Battlefield Heroes
Battlefield Heroes In the weeks following the birth of each of my kids, various family, friends and folks from church brought us meals, the consumption of which prompted the following philosophical debate: Is it appropriate to criticize a gift? In more precise terms, can you complain about a free meal without coming across as anything other than ungrateful? This is a relatively new dilemma that game reviewers are facing as more and more publishers release free-to-play products in the market, including the subject of today's review, Battlefield Heroes.
Battlefield Heroes PC Game
The new browser-based game, playable entirely for free atbattlefieldheroes.com, is a sort of low calorie version of Battlefield 1942. Three classes, three vehicles, one game mode and four maps may not add up to much on paper, but they manage to create a tremendous amount of fun when combined with bright and colorful graphics, cartoony physics and a multiplayer system that's short on choices but long on convenience.
Battlefield Heroes PC Game
The two sides, the Royals and the Nationals, are cartoon caricatures of the British and German forces in World War 2. The sides are equivalent in their classes, abilities and, apart from the requisite visual distinctions, their vehicles. Since neither side has access to any toys that the other side doesn't also have, there's very little to worry about in terms of game imbalance, at least in terms of the overall battle. The distinctions between the classes is another matter entirely.
Battlefield Heroes PC Game
The Gunner is my favorite class. Not only can he dish out loads of damage but he can also soak it up just as freely. This makes him a key player and dangerous in nearly any encounter. With the addition of a bazooka and a few choice upgrades, one of which actually turns enemy explosions into free health boosts, he's the only class that can hold his own against enemy armor.
Battlefield Heroes PC Game
Though not my cup of tea, the Commando is an extremely popular choice. Armed with a stealth ability, a knife attack and an unbeatable sniper rifle, the Commando excels at short and long distances but tends to lose out anywhere in between. The Commando is also quite a bit faster than the other two classes, which makes the sneaky stabs and surprise snipes a bit unbalanced.
Battlefield Heroes PC Game
Finally, there's the Soldier. He seems less effective overall than the other two classes but his ability to spot enemies for other friendly players and dole out massive health boosts to nearby allies makes him an important player on the battlefield. In terms of role and effectiveness, he seems to sit somewhere between the two extremes of the other classes and perhaps it's this jack-of-all-trades approach that's made him seem a bit less popular in many of the matches we've played.
Naturally, the vehicles are always popular and you'll run into the standard Battlefield frustration of players racing off by themselves in vehicles designed to hold two or three people. The ="I Need a Ride" emote comes in handy in those situations, as does the Battlefield standby of simply shooting the vehicle you want to join until the driver notices you. The jeeps are obviously great for getting from A to B quickly, and the option to carry a few passengers makes them excellent for drive-bys. The tank is remarkably powerful but can definitely be taken out by a concentrated infantry effort. The plane is definitely one of the most fun vehicles. The controls are a bit dodgy, but strafing ground units and dogfighting in the sky are definite high points in the game. Best of all, you can carry two allies on the wings who can parachute down onto enemy bases.
Battlefield Heroes PC Game
On top of the overall class system, there's the opportunity for players to spend hero points and valor points to upgrade their abilities and purchase new weapons and boosts. Experience points are earned through regular play so they'll accumulate over time even if you're not a power player. Earn enough and you'll level up and gain the option to increase one of your class's core abilities. The nice thing about the system is that you can refund your points at any time and try out different specialties. If, for instance, you find that the Gunner's keg bomb is lame (which it is) you can happily trade in those points to try out the frenzy fire power.
Battlefield Heroes PC Game Video Trailer
[youtube]http://youtu.be/KYQP-uBijWg[/youtube]
Battlefield Heroes PC Game System Requirements
Minimum system requirements are also revealed:
- Operating System: Windows XP or Windows Vista
- CPU: 1.0 GHz
- RAM: 512 Mb (1Gb on Windows Vista)
- Video Card: 64Mb DirectX compliant video card with at least pixel shader 2.0 support
- Hard Drive space: 1Gb of space is required to install the game
- Internet connection: 256kbit Cable/DSL connection
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