History
Battlefield 1942 was released on September 10, 2002, using the
Refractor
gaming engine, and introduced the "Conquest" gameplay mode, in which
players fought for "capture points" throughout the map. Two
expansion packs were released,
The Road to Rome and
Secret Weapons of WWII.
Battlefield Vietnam, released in 2004, moved the setting to the
Vietnam War,
and was built on a modified Refractor engine with various gameplay
improvements, such as firing personal weapons while seated in vehicles.
The 2005 game
Battlefield 2 takes place in the modern day, during a fictional war between the
United States,
China, and the fictional Middle Eastern Coalition (MEC). Despite it requiring numerous
software patches
due to the large number of bugs and glitches in the game upon its
release, it was a commercial success, selling over 2,250,000 copies
worldwide, as of July 2006.
[4] It also received widespread critical acclaim, with an aggregate review score of 91%.
[5] One expansion pack,
Special Forces, and two
booster packs,
Armored Fury and
Euro Force, were also released. A version of the game called
Battlefield 2: Modern Combat was released for consoles, with an improved single player mode but more limited online play.
Battlefield 2142 was released in 2006, taking place during a global
ice age in the 22nd century. While much of it is graphically similar to
Battlefield 2, it introduced a variety of equippable items to unlock and battles between two giant "Titan"
airships. Its use of
in-game advertising was controversial among players.
[6] While generally praised by critics, it received lower review scores than its predecessors, with an average
GameRankings score of 80%.
[7] The
Northern Strike booster pack was later released, including new maps, vehicles, and a new game mode.
Battlefield: Bad Company, released in 2008, followed the infamous "B" Company's
AWOL escapades and their search for mercenary gold. This new, modern day
Battlefield
game had modern day weapons, as well as a variety of vehicles for land,
air and sea. It had a remarkably realistic destruction system that
allowed the player to break, destroy, or create new environments, based
on a new next generation gaming engine named
Frostbite.
In 2009, EA released two
download-only games,
Battlefield Heroes, a
free-to-play Refractor 2 engine game, supported by advertising and
micropayments and
Battlefield 1943, a Frostbite engine game, released in July 2009, for
Xbox 360 and
PlayStation 3, and was scheduled for release in Q1 2010, for
PCs, but was cancelled.
[8]
In 2010, a direct sequel to
Battlefield: Bad Company,
Battlefield: Bad Company 2, was released, involving "B" Company's search for an
EMP
weapon (called a scalar weapon ingame). It had a larger, and arguably
better multiplayer than its predecessor "Bad Company", with updated
graphics and new realistic effects (e.g. bullet-drop). It also featured a
"VIP" system of content distribution where player with VIP codes gain
free access to new maps released periodically. DICE also released an
expansion for
Bad Company 2,
Battlefield: Bad Company 2: Vietnam.
Battlefield 3 was announced in 2009,
[9][10] and in 2010 it was confirmed that gamers who
pre-ordered Medal of Honor (2010) Limited Edition
or who pre-ordered from origin (in the U.S. only) would receive a beta of Battlefield 3
48 hours before the open beta was released. On February 4, 2011, the
first teaser trailer for the game was revealed, with a preliminary
release in the Fall of 2011.
[11]
Among the features that remain in the game are Jets and the ability to
go prone. The game still allows 64 (on the PC) players as in all
previous
Battlefield titles, though the consoles allow for 24 player matches. The
Battlefield 3 Beta was released on September 29, 2011.
[12] Battlefield 3 was released on October 25, 2011 and has received almost unanimous high review scores and has received awards from
IGN.
On November 5, 2010, EASY Studios announced a follow-up to its free-to-play
Battlefield Heroes,
Battlefield Play4Free. EASY develops the free-to-play variants of
Battlefield. Its latest offering gives players the same free-to-play pricing structure of
Heroes, while still offering a more serious, core
Battlefield experience (as opposed to
Heroes' lighthearted, cartoon-styled environment).
[13] Battlefield Play4Free went into open beta on April 4, 2011.
[14]
On July 17, 2012, EA posted a advertisement on their homepage that announced that players who would pre-order
Medal of Honor: Warfighter, would receive exclusive access to a
Battlefield 4 Beta. The Beta is set to launch sometime in the Fall of 2013.
Electronic Arts has filed a countersuit against
Textron, seeking to use the company's trademarked aircraft at no cost.
[15