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Hands-on: Battlefield: Bad Company 2 multiplayer beta

by Randy Nelson { Nov 6th 2009 at 12:00PM }

Announced yesterday, the multiplayer beta for EA and DICE's Battlefield: Bad Company 2 is going to give PS3 owners (and only PS3 owners) a one map appetizer on November 19 for the main course coming March 2, 2010. The beta features one match type -- Rush, a version of Bad Company's Gold Rush ... only without the gold -- and takes place in the sun-baked seaside locale of Arica Harbor.

Last week, we took part in a 24-player stress test for the beta (the version coming Nov. 19 will support 24 players, as will the final game) and came away rattled but ready for more. You can read about how it all went down after the break.

Gallery: Battlefield: Bad Company 2 -- Arica Harbor

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Battlefield: Bad Company 2 multiplayer beta hits Nov. 19, exclusive to PS3

by Randy Nelson { Nov 5th 2009 at 12:00PM }

PS3 owners will soon have another exclusive to brag about in addition to Uncharted 2. EA and DICE announced today that the multiplayer beta for Battlefield: Bad Company 2 will launch on Thursday, November 19, exclusively on Sony's console. As with the recent God of War III demo, a beta code will be offered as a pre-order incentive from GameStop, Amazon and Best Buy (visit the game's official site to check which other retailers are participating).

The beta will focus on one of Bad Company 2's new multiplayer game types: Rush. This multi-stage battle takes place on a map called Arica Harbor, which is broken into unique areas for each round. American forces push forward on foot and in vehicles to scrap with Russian troops outside a military base, in an urban environment and eventually at the harbor itself in a "last stand" scenario.

EA plans to begin a PC round of the beta in December, followed up by an all-new multiplayer demo for PS3, Xbox 360 and PC early next year. The finished game hits shelves on March 2, 2010. We recently had the opportunity to play in the multiplayer beta and will bring you our hands-on impressions tomorrow morning, November 6 at 9:00 a.m. PT / noon ET.

Gallery: Battlefield: Bad Company 2 (11-05-09)

EA details Battlefield: Bad Company 2 Limited Edition, same price as normal

by Alexander Sliwinski { Oct 29th 2009 at 12:34PM }

EA and DICE revealed today what's to be found with the treasure trove of weaponry in Battlefield: Bad Company 2's Limited Edition retail release. The BFBC2 "while supplies last" edition will contain six special game unlocks -- only four of which are for Bad Company 2 -- and cost the same as the regular retail version.

The four BFBC2 unlocks are:

Improved Vehicle Armor - Pretty self explanatory.
Supreme Vehicle Firepower - Additional weapon mounts for the driver.
Vehicle Motion Sensor - Locate enemy units in proximity to vehicle.
Tracer Dart Pistol - Attaches to any vehicle "to track, lock on, and fire rockets onto moving targets even beyond line of sight"

The other two unlocks are for Battlefield 1943 and give soldiers the M1A1 Submachine Gun and the M1911 Pistol, which are both ... you know, guns that go pew-pew. BFBC2 launches March 2 and 5 in North America and Europe, respectively. Meanwhile, poor Battlefield 1943 has been waiting for new maps since July 20, 2009.

Gallery: Battlefield: Bad Company 2 (Limited Edition)

Battlefield Heroes update 'Heroes of the Fall' now live

by Justin McElroy { Sep 30th 2009 at 5:13PM }

It may seem like a contradiction, but it is possible to make "free" an even better value. Just look at Battlefield Heroes; the game just added a boatload of new content (we've got a full list after the break) as part of its "Heroes of the Fall" update, and it's still all delectably free.

If you can't be troubled to read a whole list, some of the most notable changes include a new map called "Riverside Rush" and some improved social networking functionality. And, as you can see above, the update features a guest appearance by the Sepia-Toned Village People, who we hear are huge in the Netherlands.

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Battlefield Heroes enlists two million recruits

by David Hinkle { Sep 26th 2009 at 6:15AM }

DICE's free-to-play FPS, Battlefield Heroes, just had its two millionth soldier signed up for duty, EA announced. It's an impressive accomplishment considering the game only opened its doors in June and netted its first million users back in July. And as a reward for all of the players' hard ~~work~~ gaming, EA has dated the title's Heroes of the Fall update for September 30.

