While Battlefield 2 offered three different factions to play with (the US, China, and the MEC), the expansion will introduce six new teams of soldiers. Keeping with the expansion's title, the new teams are based on special ops groups from around the globe: Navy SEALs, the British SAS, Russian Spetznas, MEC Special Forces, as well as two more groups of rebels and insurgents.

In addition to 12 new weapons, soldiers will get some new gadgets that should make life on foot a little more interesting. First up was the zipline, shot from a high location with a crossbow, allowing players to slide horizontally from one place to another. (Worth noting: more than one player can use the zipline once it's in place, so a squad can take advantage of the zipline together.) Also new is the grappling hook, which essentially acts as an instant ladder: anywhere you can hook it, you can climb up or down, and so can your teammates (or enemies, for that matter, if you forget to pick it up).

In terms of visual tactics, night vision has been added, which should come in handy in a few of the large, dark warehouse areas shown in our demo. The night vision made a huge difference in the dark, revealing several hidden enemies who would have otherwise gone completely undetected. Also being added are flashbang grenades, as well as tear gas, which will blur up the view of anyone caught in its range. There's a new gas mask that will protect you from the effects of the tear gas, but also limits your field of vision, so there's a tradeoff either way.

That guy in the distance will never know what hit him.

Although we didn't get to see any of them, there are 10 new vehicles planned for Special Forces, as well as 8 new maps. EA wasn't quite ready to divulge specifics on the maps, but did say they would be sticking with the Middle Eastern themes of Battlefield 2, and would all have 16-player / 32-player / 64-player flavors.

Graphically, it was hard to pick out any noticeable upgrades for Special Forces, although, frankly, we really weren't expecting any. Both of the Battlefield 1942 expansions were essentially collections of new maps, vehicles, weapons and gadgets, and it looks like that's exactly what we'll get out of this first Battlefield 2 expansion as well. When asked if there might be a patch bringing any of the new features to BF2 and its maps, EA didn't have much info to offer beyond saying there could be "some surprises" in the future. (Read into that what you will.)

Considering the pre-release buzz on Battlefield 2, it really didn't come as much as a surprise to see an expansion so far into development. Special Forces is being developed by Digital Illusions Canada (the same team that did Battlefield Vietnam) and is currently scheduled for a holiday 2005 release.