Battlefield Heroes Mega Phun Bux

Battlefield Heroes is one of those games that’s fun to play, but I never want to play it. It’s really odd – when I think about logging in my mind does it’s own little sigh and runs through a list of things I could do instead; look at and be instantly disappointed by newgrounds, make a lovely cup of tea, stare aimlessly out of the window. When I do log in though I pretty much always enjoy playing – it’s a fun game, but it has it’s problems, and I think some problems are very prominent; the main one is the big ugly money side of things.

As we all know Battlefield is free, but it seems to be at odds with it’s self about it’s freeness and in turn sort of taints its self. Basically there are two forms of currency – Battlefield Heroes Mega Phun Bux and Valour Points (BFHMPB and VP from here on). You pay for the former with monies and earn the latter through playing and what you use these for is buying stuff that either helps you in some way or makes your character look unique. Good news is that anything that helps you along (guns and power ups) can be bought with VP so people can’t pay outright for an advantage, but if you want to be remotely interesting as a character – well that’s going to cost you cash (BFHMPB anyway).


What you look like as a character doesn’t matter though really does it? I mean, it’s just your avatar. Well, yes and no. The thing is, as you level up through playing you unlock more stuff, but this inevitably costs a fairly large amount of BFHMPB – like I think it’s about £5 for a coat. It seems harsh and even more so as these are the proverbial carrots on sticks for levelling; it’s like you finally bite the carrot, only to be invoiced for it later. Of course, you do get other stuff for levelling – every 2 levels
you can upgrade one of your abilities – at the minute I’m level 13, but to get there from 12 took about 4 hours. That’s a lot of playing for not much reward.


This micro-transaction stuff is tarnishing the experience for me. Battlefield really wants you to pay for stuff and it gets in the way. All the time it’s shoving things in your face for you to buy and it’s sort of horrible. ‘Look at this lovely jacket, what about this Hat, check out these boots’. It’s like the Child Catcher – offering sweets but with that horrible dark underside. On the surface it’s sickeningly pretty and has a theme tune so catchy and fun it makes you want to blow your brains out, but you can always feel that horrible corporate machine chugging away underneath, grasping for your cash.


The nasty pricing ideas don’t really stop here either – they get in the way of the game too. Did you know you can create multiple characters, but when you buy stuff you have to choose one to buy them for, then they are locked to that character. So, for example, I have a level 13 Commando and a level 2 Gunner. If I buy a hat for the commando, I can’t transfer it to the gunner, nor can I re-class my commando or even change what team they are on. This might seem a bit “so what” but this is what’s happening in BFH right now: My Commandos team is The Nationals – I have been in so many games where it’s 10 vs 2 in our favour, and commando is the most played class. What does this mean? Well if I want to switch to make it fairer I need to make a whole new character, but then all the cash I spent on my commando (free cash admittedly – it was given away with Pc Gamer once) is waisted. End result: no one does this.


This isn’t all to say I don’t like BFH though – I honestly do. It’s a fun shooter, it’s no TF2, but it’s fun. The Battlefield Multiplayer formula is in tact and it always works, it’s just that the business end of things is ever present and I instantly reject it. I’m never going to buy BFHMPB because I can’t justify it. What I would have done though is coughed up a tenner to play it in the first place and I think this would have averted every problem I’ve just pointed out (Well, maybe. It is lacking in maps a little, and levelling is slow). Maybe I’m just being tight and looking a gift horse in the mouth – it is technically free after all, but the best way I can sum it up is with this insanely drawn out metaphor that is coming up, right now. A guy on the street gives you £10 for doing nothing. That’s great you think, and you go to a little shop and spend your £10 on lolly pops, sugar plums, lemon sherbert and a can of pop. You leave the shop and the guy is stood on the street. “Ooh, could I just have 50p?” he enquires. You feel bad because he did just give you £10, but that was his choice. You ignore him. An hour later you bump into him again. He really wants 50p. He’s around you all the time now but about once a month he gives you a fresh £10, but always followed by that incessant nagging for 50p. In the end you can’t ignore him any more. You stop taking his £10 and tell him to just go away and bother someone else. That’s BFH.

Related posts:

Battlefield Heroes – Heil mein EAϋrher

Battlefield Heroes – A blitzkrieg on your credit card, a gentle shallow end for...

Unbound – How Lazy Controls Can Ruin Games

Why do developers think it’s an acceptable practice to port games from consoles and...

X Your Music

Audiosurf is arguably the best money I’ve spent on a game in the last few...