Battlefield: Bad Company beta on 360.

[blurredvision]

http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/859/859204p1.html

There's a multiplayer beta for Battlefield: Bad Company on the way. Interested? Of course you are. This will be your chance to give the Frostbite engine and its massively destructible environments to the test for the first time. The whole upgrade tree and reward system is in the beta, so this will be a great peek at what's in store for the game's June release. Things officially get underway on March 25th with our friends at FilePlanet handling the distribution of the all-important beta keys to Founders Club and IGN Insider members as well as the general public located in the US and UK.

The beta offers up two maps for participants to fight in, Oasis and Ascension. Oasis provides the complete vehicle set (heavy tank, light tank, armored car, attack helicopter, and artillery) to use in a flooded desert valley near a bustling city. Ascension drops players into a mountaintop village surrounding a monastery.

Perhaps more important than the type of battlefield is the new multiplayer mode on display, Gold Rush. This game style tasks one team of defenders with holding off the attackers as they try to destroy a series of gold crates scattered throughout the map. If the attackers manage to destroy all of the crates, either by shooting them or planting charges, they win the round. For every set of crates they take, the attackers get a boost to their number of reinforcements and a new area of the map opens up to fight over.
"We're really excited about this beta since it gives us a chance to let a wider audience play our new multiplayer game, 'Gold Rush'. The feedback coming back from something like this is crucial for us as developers and will help us with the final changes and polish in the game," stated Karl-Magnus Troedsson, Senior Producer for Battlefield: Bad Company. "Battlefield and FPS fans get their first glimpse into how tactical destruction can be applied in multiplayer gameplay. We think offering two of the multiplayer maps will give gamers a fantastic experience and some great insight into the game."

Sign up for your chance to get into the beta.

All public keys have been exhausted as of this posting. I've got my key ready and waiting for next Tuesday. I'm not expecting much from this title, mostly because I'll be comparing it to CoD4. The big draw here is supposed to be destructable terrain, but I can't imagine how much it'll affect multiplayer matches since they'll obviously have to do something weird with it to get it to work online. I guess we'll see.

If anybody else nabs a key, let me know and we'll hop on next week.

 

[Modeps]

I tried getting a key, but I was too late... and I'm not going to pay to get a beta key... so thats that

 

[biggestmuff]

Damn...public keys gone already.

Are those pics on the Fileplanet key sign-up page from the Xbox 360 or PC?

 

[blurredvision]

Originally posted by: biggestmuff
Damn...public keys gone already.

Are those pics on the Fileplanet key sign-up page from the Xbox 360 or PC?

360 I do believe. The 360 is the only platform getting a beta.

 

[Queasy]

:foreheadslap; - And here we thought EA was changing their ways.

Well with the rise of the microtransaction age we were bound to see some exploitation, and it seems that the horse armor syndrome is rising again, this time over at EA. We've heard about it via several sources already, including a reader, and it appears that the Battlefield: Bad Company Beta lists individual weapons for sale via the XBLM. A total of ten weapons are locked that have text reading "Available for purchase on Xbox Live Marketplace" next to them. The details of this are a bit shaky as of now however, as of those ten weapons, five weapons are listed as simply available for purchase, and five are listed as available in gold edition or for purchase. The gold edition likely refers to the game's collector's edition which sports a faux gold finish and which will apparently have extra content.

Now, whether or not collector's editions having in-game items is a good idea isn't the issue, the issue is the microtransactions in regard to in game items. It isn't really an issue with single player games, as the content purchases of other players cannot effect your experience. But in the case of a multiplayer shooter having more weapons available to those with larger pocket-books just doesn't feel right. With EA experimenting with microtransactions in their new Battlefield Heroes PC game, it would seem only logical that they would continue the experiment in the console realm. But with the PC version's microtransactions based around things other than in-game items that effect balance (EXP, Skins, etc) we're hoping the console side of the experiment fails, and the PC one is widely adopted.

 

[R Nilla]

Originally posted by: Queasy
:foreheadslap; - And here we thought EA was changing their ways.

