Battlefield Heroes is a cartoon-style action game developed by Electronic Art's Digital Illusions CE (DICE) . This is EA's first Battlefield game to be released as F2P (Free 2 Play) which is why it's supported by advertisements and micro-payments. Some gamers have labeled it as EA's Team Fortress 2 clone. Since it's out of public beta now, it's time to click the download link and start fraggin'.

Requirements

• Windows XP/Vista
• 1 GHz CPU
• 1GB RAM
• 1GB HDD space
• DirectX compatible 64 MB graphics card with Pixel Shader 2.0 or better
• DirectX compatible sound card
• Internet connection: 256kbit cable/DSL connection
• A working web browser

Installation

Let me make this clear, you need a working web browser (as if some of us don't have one but still...) in order to play this game. I was really surprised that it doesn't have a normal installer like every normal game out there. Why do I need to download a Firefox Extension just to play the damn game? Sure the install was fast and easy but that's because I already know what to do. But for a typical gamer a.k.a. someone that doesn't really look for a .cfg file or .xml file to modify their game. This could be a bit of a 'What the heck?' moment.

First Impressions

Team Fortress 2 clone. That's what I first thought as soon as I saw the character and map designs. But you kno what? It ends there. Because you're mostly in 3rd-person view instead of first-person view. Don't worry, as soon as you use your sniper rifle's scope, you're in first-person making it a lot easier to hit people's heads.

Kicking the TF2 clone mentality, I wasn't impressed by the amount of video options while in-game. Why can't I have an 'Advance' settings option where I can tweak AA, AF, and whatever detail I want? even the maximum option for detail isn't enough as the game looks terribly horrible (I don't like seeing jagged edges). Sure it was mentioned that BF Heroes was supposed to be easy on the user's hardware but some of us have high-end hardware and we'd appreciate it if there was such an option to at least try and max out our hardware.

At least the controls are easy right? There's nothing more annoying than having to remember 20+ control keys that to move your character. it's just the good old WASD plus the basic controls, no peeking left/right (though I could see that as important in some games) or jumping while holding a grenade and then sliding down the hallway killing your opponent type of control.

Singleplayer

There's no single-player missions other than the tutorial so I'll be skiping this section for this game.

Multiplayer

Matchmaking is terrible. Valve's L4D already proved it. Why is there no option to open a server browser and choose the server that you want to play? I keep getting redirected to the same server each and every time I play. I have this mentality that in order for you to get better at a game, then you need to play with better players. Players that actually give you a hard time in a map. This way you will learn what makes it so easy for them to kill you.

I mean seriously, this matchmaking is totally annoying. I want to play in the server that I like...not what the server that the game's matchmaking thingie thinks that I will like. Not having a server browser (not the favorites browser) is a big let down for EA as far as I'm concerned. If you're happy that it allows you to play with players that you can still pwn. Then whatever makes you happy buddy but I like some challenge.

BF Heroes sort of has some achievement system just like TF2 (but it's not a TF2 clone) where you for example try to capture three flags and get at least 750 points to get the Conqueror achievement. This feature is what makes me to stay up all night and just play my characters, because we all know achievements are cool and e-braggin rights.

Final Thoughts

The game is fun to play but certainly lacks the 'awesome game' punch that some DICE games have like the other Battlefield games or Mirror's Edge. Moreover, vehicles such as tanks and planes are too powerful in my opinion (I thought this game wasn't supposed to be realistic?). Another bad thing about this game is the lack of option to choose your own server from a list of public servers. Matchmaking is awesome if it was an option, not the main feature.

This game certainly isn't a TF2 clone. It would be an insult to TF2 if this was ever considered a TF2 clone.

Ratings

Installer - Needing a working web browser to install the game is just plain stupid and annoying. I don't want to open a browser just to play the damn game every single time.

Graphics - Very TF2'sh but with the lack of advance options to tweak how your game looks like. Let us people with high-end hardware be able to max out our hardware!

Sound - Again very TF2'sh with the exception of just mumbling sounds (no actual words). I want to know why...seriously.

Gameplay - Matchmaking is just plain terrible. If it wasn't for the achievements, I wouldn't be playing this game. Sure you can argue and tell me to keep quiet since it's free anyway. But think about it, every single time I play this game, EA makes some profit because they sell banner impressions or ad clicks. And with DICE being the developer, I expected a lot more from them.