I've been watching Battlefield Heroes since I was investigating new Battlefield games and stumbled on it some time ago.  Since then it's gone into a series of beta phases.  Apparently it was released sometime late June without any fanfare or notification on my part, but I checked out the website today and got a nice surprise. What you'll find is a solid third person shooter set in a cartoonish World War 2 style setting.

So you're probably wondering, "What's Battlefiend Heroes and why should I care that it was released?"  Well, for one it's FREE.  Yeah another free game.  It's great to see free games in the world when money is tight and games are expensive.  It's a big selling point, but there are tons of free games out there and a good portion of them are just terrible... or flash based time wasters.  Where does BF Heroes stand in all that?

BF Heroes is a short download from the website and it basically automatically installs.  You're asked to create your account (an EA account in case you already have one) and your first character.  You get to choose between a character in the Royal Army or the National Army.  Both sides have the same classes available, but once your locked into a side you play that side in every match.  You can make alternate characters, but you'll be back at the level 0.  There are three classes available:  The soldier, the sort of middle of the road class in terms of health and weaponry, the Gunner, the high health-low speed class with a heavy machine gun, and the Commando, a fast low health class that can cloak and use a knife for close combat.  Each of these classes has their own set of unique abilities as well as strengths and weaknesses.  You're able to create 4 characters by default so you can try out each of them on whatever side you want.  After selecting your path, you get to customize the appearance of your character.  You can choose the standard customization properties such as skin and hair color as well as facial hair and the like.  You can also customize clothing, but the default options are extremely limited in the beginning.

Once you finish this short process, you can jump right in to the game and get crackin'.  Basically it automatically loads you in to a game that matches your level and lets you start fighting right away.  From here it feels like a regular third person shooter with plenty of cartoony action.  There are a handful of vehicles including a jeep, tank, and single engine fighter plane.  The jeep carries three people including the driver, in which case the passengers can fire their weapons.  The tank carries one passenger that can fire from the top and the driver uses the main cannon.  The fighter plane, in the most interesting aspect of vehicles, allows two additional passengers to he driver... and they ride on the wings.  While doing this one can still fire weapons and use abilities, but in my experience it's a bit difficult to do any real damage while in the position.  The best use I think is to jump off and parachute down (simply by hitting space again) to ambush enemies and get around the map quickly.  During this entire process you earn points for kills that ultimately make you level up to a cap of 30.  While levelin you gain Valor Points, which allow you to purchase new weapons, clothing, widgets (such as med kits and vehicle repair kits), and emotes, which allow you to communicate quickly with sometimes pointless gestures and vocalizations.  You can also gain Hero Points, which can be used to upgrade the abilities of your class.  These items are purchased temporarily for either seven days or one month.    Some aestetic items have the option of being purchased with another medium and permanently, via the Battlefunds

The Battlefunds system is the primary system for the developers of this game to make money from it.  Battlefunds are purchased only with cash.  The rate is 700 points for $5 which from what I see doesn't seem too pricy.   The items you can purchase, while having the possibility of being permanent, are only for appearance.  The most pricy item permanently is about 560 points.  Ultimately it seems a decent way to earn cash from this game in addition to web advertising.  

BF Heroes Gameplay is fairly simple.  It seems to revolve around getting points and leveling up.  Capturing flags doesn't seem to contribute to winning or losing (from what I've seen) as each side starts with fifty respawns and once this is depleted, that side loses.  The flag capturing system is designed for points and respawns.  Respawning isn't selected by the user and instead is done by a so called "smart respawn" system that puts individuals closest to the battle as possible.   It seems to be an effective system on most maps, except when you get stuck at a place with no vehicles and tanks are swarming all over you... but that's just a situation.

When it comes down to it, the game is pretty high quality for being free.  You can play it all you want without paying a dime and it's really fun.  Check it out and if you run in to Endyo, be prepared to get shot.  Also, you can shoot me a friend request by clicking my name in the scoreboard list.  See you on the battlefield.