Well with the rise of the microtransaction age we were bound to see some exploitation, and it seems that the horse armor syndrome is rising again, this time over at EA. We've heard about it via several sources already, including a reader, and it appears that the Battlefield: Bad Company Beta lists individual weapons for sale via the XBLM. A total of ten weapons are locked that have text reading "Available for purchase on Xbox Live Marketplace" next to them. The details of this are a bit shaky as of now however, as of those ten weapons, five weapons are listed as simply available for purchase, and five are listed as available in gold edition or for purchase. The gold edition likely refers to the game's collector's edition which sports a faux gold finish and which will apparently have extra content.

Now, whether or not collector's editions having in-game items is a good idea isn't the issue, the issue is the microtransactions in regard to in game items. It isn't really an issue with single player games, as the content purchases of other players cannot effect your experience. But in the case of a multiplayer shooter having more weapons available to those with larger pocket-books just doesn't feel right. With EA experimenting with microtransactions in their new Battlefield Heroes PC game, it would seem only logical that they would continue the experiment in the console realm. But with the PC version's microtransactions based around things other than in-game items that effect balance (EXP, Skins, etc) we're hoping the console side of the experiment fails, and the PC one is widely adopted.

If the Collector's Edition truly does have content that is unique and unavailable to normal edition purchasers (i.e., doesn't provide codes that can be given out to anyone via the Internet), then I think that's actually pretty cool (but if you're charged for it on top of that, as the article mentions, then it's not).

Collector's Editions should offer something unique and meaningful other than shiny packaging and behind the scenes development extras that I'll likely never watch. Even if it's just junk I'll never use (like the GTA IV Special Edition), at least I have something to show for the extra money that isn't just DVD extras.

What the content is, and how it will fit in the multiplayer aspect is another story.

 

[JoPh]

$5 for the rocket launcher! pwnt

 

[mc866]

I got in on this, got my key late last night

 

[Queasy]

Link - Story behind the weapons purchasing.

March 24, 2008 - After speaking with spokesperson for EA, IGN has learned a few more details on the intended pricing structure for the weapons in Battlefield: Bad Company. There has been some public outcry that EA is trying to "scam" customers as screens of the BF:BC Beta indicated that some weapons might have to be purchased off of Marketplace, thus giving some an advantage over the rest of the playing field.

Here's the real deal straight from the EA Spokesperson, "Battlefield: Bad Company will release five unique weapons free of charge through five different promotional programs prior to launch. EA will again make these weapons available to players free of charge after launch, in case anyone missed the pre-launch promotions.

At launch, EA will release a Gold Edition of Battlefield: Bad Company which will feature an additional five new weapons. For players who do not purchase the Gold Edition of the game, they can still buy the five weapons at a small individualized price per item. All weapons are balanced for gameplay. More weapons offer players more choices but do not create an advantage/disadvantage for players who do not opt to buy new items."

So, if you're one of those gamers who needs to have every weapon, game development diary and behind-the-scenes featurette, do yourself a favor and pick up the Gold Edition. We'll have more coverage on the Battlefield: Bad Company Beta and full release in the near future.

 

[mugs]

Sort of like the CoD 4 system of earning weapons with XP that everyone bitched about. The weapons you could unlock were comparable or worse than the weapons you had from the start. Sounds like the same deal here - you can buy extra weapons if you want to, but you gain no advantage by doing so. Not much different from other silly/meaningless downloads like themes and gamer pics.

 

[EvilComputer92]

Originally posted by: Queasy
Link - Story behind the weapons purchasing.

March 24, 2008 - After speaking with spokesperson for EA, IGN has learned a few more details on the intended pricing structure for the weapons in Battlefield: Bad Company. There has been some public outcry that EA is trying to "scam" customers as screens of the BF:BC Beta indicated that some weapons might have to be purchased off of Marketplace, thus giving some an advantage over the rest of the playing field.

Here's the real deal straight from the EA Spokesperson, "Battlefield: Bad Company will release five unique weapons free of charge through five different promotional programs prior to launch. EA will again make these weapons available to players free of charge after launch, in case anyone missed the pre-launch promotions.

