Battlefield Heroes’ preview: introducing EA’s free-to-play casual shooter
May 17, 2009
Battlefield Heroes’ beta at a glance
version tested:1.01.959
Battlefield Heroes is a free-to-play, casual, FPS game from EA. Still under development, the game is open beta. Well, EA calls it a closed beta but since EA partners give keys away, I will settle for open beta ;)
If you need a key, go to the official page listing partners giving away FREE beta keys. EA reported some beta keys to have been bought and sold while thousands of free keys are just waiting to be tied up to your EA account. No comment!
Battlefield Heroes’ final Release is scheduled to happen sometime this fall, after having being postponed for quite some time. By the way, the game is totally stable as of now (v. 1.01.959) and runs like a charm on my Windows 7 RC x64 computer.
Because you really only care for the conclusion, here are the main things to know about Battlefield Heroes right underneath. If you care for more details, you’ll have a way more details below.
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Top 5Strong points of the game
Flop 5Things that could be improved
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Tip 5To help you in the briefing room as well as on the battlefield
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Should you give it a try?
Well, I think so. For one thing it is free and will be set up on your computer in no time. Secondly, this game could be a major milestone in online PC gaming. I don’t see it replace Team Fortress 2, Day of Defeat Source or Left 4 Dead in the heart so-called hardcore gamers but it will surely find its audience : casual gamers, ageing PC owners or hardcore gamers on lunch breaks, I doubt the servers will be empty.
Why? Well, the game is quite fun actually, although nothing like I played before. Right now, I would actually like to join a game. Yeaaah, I want that new rifle… and that grenade spam ability, I confess :) I really appeals to the part of you that spends countless hours leveling in RPG games.
The game needs a lot of tweaking (beta version) but it stands a fair chance to see me play from time to time in the next weeks. Not that I plan to spend cash on micro-transactions but I want to know where it’s headed.
More importantly, I fear the greatest threat to the game is actually the gamers that do not always play nice. I have noticed one too many players camping at respawns, leaving your base with the last vehicle and two empty seats… or farming for XP. Depending on whether they behave, I continue to play the game or not.
Talking Business Model and profits, briefly
However, it is quite possible EA will make a profit with this game: I saw quite few people with customized outfits and EA offers to rent servers for a fee. Plus there were supposed to monetize the website traffic by displaying some ads on the website, but I don’t see them as of know. Finally, although EA announced no such thing, they could very well use in-game advertising to make more cash. I will definitely write some more about it if I can get my hand on some figures.
Anyway, what is it like on the battlefield?
Well, if you have already tried it, you will certainly agree, it is most definitely casual. Not in a bad way, though. It is not aimed at an hardcore FPS player, that is all. The game features a third-person view (no first-person view available) and simple – but cute – graphics, cartoon style (see screenshots below).
The basics
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Two factions fight to capture and hold different positions on the map. The factions are identical in the sense that each one of them offer the same 3 classes (soldier, gunner and commando). Nothing very innovative here. |
| As you would expect, the gameplay is simple and you won’t find such things as a prone stance, peeking left or right (which would make little sense given the third-person view by the way :), or iron sights (likewise). This is definitely casual – again, no judgment here. |  |
The vehicles
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You can see a tank, a few jeeps on the left and a place in the background (click to enlarge). |
Three types of vehicles are available to you: jeeps, tanks and planes. The vehicles are easy to maneuver expect for the plane maybe but I must admit I was never any good at piloting in the original Battlefield series. And I saw some pilots do just fine, so don’t think it’s that hard to fly properly :) |
A very good thing when it comes to vehicles is that they offer room for two or three people, a driver and one or two passengers/gunners. You can also assume control of a sort a flak 88 canon but obviously, you will not move an inch :)
Last but not least, I had the feeling there was little you could do when fighting on foot against a tank. You could use sticky bombs, that is if you have chosen to equip some at the expense of grenades, but the tank can shoot from a distance. And since the tank is quite easy to maneuver and benefits from a fairly good speed… it is not a fair fight. Not to mention the third-person view that allows the tank commander to see around it, not allowing the poor soldier to avoid the confrontation unnoticed.
