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Battlefield Heroes Goes Into Open Beta
EA Digital Illusions CE has quietly opened up the beta of Battlefield Heroes, their long-delayed, free-to-play shooter. After gradually scaling up the number of players in the closed beta, they've now made the game available to everyone and lifted the NDA. EA has not yet mentioned this in an official announcement, probably hoping to keep their servers from being overwhelmed. The game's website is now accepting signups. IGN ran a hands-on preview of Battlefield Heroes back in April.
First, this is a FREE to play "web based" game. Web based is a bit misleading as while it is launched from a browser (ad supported), it is fully installed and runs fullscreen.
Second, the game is a "cartoon shooter" based around 3 classes. The heavy Gunner, the light knife/sniper rifle toting Commando and the middle ground SMG using Soldier.
You're able to level up much like in an MMO and every 2 levels you get another point to spend on new abilities. Burning Bullets, Stealth, Blasting Strike (an ability that knocks everyone back, including vehicles), etc. Currently the highest attainable level is 30 and it takes quite a while to get there.
The game takes a lot from past Battlefield games. Controllable territory via flags placed around the maps. Airplanes, Tanks and Jeeps are all fully controllable.
The only thing you can pay money for is "Battlefunds" (Roughly $5 for 700 Battlefunds). These can be used to buy outfits for your charater and give NO advantage to you. So someone that spends $100 on battlefunds will have zero tactical advantage over someone who never spends a penny. (For reference, a permanent Battlefund purchased item generally costs 560 Battlefunds but you can "rent" them for a month for 140 Battlefunds). There are also free points that you earn slowly during play called Valor Points. These can also be spent on "free" clothing in the in game store. There are also healing "widgets"/spells that you can pick up to heal you (and another type to heal your vehicle).
Right now there are only 4 maps (2 infantry only and 2 with a moderate to heavy emphasis on vehicles). All of them feel very polished and fun to play over and over again. DICE has mentioned that they have new maps on the horizon.
Now, my personal opinion. The game is about FUN. This isn't a hardcore shooter such as Counter-Strike and doesn't claim to be. This game is one of those that you can easily pick up and just have some fun! If you're looking for realism and a serious tournament game, look elsewhere. But if you just want some fun comedic gameplay (not all that much unlike Team Fortress 2) this game might be for you.
Overall, coming from an old school Duke Nukem/Quake1/2/3/Counter-Strike/Battlefield player, this is a fun game. Give it a try if you want to see what it is about, again, it is FREE!
I didn't play Battlefield Heroes for more than 30 minutes, so someone can come in here and correct me, but aside from the "first impression" looks the games are completely different.
BH plays in third-person, on large battlefield-style maps (capture points, tickets, etc) with a few slightly different classes that branch out more with additional unlocks - the unlock system being a very large component of the game in general. There are also vehicles on some maps.
TF2 plays in first-person on maps with various objectives (some staged objective, some escort, some CTF, etc) with many classes that are very different and have some very specific interplay between them. There is an unlock system but it is fairly minimal.
One could go into a lot more specifics, but that is the short version.
Why, yes I have been touched by His noodly appendage. And I plan to sue.