At launch, EA will release a Gold Edition of Battlefield: Bad Company which will feature an additional five new weapons. For players who do not purchase the Gold Edition of the game, they can still buy the five weapons at a small individualized price per item. All weapons are balanced for gameplay. More weapons offer players more choices but do not create an advantage/disadvantage for players who do not opt to buy new items."

So, if you're one of those gamers who needs to have every weapon, game development diary and behind-the-scenes featurette, do yourself a favor and pick up the Gold Edition. We'll have more coverage on the Battlefield: Bad Company Beta and full release in the near future.

That's the same thing they said when the Battlefield 2: SF expansion pack was released. Instead it created quite a big gap since the new weapons were better in many ways than the standard ones. The L96 Sniper Rifle and the P90 are the best examples as they were clearly superior to their normal counterparts.

 

[Kev]

Originally posted by: Queasy
:foreheadslap; - And here we thought EA was changing their ways.

Well with the rise of the microtransaction age we were bound to see some exploitation, and it seems that the horse armor syndrome is rising again, this time over at EA. We've heard about it via several sources already, including a reader, and it appears that the Battlefield: Bad Company Beta lists individual weapons for sale via the XBLM. A total of ten weapons are locked that have text reading "Available for purchase on Xbox Live Marketplace" next to them. The details of this are a bit shaky as of now however, as of those ten weapons, five weapons are listed as simply available for purchase, and five are listed as available in gold edition or for purchase. The gold edition likely refers to the game's collector's edition which sports a faux gold finish and which will apparently have extra content.

Now, whether or not collector's editions having in-game items is a good idea isn't the issue, the issue is the microtransactions in regard to in game items. It isn't really an issue with single player games, as the content purchases of other players cannot effect your experience. But in the case of a multiplayer shooter having more weapons available to those with larger pocket-books just doesn't feel right. With EA experimenting with microtransactions in their new Battlefield Heroes PC game, it would seem only logical that they would continue the experiment in the console realm. But with the PC version's microtransactions based around things other than in-game items that effect balance (EXP, Skins, etc) we're hoping the console side of the experiment fails, and the PC one is widely adopted.

But the developers put hard work into creating these weapons! Why should we expect them for free! Have you seen my baseball?

 

[blurredvision]

I'm downloading this now, and will hopefully try it out for atleast a couple of matches later tonight. I'll give my opinions if anybody cares once I can put more than a few matches in online.

 

[Xylitol]

this game is horrible

 

[mugs]

I played one game... other people who were already in the game had big weapons like tanks and artillery, so I basically got destroyed on. And I had a harder time telling who was an enemy and who was not than in CoD 4, but maybe I just have to get used to this game's way of telling you.

 

[biggestmuff]

Originally posted by: Xylitol
this game is horrible

Nice review. How about something more in-depth for those of us that didn't get a key?

 

[SAWYER]

For those who are interested, you can dl the torrent of the beta disk. Not that I am condoning that or anything.

 

[Queasy]

Major Nelson is giving away 100 beta keys over the next 10 days.

just got my hands on 100 codes for the Battlefield Bad Company beta that kicked off this week. I was going to give them away all in one shot, but to make it fair for people that don?t visit the blog every hour of every day here is what I am going to do: I am going to award 10 codes a day for the next 10 days. Since the beta will run until April 25th, that should everyone plenty of time to get in on the action.

How do you win? Simply send me an email (major at Xbox-dot-com) with BFBC Beta in the subject line and include your gamertag in the body of the email. Each day, I?ll choose 10 random emails and reply with a code to get you on the battlefield. No need to send me a new email every day. One entry is enough to be put into the running for the length of the contest. This opportunity is open to everyone who has Xbox LIVE. I?ll start sending out emails with codes tomorrow?Good luck!

P.S.You?ll need to have a gold membership to participate in the beta program.

 

[biggestmuff]

Originally posted by: Queasy
Major Nelson is giving away 100 beta keys over the next 10 days.

just got my hands on 100 codes for the Battlefield Bad Company beta that kicked off this week. I was going to give them away all in one shot, but to make it fair for people that don?t visit the blog every hour of every day here is what I am going to do: I am going to award 10 codes a day for the next 10 days. Since the beta will run until April 25th, that should everyone plenty of time to get in on the action.