We already knew about the proposed changes to the game's social networking functions and the class updates, but there's also the prospect of a new map to be excited about. EA is taking name ideas for the new locale right now at the game's official site, so head on over and suggest one. If you're looking for a bit of inspiration, may we suggest The Joystiq Map of Joystiqing Joystiq: Joystiq?

DICE founder forms Antic Entertainment, unveils Junk: Battles

by David Hinkle { Sep 22nd 2009 at 5:29PM }

DICE founder Fredrik Liljegren has his sights set on free-to-play games, as he's revealed (via Gamasutra) his new studio, Antic Entertainment. He's joined by Digital Extremes alum Mark Mikulec and Jeff Evans at the London, Ontario-based studio, which features talent from a variety of titles such as Dark Sector, BioShock and DICE's Battlefield series.

In fact, the team's already got a title underway called Junk: Battles (Seriously? You named your game Junk?), an RTS hybrid designed to work in most major web browsers, where users create a ship and battle other users, gaining stats and ship parts as they progress. While the game is in its earliest stages, feel free to battle through all of the junk (sorry!) at its site here.

No additional Battlefield 1943 content currently in development

by Alexander Sliwinski { Aug 21st 2009 at 3:00PM }

Sad news from the front, soldiers. DICE is not currently working on any new Battlefield 1943 maps or content for the downloadable hit, which has now drafted over a million players. Speaking with Joystiq, DICE Producer Gordon Van Dyke said the company is definitely working on the game's squad-swapping bug -- he believes it's a server-side fix that will hopefully be resolved soon -- but that all the effort at the moment is being put behind getting Battlefield: Bad Company 2 out the door.

"We need to figure out what's the best thing for the community. What's the best thing for the franchise?" Van Dyke told us about why the online hit isn't getting further development attention. He currently has "no idea" about when the company will get to work on more content for Battlefield 1943. That certainly calls for a sad face emoticon, don't you think? :(

Bad Company 2 marches into Q1 2010 battlefield

by Ludwig Kietzmann { Aug 18th 2009 at 12:15PM }

Such fantastic, eloquent wordplay! Man! You see, the headline says that developer DICE's latest first-person shooter marches into the early 2010 battlefield ... because March is when the vehicular, open-world mayhem begins (that's the 2nd in North America, the 5th in Europe). Perhaps it went over your head: "march" is what soldiers do ... into a battlefield. Woah ... but isn't that also the name of the franchise? Oh, snap, it's Battlefield!

So, let's recap: Battlefield: Bad Company 2 is marching this March into a video game battlefield because that is what soldiers do and this is a video game called Battlefield about soldiers in a battlefield. This March. Battlefield.

Field of battle.

Gallery: Battlefield: Bad Company 2

Battlefield 1943 downloads break servers, and records

by James Ransom-Wiley { Jul 23rd 2009 at 11:29AM }

Put your rivalry to the side for a moment and join hands. Acknowledge that together, we, as XBLA and PSN users, have reached a tremendous milestone: 600,000. That number represents the to-date total of $15 transactions between us and our respective online services to purchase Battlefield 1943; and we did so, overwhelmingly -- and in record-setting fashion -- on the first day and week of the game's download-only release.

In just fifteen short days, we have sent a message to Microsoft, Sony and third-party publishers. We're willing to pay a bit more and spend it on a slice of good old-fashioned stuff we still get on our retail discs (even if it's a little rough during takeoff). Sorry, indies -- go put it on the App Store.

Battlefield 1943 weapons will return in Bad Company 2

by Jem Alexander { Jul 20th 2009 at 9:15PM }

If you're reading this, the chances are pretty high that you're completely addicted to Battlefield 1943. You're probably beside yourself with worry that when Battlefield Bad Company 2 hits, those fancy-schmancy present-day weapons will be just too complicated for you. You may be in luck, however, if a recent tweet by @OfficialBF1943 is to be believed (and why wouldn't it -- it's official, after all.)

The tweet says that 1943's semi-auto rifle, sniper rifle and sub machine gun will all be usable in Bad Company 2. Whether that's in multiplayer only, an added bonus for 1943 purchasers or part of the game's story mode is yet to be revealed, but we're as anxious as you are to find out closer to the game's release.

Snap Judgment: Battlefield 1943

by James Ransom-Wiley { Jul 16th 2009 at 2:00PM }

It's not for lack of time that this Battlefield 1943 review has instead become a ... Snap Judgment!

