digital-illusions posts

by **John Callaham** Jul 2nd 2009 @ 5:30PM

Electronic Arts has released a new gameplay trailer showing the Guadalcanal level of Battlefield 1943, the upcoming downloadable multiplayer shooter from developer Digital Illusions. The PC version of the game is due to be released in September following the console versions which will be available to download next week

Download the Battlefield 1943 Guadalcanal trailer (121 MB) at Big Download

Gallery: Battlefield 1943

by **John Callaham** Jun 30th 2009 @ 2:00PM

Like everyone else we were shocked and sad to hear about the premature death of Michael Jackson at the age of 50 last week. The news of his death was apparently enough to bring down parts of the Internet as tons of users hit news web sites reporting on his demise.

Since then the media has been paying tributes to Jackson's life with retrospectives, specials and the like. Those tributes are now extending to games. The just launched Battlefield Heroes free-to-play shooter from Digital Illusions and Electronic Arts is offering folks a chance to purchase some new in-game outfits for their characters. As you can see on the the right, those suits look an awful lot like Jackson's costumes in his 1980's music videos. The suits are just available for the month of July.

Gallery: Battlefield Heroes Impressions

by **John Callaham** Jun 25th 2009 @ 10:15AM

With little to no fanfare, the "closed beta' test for Battlefield Heroes ended today, marking the official launch of the free-to-play shooter from developer Digital Illusions and publisher Electronic Arts. The game, which is set in a cartoon-style alternate universe where WWII apparently never ended, was supposed to be released last fall but the team delayed its release until today.

As we have reported before the game contains two playable sides, each with four character classes, along with four playable maps. While you can play the game completely for free you can also purchase "Battlefunds" that will allow you to add special clothing items for your character along with ways to level up your character faster.

Gallery: Battlefield Heroes Impressions

by **John Callaham** Jun 19th 2009 @ 3:00PM

If you have been wondering if Digital Illusions has any plans to release an open beta for their upcoming downloadable multiplayer shooter Battlefield 1943 the bad news is that there is no such beta planned. It's not all bad news, however as a Eurogamer chat brings word on an upcoming free version.

The game's producer Gordon Van Dyke stated during the chat, "No beta, but we have a trial version that lets you confirm what you already thought - that this game is the best USD 15 I will ever spend!" The game, which is basically a remake of several maps from Battlefield 1942 but using DICE's new Frostbite graphics engine, will be released for the PC in September following a console release this summer.

by **John Callaham** Jun 14th 2009 @ 1:00PM

Digital Illusions already has a full plate. It has several Battlefield games at some point of development (including the recently revealed Battlefield 3). But according to Videogamer.com the next game in their other major franchise Mirror's Edge is also in the works.

Patrick Soderlund, the current senior vice president at Electronic Arts' Games Europe division, stated, "You will see another Mirror's Edge for sure. It's just a matter of when that time is and what we do with it. We have a small team on it and I'm excited about what we do." He didn't say if this would be a full-fledged sequel, a spin-off or what form the new game will take.

by **John Callaham** May 29th 2009 @ 11:00AM

PC Gamers may have to wait until September to download and play Battlefield 1943 but the developers of the downloadable multiplayer shooter at Digital Illusions and EA are making the wait a little less painful with the announcement today that a fourth map will be added to the game when it's launched.

There's a twist, however. The fourth map, Coral Sea, won't be made available to players immediately but will be unlocked when the community reaches 43 million kills in the game. This will be an airplanes-only map, by the way. The game is scheduled to be shown in full at next week's E3 2009.

Gallery: Battlefield 1943

by **John Callaham** Apr 28th 2009 @ 9:00AM

As Battlefield Heroes' creative team at developer Digital Illusions continues to send out keys for the currently closed beta test of their free-to-play shooter they are also working on new content for the game. This week the game's official web site posted up the first look at an upcoming new map that will soon be added to the game's current three map line up.

While the map is not yet ready for release, the development team let players suggest names for the level based on the image that you can see above this post. The final verdict? Coastal Clash, a name that certainly fits with the three current map titles (Seaside Skirmish, Victory Village and Buccaneer Bay). At the moment there's no word when the map will be released nor when Battlefield Heroes itself will be coming out of its closed beta stage other than "summer".

Gallery: Battlefield Heroes Impressions

by **John Callaham** Apr 23rd 2009 @ 9:00PM

This morning Electronic Arts announced that while Xbox 360 and PS3 owners will be able to download and play the upcoming multiplayer shooter Battlefield 1943 in June, PC gamers will have to wait three months later to get their port of the game. So why are PC gamers waiting until September?

The game's producer at Digital Illusions Gordon Van Dyke made a statement on the Battlefield message boards where he tried to quell the horde of angry PC gamers. He states, "PCs are an open platform requiring additional features, support, technical consideration, and can't just be thrown out there using copy/paste. We have thought very carefully about this decision and in the long run felt it was the right choice." He added that they knew the decision would not be popular with fans but added, " . . . we feel once you play the first Frostbite PC game ever from DICE you'll see why we put this extra time and care in on the development making all right again in the universe."

Gallery: Battlefield 1943

by **John Callaham** Apr 23rd 2009 @ 10:00AM

Earlier this year Electronic Arts announced their plans for Battlefield 1943, a partial graphical remake of Digital Illusions' Battlefield 1942 game. Today EA announced that the game will be available for digital download this September for the PC and will cost $15 to download (the game will be released in June for the Xbox 360 and PS3 consoles).

As we have reported before, Battlefield 1943 will contain new versions of three of Battlefield 1942's maps (Wake Island, Guadalcanal and Iwo Jima) but revamped using their in-house Frostbite engine (the same one they created for the Battlefield: Bad Company games) which will allow for more destructible environments. The game will support 24 player online matches when it is released. Keep in mind that EA plans to release the PC-only free-to-play FPS Battlefield Heroes in open beta sometime this summer.

Gallery: Battlefield 1943

by **John Callaham** Apr 21st 2009 @ 8:00PM

It's taken quite a long time but Electronic Arts has finally released a new beta patch for their multiplayer oriented shooter Battlefield 2 on the official Battlefield site. The 1.50 patch for the game has been in development for a long, long time but it is now ready for the public to test out on their own before the development team at Digital Illusions makes it final.

The 1.50 beta patch includes an all-new map (Operation Blue Pearl) along with new support for widescreen resolutions, additional support for Windows Vista and support for the Novint Falcon PC game controller. According to the note the beta patch will be run for a couple of weeks before the final patch is released.