How do you win? Simply send me an email (major at Xbox-dot-com) with BFBC Beta in the subject line and include your gamertag in the body of the email. Each day, I?ll choose 10 random emails and reply with a code to get you on the battlefield. No need to send me a new email every day. One entry is enough to be put into the running for the length of the contest. This opportunity is open to everyone who has Xbox LIVE. I?ll start sending out emails with codes tomorrow?Good luck!

P.S.You?ll need to have a gold membership to participate in the beta program.

cool. thanks. Maybe I'll get lucky.

 

[blurredvision]

Originally posted by: mugs
I played one game... other people who were already in the game had big weapons like tanks and artillery, so I basically got destroyed on. And I had a harder time telling who was an enemy and who was not than in CoD 4, but maybe I just have to get used to this game's way of telling you.

Same here. I put in one match last night, and it was hard to distinguish the enemy. I felt like I was getting better, but I still had to pause and figure it out. For a while at the beginning of my match, I got knifed about 3 or 4 times in a row, and I finally saw a couple of bitches in ghillie suits sneeking around. They are really, really hard to see when they are in the brush.

The control felt fairly decent, but not nearly as tuned in as CoD4. The graphics are pretty good, but the one map I played was a bit bland. Destructible buildings is pretty cool, although a base seems to quickly end up being smashed buildings with weirdly indestructible corners. The sound was kinda surreal with chunks of building flying around you, surround sound worked really well.

This was just one match, though, I'll have to put more time into the beta.

 

[Xylitol]

Originally posted by: biggestmuff

Originally posted by: Xylitol
this game is horrible

Nice review. How about something more in-depth for those of us that didn't get a key?

I used to play battlefield on the PC and it was much better on that than on the xbox. The graphics are meh but they're not as rounded and good looking as cod4 is. Also, I have to agree that enemies and allies look similar.

The animations are also kinda choppy. I hafta say that this deserves a 6/10 while call of duty 4 deserves a 9.5/10. Halo 3 deserves a 9/10 (to give you a general idea on the scaling of my scores).

 

[biggestmuff]

Originally posted by: Xylitol

Originally posted by: biggestmuff

Originally posted by: Xylitol
this game is horrible

Nice review. How about something more in-depth for those of us that didn't get a key?

I used to play battlefield on the PC and it was much better on that than on the xbox. The graphics are meh but they're not as rounded and good looking as cod4 is. Also, I have to agree that enemies and allies look similar.

The animations are also kinda choppy. I hafta say that this deserves a 6/10 while call of duty 4 deserves a 9.5/10. Halo 3 deserves a 9/10 (to give you a general idea on the scaling of my scores).

BF2? Are the maps big? Some of the map fly-through videos the developer showed early on made the maps looks as large as some of the BF2 maps. I can't imagine that happening for a console. So, how big are the maps? Hopefully bigger than the COD4 maps.

 

[nboy22]

Started playing it today, so far I have not noticed a huge problem identifying enemies, but it has the same old battlefield problems like how you waste a whole clip into someone from 30 yards away and they never die.

It's kinda disappointing and I think this would be a great game if they would take more aspects of call of duty 4 and combine it with what they have.

One thing I noticed was the alpha demo they created showing the building destruction was a lot more definitive than this Beta.. They would shoot walls and smaller portions would come loose, yet this seems like it just takes a huge chunk out of the wall. I was hoping for more accurate building destruction.

Overall it's a decent game, just another battlefield game. Not overly impressed.

 

[blurredvision]

Originally posted by: nboy22
One thing I noticed was the alpha demo they created showing the building destruction was a lot more definitive than this Beta.. They would shoot walls and smaller portions would come loose, yet this seems like it just takes a huge chunk out of the wall. I was hoping for more accurate building destruction.

Agreed. It almost seems to me that the destruction is pre-scripted, not dynamic.

 

[Q]

I think it takes way too many shots to kill an enemy, and I have a hard time sometimes telling who an enemy is and the HUD is a little confusing to me. It's a fun beta IMO (I guess b/c I got it for free) but I hope it will be updated a lot before it is released.

Right now, my impression is a rent only.