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Battlefield Heroes, first impressions from the beta

Garrett Dodd   on 08 April 2009 - 16:14 · 33 comments & 3175 views

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Having signed up to the beta just a little time ago, I had finally received my beta key and was ready to try it out. I am not what you would really call a veteran to the series. I have played 1942, Vietnam, and some of the sequel at some LANs, but that is about it.



Battlefield Heroes is the latest in the Battlefield franchise developed by Electronic Art's Digital Illusions CE (popularly known as DICE). The game is being powered by their proprietary Refractor 2 Engine (the one that powered 1942) and has a cell shaded graphic style (games like XIII, Team Fortress 2, which this game will remind you off, Bleach and Legend of Zelda are just to name a few to use the same style). The game is currently in its beta stage and has no set release date. The biggest feature is its price. It's FREE. Yup, the so called evil empire of the video game industry is making a new game for free, well sort of.

The game uses the Play 4 Free model, meaning that the game will generate using advertising (which will not be seen in game, just in the menu's and on the website) and through a series of micropayments. We are not really sure what that is yet, but we figure something along the line of character upgrades.



The game also focuses making it accessible to everyone, sort of catering to the casual gamer other then than the hardcore (otherwise known as the Nintendo model), and not just those with expensive hardware who are trying to immerse themselves within some sort of virtual world. The requirements of the game so far are as follows:
    • Windows XP/Vista
    • 1 GHz CPU
    • 512 MB RAM for XP (1 GB RAM for Vista)
    • 1 GB hard disk space
    • DirectX compatible 64 MB graphics card with Pixel Shader 2.0 or better
    • DirectX compatible sound card
    • Internet connection: 256kbit cable/DSL connection

The game play itself is also very "dumbed" down, meaning that the game emphasizes more on all out fun then deep diverse game play. The game is really just point and shoot, rather than setting up a whole plan to go out and figure out a way to capture certain points or take down certain targets. The game also has a leveling system where players are rewarded for killing and capturing flags. Oh yes, the game currently only features a mode where you and your team, try to take over certain points on the map. Each time you hit a guy with a bullet you get some experience, you kill him, you get more. You capture or help capture a point you continue to gain points.



The level cap has yet to be determined but it looks like it may be around 40 or 50. Like all battlefield games it includes a class system: Soldier, Gunner and Commando. Soldiers wield a machine gun as a primary weapon, Gunners have a rocket launcher and the Commando carry's a sniper rifle. Like I said earlier, everything about it will remind you of Team Fortress 2. The way the characters look, move and animate look straight out of Valve's popular online shooter, but that's not a bad thing. I have only played it for a short time but it's been a fun time so far. The things that separate it, and make it just like every other battlefield game are the vehicles. You can drive a Jeep like vehicles, tanks and planes. The coolest part about the planes is that two teammates can ride shotgun on the wings while one does the flying. It's actually really cool to do and to see while playing a game.

The graphics look really clean and the couple of maps that are included in the beta look really good too. There are places to cover, hide, snipe and drive a tank through. The maps are big enough were flying a plane is really fun. I ran the game on two machines. My Macbook which has a 2.0ghz Core 2 Duo, 4 gigs of RAM and an Intel GMA950 chipset and my desktop that has a 3.0ghz Core 2 Duo, 4 gigs of ram and a Nvidia XFX 8800gt. Both machines were running Windows 7 build 7068 (x86 on Macbook, x64 on Desktop). To my amazement the game ran great on both machines. New games are almost impossible to come by for my integrated graphics GPU and when it does happen it's sort of an oddity. Granted I had to put the graphics all the way down on my Macbook, but I was able to run it at 1280x800 and it looked pretty good and ran even better. On my desktop I was able to crank the graphics without issue and it ran and looks pretty good as well. And in my opinion this is how I believe the Play 4 Free model will work. Like Quake Live (well almost, when out of beta Quake Live will be out on all three major computing platforms, while this looks like a Windows only game) it gives the chance for everyone to play, and gives a chance for the ad agency to reach a broader audience, thus creating more revenue for the developers.



