Battlefield Play4Free

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Battlefield Play4Free
Battlefield Play4Free logo
Developer(s)	EA Digital Illusions CE Easy Studios
Publisher(s)	Electronic Arts
Series	Battlefield
Engine	Refractor 2 Engine
Version	1.31.234293.0
Platform(s)	Microsoft Windows
Release date(s)	April 4, 2011[1]
Genre(s)	Action, First-person shooter
Mode(s)	Multiplayer
Rating(s)	ESRB: T PEGI: 16
Media/distribution	Free, download
System requirements Microsoft Windows Windows XP/Vista/7 Intel Pentium 4 1.7 GHz CPU 512 MB RAM for XP (1 GB RAM for Vista) 1 GB hard disk space DirectX compatible 256 MB graphics card with Pixel Shader 2.0 or better DirectX compatible sound card Internet connection: 256kbit cable/DSL connection

Battlefield Play4Free (sometimes abbreviated BF: P4F) is a first-person shooter video game developed by EA Digital Illusions CE and Easy Studios and published by EA. Based on the Battlefield series, the game features a modern warfare battlefield setting. Play4Free is built on a modified version of Battlefield 2's game engine,^[6] with improvements such as high resolution artwork and post-processing effects. The game is also less demanding on computer specifications, similar to Battlefield Heroes.^[7]

As the game’s title suggests, the game is available to players for free online, under Electronic Arts' "Play 4 Free" model. Play4Free uses a similar micro-transaction store system to what is used in Battlefield Heroes. Battlefield Play4Free was announced on November 5, 2010. The game is currently in its open beta testing phase, which began on April 4th.^[7][8] Closed beta codes originally started being distributed via email on November 30th, 2010. The game was released on April 4, 2011. The download for the game includes a browser plugin and a 1300 MB software download.

Interestingly, despite being developed as a browser-based game DICE chose a platform-specific game engine limiting the game's audience to users of Microsoft Windows. This decision is in contravention of current cross-platform trends in casual gaming, where engines such as Unity has made it very easy for game developers to target multiple platforms simultaneously. Similarly, Valve's Team Fortress game has long been available for both Mac and Windows users but DICE has chosen to focus solely on the Windows platform.

During the pre-order stage of Battlefield 3 (? - 10/25/2011), a reward bonus was provided to players who had pre-ordered the PC download version of Battlefield 3. This bonus consisted of an exclusive beret and shotgun, Remington 870S combat shotgun. This one time reward can only be provided to one of your created characters and does expire. When Battlefield 3 was released, the bonus was no longer available.

Gameplay

Battlefield Play4Free screenshot showing an American engineer with a PP-2000 submachine gun.

Battlefield Play4Free includes contents from both Battlefield 2 as well as Battlefield: Bad Company 2. The game has a leveling system, in-game shop, and gameplay customization which is similar to to that of Battlefield Heroes.^[9] The game currently supports up to 32-player online battles. Players are chosen to play as soldiers from either Russia or the United States.^[7]

Customization features at the start of registration include skin, hair color, hairstyle, and facial hair features.

Maps included in Battlefield Play4Free are essentially updates of classics seen in Battlefield 2, such as Strike at Karkand and Gulf of Oman.^[7] Players can have access to up to 16 vehicles, such as helicopters, fighter jets and tanks, varying from map to map.^[10]

Classes

This unreferenced section requires citations to ensure verifiability.

Like previous Battlefield games, Battlefield Play4Free has a class system, which includes Assault, Medic, Engineer and Recon. Assault kits include an assault rifle and the ability to resupply teammates with ammo. The Medic class is armed with a light machine gun and is able to heal and revive teammates. Engineers are equipped with an RPG-7 and submachine gun while being able to use their repair tool to fix vehicles. Recon kits utilize a sniper rifle and can use a motion sensor used to visibly display enemy locations to both themselves and their teammates on the mini-map as well as using Claymore mines to set traps for enemies. The class system used in Battlefield Play4Free is the same system as used in Battlefield: Bad Company 2. Similar to Battlefield: Bad Company 2, the ability to wield a shotgun and tracer dart gun is non class-specific.

Updates

The upgraded Oman map from Battlefield 2 was launched on January 29, 2011.^[11] Sharqi Peninsula was released on April 4th when the game launched into open beta. The fourth Battlefield Play4Free map, Basra, was released on June 9th and the fifth map, Dragon Valley, was released August 10th, 2011. Various game elements such as motion blur and a gameplay style upgrade were added due to the new, modified Refractor engine. On October 25, 2011, Tier 3 training was released to include an array of new skill options across all classes. On December 1st, 2011, weapon customization was added to the game, thus allowing players to specifically customize their weapons with attachments such as holographic sights, different barrels, assorted stocks, or different types of magazines. On December 20th 2011, the game was updated once again to include a remake of the Battlefield 2 map, Dalian Plant. This update was made with the expressed, official purpose to balance the game from a general standpoint but focused mainly on weapons. This update removed weapons which were purchased prior to the December 1st update, classified by EAsy Studios as "Legacy", and replaced them with what has been seen as significantly reduced versions of those same weapons. These new weapons, reclassified and denoted as "+3", were distributed in place of the "Legacy" weapons.

External links

• Official website
• Blog français

References