EA has announced that its free-to-play, web-based game Battlefield Heroes has reached two million registered players. To celebrate, an update called "Heroes of the Fall" will be released on 30 September, including a brand new map. EA is asking players to think up a name for the map.

Set against the backdrop of autumn colors, the new map will be infantry-focused and set in a village with dozens of intersecting canals. Intense battles will play out on the bridges and crossings, while sneaky players can use the alleyways and channels to move unnoticed for sudden flanking maneuvers and rear-guard actions.

“Along with this new map, ‘Heroes of the Fall’ includes a slew of changes including upgrades of the Gunner class and improvements to the friends system,” said Ben Cousins, General Manager, Battlefield Heroes team. “We’ve also added a brand new ranking system for the game – players can earn cool new titles for their heroes as they play – showing everyone on the battlefield how dedicated they are.”

 

It may be the tenth game in the Battlefield series, but this time around, things have had a major shake up. Battlefield Heroes gets a new business model, a new graphical style and a new character levelling system. Oh, and it's free.

On first glance, the most striking feature is the cartoony new look - clearly it has drawn inspiration from Team Fortress 2. Gone are the super-realistic visuals of its predecessors - and the demanding system requirements with them.

But let's get into the gameplay itself first. It plays like all the other Battlefield games, but it feels more like Battlefield 1942 than the later sequels. Many of the fun 'bugs' in the first Battlefield game have been turned into proper gameplay elements. With Heroes, being able to sit on the wing of a plane as it flies around the map is intentional, rather than just poor coding. Rockets and explosions can propel you to high positions, and vehicles have some crazy handling.