For a full FAQ on the Open Beta, head here.

The Open Beta ends on October 10th. Return here for ongoing news, updates, and announcements during the Open Beta period.

DICE’S TOP 10 BATTLEFIELD 3 OPERATION MÉTRO 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.