Battlefield Play4Free Preview
The spiritual successor to Battlefield Heroes, Battlefield Play4Free is the answer to everyone who wanted a more serious Battlefield game to play online for free. It doesn't have any of the cartoony characters, colorful landscapes, or talkative classes. Instead, this is Battlefield 2 made into a free online game. There are similar maps, similar graphics, and overall, Battlefield Play4Free makes the impression that it's made for the serious Battlefield crowd.Built on a heavily tweaked Battlefield 2 engine, Battlefield Play4Free is set in the Middle East in modern times. It has similar weapons, maps, classes, and gameplay to Battlefield as such. The fact that Battlefield 2 is a 2005 game also lets Battlefield Play4Free play on many moderate gaming machines, and even laptops.
The maps shown so far are refined takes on classic Battlefield 2 maps, such as Kubra Dam. There have been some touches to make the map and game look better, such as some film grain, and assets from the more recent Bad Company games. The four classes in Battlefield Play4Free include the Assault, Medic, Engineer, and Recon classes, which you may recognize as the classes from Bad Company 2. 
Rather than having aesthetic upgrades like Battlefield Heroes, Battlefield Play4Free gives you upgrades to your weapons, how many weapon slots you have, or personalized weapons, and Play4Free also gives you far more avatar customization. Unfortunately for some, since Battlefield Play4Free is indeed a play for free game, you will still be able to oil the gears of your performance with real world money. There isn't much difference between the paid for weapons and the free weapons, but the speed at which you receive new items can increase with money.
If you want Battlefield and you can't have it for money, then Battlefield Play4Free certainly looks like it will satisfy your need for a Battlefield game. In fact, there's even incentive for those looking forward to Battlefield 3, with achievements in Battlefield Play4Free which will unlock exclusive items in Battlefield 3. Right now it's slated for early 2011, so keep an eye out for it in the very near future.