Introducing Abilities
An important part of the gameplay stems from the different abilities you can earn. Each ability has a cool down timer and different levels of proficiency, just as most of Action RPG games (e.g. Diablo). This bring more depth to the game allowing you to heal teammates in close proximity, to fix a vehicle or to fire burning bullets for a short period of time.
This gives a touch of MMO to the game since you will level and have the opportunity to exchange Valor Points for the abilities you fancy. Once you have learnt an ability, it’s yours for good. Unlike additional equipment or apparel you can ‘get’ from the store. See below ;)
Earning Valor Points and buying Battlefunds
Leveling up will award you Valor Points; Accomplishing ‘missions’ (achievements, really) will too. Spending Valor Points will get you new new weapons, some pieces of apparel (shirts, trousers), plus some emotes (gestures) and widgets. Widgets are equipment that, contrary to a new pair of boots or a given emote will impact the way you play. Widgets include band-aids and toolkits to boost your health or fix your vehicle. These are not to be confused with abilities for one more important reason : weapons, widgets, emotes and apparel expire !
This means you’ll have to spend Valor Points over and over again as time goes by.
Apart from Valor Points you earn, there is something else you have to know about : Battlefunds. These have to be bought with real money and you’ will get 700 of them for €5. Given that a standard piece of apparel cost in average 140 Battlefunds, you’ll get it for €1. Battlefunds (BF) cannot be earned or exchanged for Valor Points (VP). Additionally, a given item can either be acquired by spending VP or BF. Basically, this means you won’t customize your avatar much if you are not willing to spent some money on it.
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BF will get you most apparel and emotes, more than half of the widgets but no weapons. That is a good move toward fair-play. What is not, is that you can spend BF on VP and XP boosts. That is definitely not something I advocate. If BF were limited to buying items that do not impact your strength, I would totally back up EA’s move toward a free-to-play, micro-transactions supported shooter. The way is it now, money can make your life easier, and consequently, the game quite unfair. Unless the match making system takes that into account, which I frankly don’t know about.
Missions
Missions are much liked basic achievements apart from the fact you have three Mission slots and must assign up to three before joining a game from the ones available to you. They do not bring much to the gameplay since a typical mission will be to kill x enemies. Still, it might get better as you level up and in the meantime, it brings in Valor Points ;)
Match making
I would like to talk in more details about the match making system. Not that I reject the idea as whole, but rather, I think it should be tuned a little. And that’s what a beta is after all.
| For those of you who never heard this term, it is a system affecting you automatically to server, based on your level here, and possibly on your skills (Kills to Death ratio for instance).The idea, although not new at all, is interesting, especially given the fact the game is aimed at casual gamers. |  |
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What bugged me is that it prevented me to play on several occasions.Sometimes, no server matches you level and/or skills. When that happens, there is nothing you can do but wait! …Or change hero, but that’s little comfort. |
Match making also means that if you landed on a server you don’t like, you have no guarantee you won’t join that exact server again just after having left.
At some point, I landed on an XP farming server – a server where the two teams took turn to capture positions and consequently earn more XP and/or complete missions. I was definitely not in the mood for a stare contest in front of a flag so I decided to quit and prayed I would join another server. I was lucky that time but I also had worse experiences where I would join the same server again and again. Mind you, you can also join an almost empty server that will wait for more players to join until you can start the fight. Not much better, right?
F5’ed.
More Screenshots
Click to enlarge
Waiting for others players to join… happens way to often!
Just killed the guy who camped at my respawn point and killed me 15+ times before I could, finally, respawn somewhere else, grab a tank and crush his tank
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Different shots from the store, where you can buy weapons, widgets and emotes. All for a given period of time. (click to enlarge) |
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