For preservationists and modders, the repack is superior to the legal version.
The Battlefield 3 Premium Edition includes the original 2011 campaign and multiplayer, plus the following: : Back to Karkand : Reimagined maps from Battlefield 2. Close Quarters : Tight, infantry-focused indoor maps. Armored Kill : Massive maps designed for tank and vehicle superiority. : Urban combat set in earthquake-ravaged Tehran.
512 MB VRAM or greater; DirectX 10 or 11 compatible (e.g., NVIDIA 275.33 or newer). General Installation Guide
One of the friends, a keen researcher, discovered that the repack had been created by a group of enthusiasts who had managed to crack the game's copy protection. The repack was indeed exclusive, but not in the way they had thought. It was a pirated version of the game, designed to circumvent the official activation servers.