The game itself is browser based. Meaning that you need to visit the site from your browser (http://www.battlefield-heroes.com), using either Firefox or Internet Explorer. Once there, it opens up the game itself and you are signed into the service. Heroes, which are the characters you control while playing the game, are created on the site and have a nice number of customization options (clothing, facial features etc.). More can be purchased in the in game store, like a parrot or a monkey! The way you earn money is by playing the game. Currently items purchased from the store only last a certain amount of time, and when time is up, must be repurchased. The heroes can also play for either the Royal Army (good guys) or the National Army (bad guys). Once you have chosen your Hero (which is created on the site and up to four are allowed to be created), you can play the tutorial, fiddle around in the options or jump right into action. Installing the game is very quick and most content is streamed in real time, so having a fast internet connection is key. The game server you are put it is chosen by the game's built in matchmaking system. You can also join a game server that one of your friend's may be playing but that is a little buggy. Sometimes my friend was able to join the game I was in, but I was never able to join the servers he was playing in. The game will match you up against people who are of similar skill level, making the games always fun and challenging.

Like mentioned earlier, the game is currently in the beta stage, and if you haven't signed up you should visit http://www.battlefield-heroes.com/news/bat...beta-key-signup to sign up. The game is a great time waster and has a diverse enough game play and a good leveling system that will make you want to play again.

Post a comment · Send to friend Comments · There are 33 additional comments
(3 replies) #1 Daz_wood on 08 Apr 2009 - 16:33
Didn't you just sign an NDA?
#1.1 Kevola on 08 Apr 2009 - 16:52
Yeah...there is definitely an NDA when signing up for the beta...
#1.2 rajputwarrior on 08 Apr 2009 - 17:00
from what i gathered from the NDA you can't show new media like screenshots and videos. All of the images shown here are already public. Impressions without revealing anything. From what i have read already on the web about the game in previews and what not, i am not revealing anything different about the game.

http://pc.ign.com/articles/855/855884p1.html

comparing it to that i don't see how my article is really revealing anything different from that. I guess it was a good thing that i was unable to take screen shots...
#1.3 :: Lyon :: on 09 Apr 2009 - 00:26
I was about to ask the same thing, because I've been longing to post a Beta preview on my blog lol
(1 reply) #2 C_Guy on 08 Apr 2009 - 16:35
Ooo another war game. How brilliantly original.
#2.1 David3k on 08 Apr 2009 - 18:21
C_Guy said,
Ooo another sarcastic post. How brilliantly original.


Fix'd
(4 replies) #3 DigitalDude on 08 Apr 2009 - 16:36
The style of this kind of reminds me of TF2
#3.1 OldePhart on 08 Apr 2009 - 16:51
A lot of gamers have said they stole from Valve's Team Fortress 2. I think it's a bit different.
#3.2 splur on 08 Apr 2009 - 17:25
Ya, that looks a lot like TF2... I guess they ran out of ideas.
#3.3 Beastage on 08 Apr 2009 - 21:21
Well TF2 is good enough to deserve a competition , I mean lets face it , it taken Valve some serious long time to fix a few bugs like the Vista crash on exit bug.

#3.4 +Recon415 on 08 Apr 2009 - 21:25
From what I've seen from gameplay videos ect it's like TF2 with more of a childish atmosphere. TF2 has a bit of humour here and there (like player models + voice actors), but it can get pretty serious...at least until you hear a heavy going "Om nom nom" on his sandvich from around the corner.

This game just takes everything and makes it silly. From the little menu tune, to the sound effects. I'm sure my little brother would love it, not I.
(1 reply) #4 bloodrain on 08 Apr 2009 - 16:38
wow what a lot of false information, they already have the pricing of all items, release date, and the level cap is 30.
#4.1 rajputwarrior on 08 Apr 2009 - 16:43
they have pricing for some items, release date is still yet unknown, but probably will be this year sometime and that level cap is for the beta. What it will actually be when the game is out no one knows yet

http://pc.ign.com/objects/142/14229972.html

http://www.battlefield-heroes.com/forum/ba...lease-date-soon

release date has yet to be announced
#5 FoxieFoxie on 08 Apr 2009 - 17:07
The only game which is worth wasting my life is Diablo 3 and Starcraft 2. Oh, wait, that's 2 games.
#6 +littleneutrino on 08 Apr 2009 - 17:08
i played it for a while i was not impressed it felt too much like a boring shooter with not much to do however there were not many people playing at the time and i know the that the game is not finished.
(2 replies) #7 soothsayer on 08 Apr 2009 - 17:35
I've been having tons of fun with this game.
#7.1 exotoxic on 08 Apr 2009 - 17:43
soothsayer said,
I've been having tons of fun with this game.


