EA's Battlefield Heroes, a free FPS - US & Europe only :(

[Drac]

Dang, turns out we may never see this game:

Australia & Others Will Miss Out On Battlefield Heroes | Kotaku Australia

[Spectre8]

More guff here.

[wytefang]

I'm not at all onboard for this extremely underwhelming game and here's why:



1. Crappy 3rd-person perspective

2. A deep-seated suspicion that DICE is, in fact, going to make micro-transactions out of useful abilities in the game rather than just having purchasable items be only cosmetic in nature.

3. No mini-map actually sounds less helpful as opposed to its omission's intended effect

4. Low system requirements usually mean this won't be such a great-looking game - artsy-fartsy TF2 graphic style or not (and the screenshots seem to be proving this concern to be accurate - they look horribly "meh" at best). Hamstringing gamers who saved up their hard-earned cash to have a nice high-end system isn't the best way to make your game appeal to everyone - not solely the casual gamer who hasn't upgraded his computer in 5-10 years. IMPORTANT CLARIFICATION: I'm in FULL support of games offering more manageable or realistic hardware requirements but at the same time they also need to include high-end goodies too. Stardock, developer/publisher of the amazing Galactic Civilization series understands this and their games are entirely scaleable, which is awesome.

5. Removal of one-hit knife kills or sniper shots - I would hope that they won't even bother including these weapons then because that's, well, pretty much the whole point of using them

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It just sounds like a total waste of time, free or not. I've been hearing a lot of gamers decry people who are wracking on this game because "it's free" but people critique free things all the time - the best example is Television.

My main concern is that if this dorky idea does well it'll lead to dumbing down of BF3 (which they've all but confirmed they're working on). Thankfully this is just a dumb side-project.

Granted, time will really tell if it's worth the mustard - and I'll try it out like anyone else, because...it's free - but I'm pretty darn sure this is not any kind of game I'll enjoy. All the signs point otherwise.

[Spectre8]

Dumbing down BF3?? You mean MORE than BF2?? Surely you jest!??! That's simply an impossiblility!

BF2 was dumbed down for the masses - absolutely. I'm pretty sure they wouldn't take it down too much further than it currently is, it would destroy the franchise beyond hope of redemption. But to dumb down Heroes... sure, why not. It looks to me to be absolutely an arcade shoot-em-up with nothing deep to it whatsoever. Maybe there'll be something in there to give it an edge...

Albatross18 is a free online golf game done in an anime style. It's pretty cool, and did I mention totally free?? However at it's heart, it's a pretty solid golfing game. The physics, although fictitious, are solid, and consistent. It's all good.

Perhaps Heroes might be somewhat similar. I hold very low hopes for this title, and so I'll most likely be pleasantly surprised! Think dumb arcade shoot-em-up, and you'll probably be right on the money.

Now... do you think Dice listened to my suggestions for the next BF game?!?!

[Ned]

trailer - link -

[t0p5ecret]

Jesus guys chill, its just supposed to be a fun browser launched game, and yes it will be available in Australia and there are no ingame ads, ads are simply presented on the browser page you have to launch it from.

[wytefang]

I'm not faulting what the game is being presented as - a simple, free game - but at the same time, just because something is free doesn't mean it's immune to critical assessment, either. People watch free TV shows all the time and still present an opinion on whether or not they're any good.

I'm definitely willing to give it a try but I was also pointing out specific reasons why no one should get their hopes up, at all, for this game.

[t0p5ecret]

Yes the difference in your example however is people have watched the program in question, I cannot stand people that air their cynical negative opinions without even have played the game/seen the show/movie in question.

[wytefang]

Well in all fairness to those of us who feel doubtful about it, the previews are pretty clear about what to expect. Take my concerns, for example, DICE has clearly said that the game will be in 3rd-person, that there won't be any 1-hit kills (neither Knife nor Sniper), that it's a very simplistic style of game, etc... Furthermore, anyone can view the trailer videos of gameplay and see the art (which is in a nearly finished state according to several previews since it's meant to be simple-looking and basic) and thus get a relatively accurate impression of how the game will look on release. I'm not so sure that my concerns aren't accurate. These are components that define how the game will feel and play so it's not necessary to have played the game first as related to these concerns.

In light of that, I don't think it's "cynical", necessarily, as much as being realistic with my expectations in light of the information given out to game journalist for preview purposes.

[t0p5ecret]

I guess my issue with your comments is that I think you need to, as with most games, review/look at them from the angle at which they are being pitched, this game is being pitched as fast paced, easy to get into, and above all else fun. I don't think it has ever been looked at by the developers as a progression for current BF series players to take as the next best thing in the series. Kudos to them for taking things that were exploits in the previous games like wing riding and looking through walls(now a non issue do to the 3rd person) and making them parts of the game that will actually enhance the fun factor.