As I sit down to write this, I find myself whistling, much as I’ve been catching myself doing for the past couple of weeks. The whistle heavy theme of Battlefield Heroes must have been developed my military scientists, miles underground, in some secret facility. Never has such an addictive sound been introduced to my ears. I’ve been whistling this theme at work, on my way to class and pretty much any other activity that is whistling friendly. This catchy tune is overall representative of the game itself, it’s simple; it stays brief and to the point and it can put a smile on your face every time you fire it up, jumping into the fray between the Royal Army and the Nationalists.

Battlefield Heroes has a laundry list of things going for it, first and foremost is the cost, which comes in at precisely nothing. The game is free to play through your web browser, a trend kicked off earlier this year with Quake Live. One difference here is that while Quake Live is ad supported, Battlefield Heroes takes a much less passive approach to garnering funds. Battlefield Heroes supports itself by providing you, the player, with access to Battlefunds. These precious Battlefunds can net you unique clothing items, breaking your hero out of the drab jumpsuit sported by either side and into nearly any snazzy threads you can think of. I was killed more than once by a kilt wearing soldier who had on an “I’m With Stupid” shirt. Luckily this in-game currency does not manage to tip the scales of war in anyone’s direction, other than in the clothing department. All of the weapons, emotes, and skills are only obtainable by leveling up your character through playing, so that while you can purchase an XP booster with Battlefunds, it remains remarkably well balanced. Everyone is on a level playing field here.

Visually the game takes a departure from standard Battlefield fare. The brown grit of historic, modern, and futuristic combat is nowhere to be found, and it’s a pleasant change. The historically questionable battlefields contained within this free game are filled with sweeping meadows, large green fields, and brightly colored towns. There’s a slant towards cheery in every visual aspect of the game, even the explosions tend to look more fun than dangerous. Player characters run, jump, and fly through the air, explosion underfoot, with a stiffness and mock seriousness that makes light of the fact that at a base level, this is still a shooter. Lending further to the lack of seriousness here are the emotes. Any character in need of a ride sticks his thumb and does a “Vroom, vroom!”, desperate calls for a medic have characters clutching their side and hanging their head, while waving desperately for someone to notice. There’s nothing in here that isn’t capable of causing a smile, at the very least. I usually found myself laughing while ripping through throngs of the opposing army.

From a game play standpoint, as someone who is used to playing games with leaning mechanics, cover systems and the like, it feels too simple at first. Viewing your hero from a locked-in third person perspective you push them forward into the heat of battle with the standard WASD layout. You can crouch, you can jump, and you can deploy your parachute if you fall from a great height, but that’s all you can do. While this at first bothered me, I eventually came to appreciate the simplicity once I was able to take my Serious Business hat off and just enjoy the game.

Along the bottom of the screen is a bar that you can fill with your various abilities and weapons you earn and purchase along the way. My character, for instance, has the ability to hurl explosive barrels at the competition, as well as the handy skill of being able to consume all nearby grenades and turn them into health. While other characters I ran into had skills ranging from cloaking, healing, and even vehicle repair. On the armament side of things there’s a fairly narrow selection for each class. Everyone is given a primary weapon, be it a heavy machinegun, a sniper rifle or a standard infantry rifle and a side arm. Following the theme, these all make sounds more similar to children playing cops and robbers than realistic gunfire sounds. On foot isn’t the only way to take on the enemy, or always the best.

Vehicles dot the starting point and various capture points on each map. Whether or not you should dive into a particular one is up to you, as I quickly found out. It didn’t take long for me to realize I probably shouldn’t be in control of anything the required the use of wings and not diving headlong into the ground. While the planes aren’t the easiest thing to fly, they’re simpler than planes in most other games; you’ve just got to give it some practice. The other vehicles here require far less effort, jeeps control very simply, as well do the tanks. They’re all fun to drive or fly around the battlefield, although I did at times run into some situations where they’d shoot up into the air for no reason, one of the few bugs I’ve encountered.

Battlefield Heroes possesses the depth to function as my primary multiplayer game. It also stays simple enough to be something you play once or twice a week. Regardless of how much time you spend with it, the game keeps you feeling rewarded and coming back for more. I feel confident in urging everyone to check it out, after all, it doesn’t cost a penny and I’ve had an absolute blast on it so far without having spent a penny. Hardcore shooter lovers and those who couldn’t care less about competitive action-fests can all find common ground here.

Get your Battlefield on right here.

Doin It RIGHT:- Humor pervades every aspect of the game - The learning curve is nearly non-existent. - It’s free!	Doin It RONG:- I can’t stop whistling the theme. - Joining friends doesn’t always work. - No swear filter.
FINAL SCORE: 8.5 / 10

       

Tags: Battlefield, EA, Heroes, PC, Review

This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 1st, 2009 at 8:13 pm and is filed under PC, Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.