Actually, Snapped Judgment would be more applicable to my personal experience with this game over the past week. My first day was spent Googling various iterations of "EA connection problems" and scouring forum threads for solutions to why I couldn't get beyond the initial connection to the EA server (never mind a secondary game server). Logging into EA's website, my Gamertag was clearly linked to my EA account -- no problem there. Attempting to connect through several other EA games (which had worked fine in the past), though, revealed that my problem had become console-wide.

After following several red herrings -- deleting, re-downloading, searching for the elusive FaceBreaker demo -- I did finally succeed at connecting to the EA server and thereby gained "permission" to attempt to connect to a Battlefield match. Guess how?

Gallery: Battlefield 1943

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Battlefield Heroes registers over 1 million players

by Griffin McElroy { Jul 14th 2009 at 7:30PM }

The growth of Battlefield Heroes has been slow and steady -- a natural side-effect of EA and DICE's slow trickle release of beta codes for the free-to-play shooter. However, on June 25, Heroes' floodgates were flung wide open, letting every would-be cartoon soldier access to the title. Now, about 19 days since that fateful event, EA has revealed some impressive statistics: Over one million players have registered for the online battle.

That's quite a few digital soldiers, but we're curious to know how many of those decided to purchase fancy hats for their militaristic avatars, and whether EA is turning a profit thanks to the sale of said chapeaus. We've emailed EA to try and find out.

[Via Big Download]

43 million killed: Battlefield 1943's Coral Sea unlocked on Xbox

by Christopher Grant { Jul 14th 2009 at 5:47PM }

Less than a week after festivities kicked off in the "Coral Sea Challenge" one group has amassed the 43 million kills required to unlock the titular map, Coral Sea, and the new Air Superiority mode. Xbox 360 players can load up Coral Sea right now and start shooting their friends and loved ones from the comfort of the skies. PS3 players will need another 21 million or so kills before they get to share in the festivities. And PC gamers ... well, since they're already required to wait an extra two months, they'll be getting Coral Sea gratis, no killing required, when it makes its way to that platform in September.

And who fired the lucky forty-three-millionth shot? That would be one "James" (gamertag: jkasapi) from Peterborough, England. With no small amount of irony involved, EA is gifting the obviously subterranean James with a pair of 1943 sunglasses, a 1943 t-shirt, and custom Battlefield sneakers, for when he goes "outside."

Battlefield 1943 servers being added 'around the clock'

by David Hinkle { Jul 9th 2009 at 9:31AM }

As fun as Battlefield 1943 is, EA severely underestimated the amount of individuals who would enlist for battle in the Pacific yesterday on XBLA. If you tried to play, you likely spent a great deal of time staring at menus and found it a real pain to hook up and play with friends. According to a post made by Gordon Van Dyke on the official EA forums, developer DICE is doing all it can to increase the server count for both Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions.

In the latest update, Van Dyke writes, "We have full support of EA to add as many servers as takes and then some so that everyone can play. This work has already started and servers will be added around the clock with teams working to cover this 24 hours a day so not a moment is wasted. You will be able to play this game and play it lag free!"

While the prospect of a lag-free experience is something we can support, our problem was more with our inability to find matches and join our friends' games yesterday, even when multiple slots were open. ~~But hey, at least the price was fixed!~~ [It appears that the 90000

pricing "glitch" was a temporary workaround to dissuade Xbox Live Silver users from purchasing the online multiplayer–only game. Currently, the game is blocked from Silver account purchasing altogether and has been designated a "Gold Exclusive."]

[Via Edge; thanks to VIP0R, Roger, Ian & Alan for pricing glitch pics!]

Battlefield 1943 cheevos airdropped onto web, running for your flag

by Ben Gilbert { Jul 2nd 2009 at 2:45PM }

After EA DICE loosed the official release date for Battlefield 1943 early today, we set to scouring the interweb for more information on the upcoming digitally distributed title. Wouldn't you know it, the first thing we found was the game's somewhat less-than-thrilling Achievements over on Inside MGC, detailing how many flag caps you'll need before hearing the glorious cheevo noise and snagging 10Gs for yourself, among other things. If you're one of those folks a bit more concerned than they should be with points (aren't we all?), check out the full list to see exactly how you'll be playing BF1943 when it hits next week.