14 DAY TRIAL // Free-to-play games are extremely popular these days because they don't require the gamer to make any purchases, thus saving money for full-fledged titles, but also because they give companies a chance to make money through various other ways like ads and microtransactions.
That is what Electronic Arts had in mind when it announced that its DICE studio, responsible for the Battlefield franchise and the recent Mirror's Edge, would release Battlefield: Heroes, a free-to-play online shooter that would give players a more comical perspective on warfare rather than the gritty and realistic take of previous Battlefield titles.
The game is now on its second revision, as it was developed once by the team at DICE and even reached closed beta testing but sadly it was scrapped and the whole project was revamped. This time around, I recently got a chance to enter the closed beta for this new version of the game, which aims to be more user friendly and more appropriate for people who want to see the customized characters.
You first start off on the website of the game, where you have the chance to create your own hero, out of the maximum of four slots that each account has. You have two factions, the Royal Army, similar to the Allies in World War II, and the National Army, similar to the Germans in that same conflict. Every faction has three classes, Soldier, Gunner and Commando, each with its own attributes, benefits and weaknesses.
The game currently has only a few maps, but they are very big and will certainly offer some great firefights between the two factions. Each of the bases for the teams has a selection of vehicles, ranging form jeeps to tanks and airplanes, which can be used to get around the map much quicker, as the characters themselves move quite slowly.
I played on three maps and you will definitely be in for a treat as all of them have tight nooks and crannies through which you can squeeze your character and get the jump on the enemies. The choice of class is key, depending on what type of shooter player you are, as those who are used to sneaking around won't have anything to do with the Gunner for example.
Teamwork is essential because each faction starts with a number of tickets, which decreases if you shoot enough enemies. Also, you can hold flags in order to make the tickets go down even faster, with the winner being the first team to reach zero.
The matchmaking system is quite robust, but still seems a bit hard on new players who have level one character. But, slowly and surely you will start to gather points and know your way around the maps in order to really start leveling up.
With all the Value Points you can accumulate during normal gameplay you can go to the in-game store and purchase new things for your character, ranging from clothes to weapons and new abilities that make you more powerful. Alternatively, and here is the catch, you can exchange real money for BattleFunds, which enables you to further customize and equip your character.
The cartoonish style is a great fit for this game and, although to some players it might resemble Team Fortress 2, it still does its best and, in the end, you can't beat the price for which the game can be played. All in all, Battlefield: Heroes, after a few tweaks, will be a great game for people who want a bit of shooter fun.
