Hey PC gamers and shooter fans – if for some reason you never got around to picking up the best shooter of 2011, EA is offering Battlefield 3 for free for one week.

It’s part of their new “On the House” program – the publisher is offering a couple of different freebie days and opportunities to Origin users (oh yeah, you’ll need Origin to download and play Battlefield 3). They’ve been running a regular Free Code Friday as well as the EA Tuesday Exclusive, which is exactly like Free Code Friday except it happens three days earlier.

Plants vs. Zombies was EA’s last big offer on this front, with the publisher giving out free codes for the PC and Mac for PopCap’s beloved tower defense game. It’s actually still free if you didn’t get a chance to download it earlier this month. (Get on that, already)

While its campaign wasn’t great (it was a mess, frankly), Battlefield 3 had maybe the most addictive multiplayer shooter experience of that year. Each of the sprawling maps offered plenty of opportunities for varied, violent encounters while helicopters continued to offer 100% death to 95% of players daring enough to attempt to fly one.

Everything from the wildly varied weapon selection and customization, to vehicles, to the perfectly messy way combat tended to steer sideways for your team or your opponents (the benefit of pitting a big ole grip of players against one another), Battlefield 3 felt essential if you’re the kind of person who likes looking down gunsights.

HT: EA