Battlefield Heroes will be free to all PC gamers under EA’s new Play 4 Free business model. In-game advertisements and micro-payments will allow you to play as much of the game that you like for free.

New registration to beta test this game here: http://www.battlefield-heroes.com/

Register if you want to check out the game before it’s released and be sure to give feedback to the developers.

Battlefield Heroes is a continuation of EA’s Battlefield series. Many gameplay elements from that series carries over into this game. It features a modified conquest mode providing each team 50 tickets and two flags at the start of the round. Killing enemies will reduce tickets and holding more flags than the opposing army will grant a multiplier. It is possible to win by owning more flags than the enemy and by killing fewer of them. Matchmaking will also be a feature to keep players of the same level together. Players of each level will play with other players within a couple levels of their own. Developers of the game have talked about levels going as high as 40 or 50.

The two armies are called the National Army (possessing a red base color flag) and the Royal Army (possessing a blue base color flag). The game is third-person only at this point, but senior producer Ben Cousins has stated if first-person is really wanted, it may be added in at a later date. Spawn times are five seconds (compared to previous Battlefield games’ 15), allowing for less waiting and more action. Players do not pick spawn points since the game has an “Intelligent Spawn System” putting players closest to the nearest battle. Two maps will be available on release, but a third map is in development.

The point system in Battlefield Heroes is being called the Metagame (non official name), which allows characters to fight for a territorial position during each match. The land gained is then recorded as a win for each army, and at the end of the week everything is added up and both armies are given money based on percentage and land conquered. Players can choose whether or not to participate in the Metagame.

Today, at 2AM PST, the new title update for Gears of War 2 has dropped. It features a huge laundry list of glitch/bug fixes, and some much needed ones at that. I’d list all the fixes, but there’s quite a few of them. Check Rod Fergusson’s post on the Epic forums for the full list of fixes. It definitely addresses some bugs I hated in Gears of War 2 Multiplayer.

However, this is not the only thing Rod posted about, or updated Gears 2 with. Read on.

Some other changes made to the game aim to better balance the game. One change in particular is now proximity grenades are much easier to shoot off, as Epic has reduced their health by 50%. Grenades do not spawn as frequently, and Epic has also increased the penalty for quitters. The flamethrower now has stopping power, and interrupts someone trying for the noobish chainsaw. Another change is you can’t shoot coming out of a roadie run. On Hail, the grenade spawns have been changed so both teams have access to both types of nades. The last balancing issue they made was “additional spawn protection” so you can’t get naded or chainsawed right when you spawn.

Also, they have added 7 new achievements. However, you must have the new Gears 2 DLC, the Combustible Map Pack, as well as the Flashback Map Pack that came with every copy of the game. Here is a list of the achievements:
* “Skeletons in Your Closet” (20 points): Complete waves 1 through 10 on all Flashback Map Pack maps in Horde (any difficulty).
* “Trial by, and on, Fire” (20 points): Complete waves 1 through 10 on all Combustible Map Pack maps in Horde (any difficulty).
* “More Mystery, Less History” (15 points): Win a multiplayer match on each of the 5 Flashback Map Pack maps (any mode except Wingman).
* “The Roof! The Roof! The Roof…” (15 points): Win a multiplayer match on each of the 3 Combustible Map Pack maps (any mode except Wingman).
* “Bound by a Shared Past” (15 points): Win a Wingman match on each of the 5 Flashback Map Pack maps.
* “Forged in the Fire” (15 points): Win a Wingman match on each of the 3 Combustible Map Pack maps.
* “Annex: Now with Execution Rules” (75 points): Win an Annex match on each of the Flashback and Combustible Map Pack maps (Public only).

[Rod Fergusson’s Post on the Epic Forums]