+1 iv been playing since the first beta
#7.2 wolfi64 on 09 Apr 2009 - 11:16
Yep, great fun, even for a real BF series vet like me. Just right for the fun in between real life events so you don't have to play a big and serious game which eats up your system resources.
(2 replies) #8 dock on 08 Apr 2009 - 18:17
No offense, but this is a pretty bad writeup. Maybe you can spend more than 10 minutes on the next one?
#8.1 njeske on 08 Apr 2009 - 20:04
dock said,
No offense, but this is a pretty bad writeup. Maybe you can spend more than 10 minutes on the next one?

yeah... one run through a grammar checker would be nice.
#8.2 shortyg32 on 09 Apr 2009 - 14:13
njeske said,
yeah... one run through a grammar checker would be nice.


didnt seem to StoP mee From rEadING it , azzhole
(1 reply) #9 ph0bia on 08 Apr 2009 - 19:27
this is a joke to the franchise just like bf1943, they should be ashamed.
#9.1 dock on 08 Apr 2009 - 21:22
I'm in the beta and it's quite fun. Also, I believe it's a perfect representation of what the franchise is all about: messing around with friends, doing crazy vehicle tricks, and having a good time.

There are more than enough "serious" shooters available; this one has an original focus - "Shut up and have fun!"
#10 toadeater on 09 Apr 2009 - 02:12
Once I discovered it was 3rd person I lost interest. Good idea to do something like this, but EA screwed it up by dumbing it down too much.
(3 replies) #11 ZombieFly on 09 Apr 2009 - 07:01
NDA anyone?
How many times do you want to start a sentence with "the game..."? there's also a number of really bad factual errors in there too.

Anyway.... with this and the also dumbed down 1943, EA appears to be catering for the console kids who can't think or play multiplayer games as a team, for some reason picking up ammo or health is beyond the new generation of gamers, somehow this makes the game "inaccessible". In my day, we had to call for ammo and our team members would come and supply it. I can only imagine that newer gamers have no clue how to share and run round hoarding their ammo.

DICE - Stop messing with this rubbish and further the PC series.... You appear to have forgotten about the people that made the franchise what it is, the generation of gamers that is now 25-35 and PC based. We don't want cartoon games, we want a revamped team game, you know, like 42, bf2 etc? once again we get left in the dark while you go off chasing the easy money... thanks.

and if i hear "DICE is working on a secret project but we can't tell you what it is yet" again I think i'll go mad.

....enemy boat spotted

Last edited by ZombieFly on 09 Apr 2009 - 07:09
#11.1 jase savior on 09 Apr 2009 - 07:12
ZombieFly said,
NDA anyone?
How many times do you want to start a sentence with "the game..."? there's also a number of really bad factual errors in there too.

Anyway.... with this and the also dumbed down 1943, EA appears to be catering for the console kids who can't think or play multiplayer games as a team, for some reason picking up ammo or health is beyond the new generation of gamers, somehow this makes the game "inaccessible". In my day, we had to call for ammo and our team members would come and supply it. I can only imagine that newer gamers have no clue how to share and run round hoarding their ammo.

DICE - Stop messing with this rubbish and further the PC series.... You appear to have forgotten about the people that made the franchise what it is, the generation of gamers that is now 25-35 and PC based. We don't want cartoon games, we want a revamped team game, you know, like 42, bf2 etc? once again we get left in the dark while you go off chasing the easy money... thanks.

and if i hear "DICE is working on a secret project but we can't tell you what it is yet" again I think i'll go mad.

....enemy boat spotted


-1

Gotta love the hate towards the US. Lol.
#11.2 ZombieFly on 09 Apr 2009 - 08:55
hate towards the US? what are you talking about?
#11.3 ZombieFly on 09 Apr 2009 - 08:55
..
#12 ZombieFly on 09 Apr 2009 - 08:53
oops, triple post!
#13 shortyg32 on 09 Apr 2009 - 14:15
This is a GAME idiots , if you dont have anything nice to say about it shut your ****ing mouth and move on please.
sick of you crying bstards
#14 Aq3e on 10 Apr 2009 - 01:15
Wow some people need to loosen up a bit, Most comments seem based off of how the game looks rather than gameplay. Alot of you are missing the concept, Yes its childish , so what ITS FREE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!, If you don't like it, don't comment and move along. We have no care for you being a faithful "vet" to the game, real vets don't bitch. Grow up.
#15 Deadlydread on 10 Apr 2009 - 03:17
Runs the same engine as 1942 but requires Pixel Shader 2.0? somethings not right there.
#16 Dazer on 10 Apr 2009 - 14:24
I've been signed up for the beta since it was announced.. Given up hope now cause it's been so long!

Can't wait to try it out though.

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