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EA Announces Battlefield Play4Free

by - source: Tom's Hardware US

EA is launching another Battlefield-themed play-for-free service, however this one has a hard-core tone.

Friday Electronic Arts updated its Battlefield franchise portfolio with the announcement of Battlefield Play4Free, slated to hit the PC in Spring 2011. As the name indicates, the game will offer the free-to-play model while combining most of the popular maps found in Battlefield 2 with the classes and weapons of Battlefield: Bad Company 2.

But unlike EA's other free-to-play online shooter Battlefield Heroes--which offers cartoonish characters and arcade gameplay--Battlefield Play4Free will render a more realistic experience offering 32-player online battles, signature Battlefield vehicular warfare and sandbox gameplay. The game also boasts advanced graphics and polished production values.

"We broke new ground in 2009 with the launch of Battlefield Heroes; a game that has 6M registered players worldwide. Now we are complementing that arcade shooter with a core, realistic Battlefield shooter experience that fans have been clamoring for," said James Salt, Senior Producer, Battlefield Play4Free. "Battlefield Play4Free is for serious shooter fans who are looking for a premium--but free--experience that rivals top console titles."

According to EA, players will learn new combat skills and earn in-game money to spend on weapons and equipment. They'll also have access to 16 vehicles including the Mil Mi-28 attack helicopter, the F35 VTOL jet fighter, the Russian T-90 main battle tank, and the LSV light strike vehicle.

Those who want to gain early access can register for the closed beta by heading to the official site. The closed beta officially launches on November 30, just in time for the holiday break.

Battlefield Play4Free

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nevertell 11/05/2010 9:49 PM
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soldier37 11/05/2010 10:07 PM
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..Windows boot up time really? Get a SSD drive it takes mine 12 seconds to boot to desktop and shuts down in 2. I loved BF2 but stopped playing it 3 computer upgrades ago. This actually looks good and is free which you cant beat these days! +1 EA/Dice. Looking forward to the Vietnam expansion and BF3 too.

kewlx 11/05/2010 10:18 PM
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samwelaye 11/05/2010 10:21 PM
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Just as long as people cant buy better guns with real money I'd consider playing it

Maxor127 11/05/2010 10:24 PM
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If it's reworked Battlefield 2 maps with destructible environments and Bad Company 2-quality graphics, I'll be interested. If they're just BF2 maps with 6 year old graphics and just new weapons thrown in, I'll be less interested. They may as well just make BF2 free to download.

abswindows7 11/05/2010 10:25 PM
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bustapr 11/05/2010 10:37 PM
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looks awesome. Battlefield 2 maps are the best ever.

Albyint 11/05/2010 10:38 PM
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I love battlefield, but I must admit I dont play BC2 anymore, the game just isnt battlefield on the scale that I came to love. It seems if this is primarily designed for PC and uses BF2 maps, not the choke-point cluster **** COD/BC2 style maps, then it might be a good calling back to old school BF.

If dice screws up BF3, I will cry blood.

However this game looks really good, and I hope it lives up to the Battlefield Moniker, I will definitely give it a shot.

Travis Beane 11/05/2010 10:40 PM
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It's BF2 graphics, BFBC2 weapons/classes, and BF Heroes microtransactions.
You know, the worst of all worlds.
At least there's more maps.

I've lost faith in DICE. They've had enough of my money, time for me to choose someone else.
Seeing as I also dislike CoD and Halo, what shooter will I play next?

Darkerson 11/05/2010 10:43 PM
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I will have to keep an eye on this. Battlefield Heroes is fun and all, but this sounds way more interesting.

number1guy 11/05/2010 10:53 PM
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Travis Beane :
It's BF2 graphics, BFBC2 weapons/classes, and BF Heroes microtransactions.You know, the worst of all worlds.At least there's more maps.I've lost faith in DICE. They've had enough of my money, time for me to choose someone else.Seeing as I also dislike CoD and Halo, what shooter will I play next?


Nothing. Stop playing them because you obviously don't enjoy them.

Travis Beane 11/05/2010 11:47 PM
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number1guy :
Nothing. Stop playing them because you obviously don't enjoy them.


Not any of the new ones...

TeKEffect 11/06/2010 12:13 PM
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What is EA up to...free games. I don't see how they do this. They also let you return opened games. I got the medal of honor, hated it and EA refunded my full purchase price when I mailed it back. Are they trying to win hearts and minds with this stuff?

rpmrush 11/06/2010 12:32 PM
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It's not free..ask anyone who played Battlefield Heroes. You cannot compete unless you buy the upper end weapons. At first, on the lower ranks you will be fine. But once the rankings go up and high end weapons are available for $$$ you will be murdered with your free weapon. It will be the equivalent of a knife in a rocket fight.

ochho87 11/06/2010 12:45 PM
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rpmrush :
It's not free..ask anyone who played Battlefield Heroes. You cannot compete unless you buy the upper end weapons. At first, on the lower ranks you will be fine. But once the rankings go up and high end weapons are available for $$$ you will be murdered with your free weapon. It will be the equivalent of a knife in a rocket fight.



that's actually not true, all weapons are available through in-game points. If I remember correctly, you can only "buy" with real-money the costumes and stuff

randomizer 11/06/2010 2:41 AM
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BF2 is my favourite title in the series. It took what was good about BF1942 and made it better, although I do miss submarines. :D Everything after BF2 is just a new paint job though.

soldier37 wrote :

..Windows boot up time really? Get a SSD drive it takes mine 12 seconds to boot to desktop and shuts down in 2.




You shouldn't need to spend copious amounts of money to band-aid fix a problem that is elsewhere.

dEAne 11/06/2010 7:09 AM
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more like ghost recon to me.

firebee1991 11/06/2010 7:35 AM
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I wonder if they're going to make extensive use of in-game advertising, like Battlefield 2 on crack. That would be better than a 'pay for sweet guns' kind of system.

rextrendy 11/06/2010 10:00 AM
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This is going to be horrible. With BF Heroes you have to get a competitive weapon. And then they come out with even better weapons later so you have to upgrade again. And it just keeps going like that with all aspects of the game. I would rather buy the game once then have to pay for it over and over again.

rextrendy 11/06/2010 10:03 AM
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edit: *pay to get a competitive weapon*

eddieroolz 11/08/2010 9:12 PM
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This game is much like the model of War Rock and many other Korean F2P-FPS. They have quite a bit of players worldwide, actually. You don't even need to buy a weapon with real cash if you're good and earn a ton of in-game cash - real money just makes it easier for you to get that top ranking weapon.

Anonymous 12/31/2010 6:47 PM
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If you didn't get chance to sign up to the beta, have a quick look at my menu preview to show you what its all about!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dCljQvisRKo

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