Hubris
16-12-2010, 08:41 PM
Hey guys,
Battlefield Play4Free closed beta has just been released - I'll keep updating this thread as the game progresses. http://battlefield.play4free.com/ - SIGN UP!
Watch the teaser trailer:
Battlefield Play4Free - Teaser Trailer #1 (ESRB) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tlCPhYZfy3g#ws)
Once you are signed up and have redeemed your game code, you will need to visit the site and create a soldier. There are four classes, exactly like BFBC2 - Assault, Medic, Engineer and Recon. You get to create a soldier with one of the classes, looks like you can only use a name for one class and then have to use different names for the others. You do get to customize your soldier when creating him, although it seems you only get two options per characteristic so far and there isn't a lot of variation. You can have all four classes in the closed beta - not sure if you get all four in the full version.
Now that you have a soldier, begin downloading the game files by clicking "Play now!" and approve the security questions from your browser. Looks like the game will only download through Internet Explorer and Firefox. I have been using Firefox. The game saves to: C:\Program Files (x86)\EA Games\Battlefield Play4Free. I'm not sure of the total download size, but it took me a good hour on a 4MB line. Judging from the game file size, it's around 750MB.
The game launches in a window, not in your browser. You can set the game to run in full screen or a window, and you can choose to launch the loadout screen in full screen on startup. I had some issues when I had a full screen load out on start, I couldn't see my mouse cursor and it was pretty laggy. So I don't suggest you do that. There is no desktop shortcut so you have to go through the site.
Looks like you join an international server with the closed beta, I see there are servers for rent so iGame, SGS and Wage will probably put in local options soon. You don't get a choice of server to join and it seems it just matches for you. There seems to be only one server at the moment, but I'm sure that since it has only been released today, there will be more. You earn points by playing (killing, capping, using specializations) to unlock the various training modules - each allowing you to upgrade your player in some way. You also progress in rank, which unlocks points and training tiers - you can view your rank progress in game.
The load out screen:
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5008/5266285449_78c42e64e5_b.jpg
The training screen (achievements):
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5083/5266900564_76b19f58fb_b.jpg
The game play is tasty, just like BFBC2. There are no squads, no squad spawning and no spawn choice except in battle or at base. The game mode is conquest and there seems to be only one map at the moment - Karkland. It was very laggy, but I put this down to joining a server in the US. It is still playable and pretty enjoyable - I made it into top 5 on my team pretty easily by capping and shooting slightly ahead of players to account for the lag.
The graphics are, well, not tasty. I put mine all the way down to play and it doesn't look good, at all. High graphics are a lot better! I still find the game lacking team work and there seem to be major imbalances between the guns. Tanks can land a shell a good 5 to 10m away and you go from 100 health to 0. Furthermore, light tanks don't seem to hurt heavy tanks at all and it takes two shells to send them packing. Every player can carry a dart gun, although there don't seem to be many engineers - or at least many who can get a shot on a tank before being blown to pieces themselves.
Overall, I rate this game a good 6/10 - it's reasonably fun, fact-paced and gives you the Battlefield fix you need if you can't get your hands on the real deal. There is no clan play attraction due to there being very little teamplay. It does get annoying and feels somewhat plasticy - there seem to be quite a few bugs... It's a beta, let's hope they improve it with the feedback they get. If you guys would like some more gameplay screenies, let me know.
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5201/5270025255_511043ae82_b.jpg
Battlefield Play4Free closed beta has just been released - I'll keep updating this thread as the game progresses. http://battlefield.play4free.com/ - SIGN UP!
Watch the teaser trailer:
Battlefield Play4Free - Teaser Trailer #1 (ESRB) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tlCPhYZfy3g#ws)
Once you are signed up and have redeemed your game code, you will need to visit the site and create a soldier. There are four classes, exactly like BFBC2 - Assault, Medic, Engineer and Recon. You get to create a soldier with one of the classes, looks like you can only use a name for one class and then have to use different names for the others. You do get to customize your soldier when creating him, although it seems you only get two options per characteristic so far and there isn't a lot of variation. You can have all four classes in the closed beta - not sure if you get all four in the full version.
Now that you have a soldier, begin downloading the game files by clicking "Play now!" and approve the security questions from your browser. Looks like the game will only download through Internet Explorer and Firefox. I have been using Firefox. The game saves to: C:\Program Files (x86)\EA Games\Battlefield Play4Free. I'm not sure of the total download size, but it took me a good hour on a 4MB line. Judging from the game file size, it's around 750MB.
The game launches in a window, not in your browser. You can set the game to run in full screen or a window, and you can choose to launch the loadout screen in full screen on startup. I had some issues when I had a full screen load out on start, I couldn't see my mouse cursor and it was pretty laggy. So I don't suggest you do that. There is no desktop shortcut so you have to go through the site.
Looks like you join an international server with the closed beta, I see there are servers for rent so iGame, SGS and Wage will probably put in local options soon. You don't get a choice of server to join and it seems it just matches for you. There seems to be only one server at the moment, but I'm sure that since it has only been released today, there will be more. You earn points by playing (killing, capping, using specializations) to unlock the various training modules - each allowing you to upgrade your player in some way. You also progress in rank, which unlocks points and training tiers - you can view your rank progress in game.
The load out screen:
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5008/5266285449_78c42e64e5_b.jpg
The training screen (achievements):
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5083/5266900564_76b19f58fb_b.jpg
The game play is tasty, just like BFBC2. There are no squads, no squad spawning and no spawn choice except in battle or at base. The game mode is conquest and there seems to be only one map at the moment - Karkland. It was very laggy, but I put this down to joining a server in the US. It is still playable and pretty enjoyable - I made it into top 5 on my team pretty easily by capping and shooting slightly ahead of players to account for the lag.
The graphics are, well, not tasty. I put mine all the way down to play and it doesn't look good, at all. High graphics are a lot better! I still find the game lacking team work and there seem to be major imbalances between the guns. Tanks can land a shell a good 5 to 10m away and you go from 100 health to 0. Furthermore, light tanks don't seem to hurt heavy tanks at all and it takes two shells to send them packing. Every player can carry a dart gun, although there don't seem to be many engineers - or at least many who can get a shot on a tank before being blown to pieces themselves.
Overall, I rate this game a good 6/10 - it's reasonably fun, fact-paced and gives you the Battlefield fix you need if you can't get your hands on the real deal. There is no clan play attraction due to there being very little teamplay. It does get annoying and feels somewhat plasticy - there seem to be quite a few bugs... It's a beta, let's hope they improve it with the feedback they get. If you guys would like some more gameplay screenies, let me know.
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5201/5270025255_511043ae82_b.jpg