Online games are certainly popular these days, and, because they focus on cooperative or team play, they will continue to deliver a great experience to gamers. Titles such as Team Fortress 2 or MMORPGs (Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games) like World of Warcraft have shown that you don't necessarily need a singleplayer mode for a successful game.

Now, it seems that Electronic Arts wants to bring something very different to the online gaming scene, as it has tasked its DICE studio, responsible for the Battlefield shooter franchise and the recent Mirror's Edge, to create an online game. But don't think this will be any ordinary game, as this new title, Battlefield Heroes, will be completely free to play.

The game will be completely supported through ads that will appear at the beginning of it, and by various micro transactions offered to the player. Although being slated for a 2008 release, due to some major changes made to the whole experience, the game was postponed until spring this year. The game promises to bring a more amusing approach to online shooters, similar to Team Fortress 2, and will deliver a great experience to the fans of online games. 

Aleksander Grondal, the producer of Battlefield Heroes, has just revealed that this new title might appeal to a lot MMO players, due to the fact that every character will have distinct abilities, which can be used in different situations. Also, the social aspect of the game will play an important role for some of the players, as it emphasizes the fact that you can make new friends by playing games with them.

“You trigger [the special abilities], and they have a refresh timer, and it's very MMO-y, in a sense. I think it can appeal to an MMO crowd. They need to get around the mindset that this isn't one persistent world that they're in, but I think they can get into that. It will be interesting to see if we see those types of demographics also playing our game. We built a game where you can be a bit social in the game, if you will, with the emotes – being sort of silly about it, instead of just going and shooting.”

Battlefield Heroes does seems like a very fun experience, but until we see the complete product in spring, fans of the Battlefield franchise can still enjoy the online modes of previous shooters in the series made by the DICE studios.