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Battlefield Heroes (Windows)

common sense media says

Free-to-play online shooter is cartoonish but still violent.

parents & educators say
See all 13 reviews | Review it

What parents need to know

Parents need to know that this is a free downloadable third-person shooter for Windows PCs. The only obstacle placed before children trying to access the game is an “age gate” -- a dialogue box that simply asks players to enter their birth date (which can be easily fudged) before granting access to the software. This could be problematic, since it’s not a game for young kids. Though it has a cartoonish aesthetic and sense of humor that makes it seem less cold or brutal than many other military-themed shooters, players still spend most of their time using a wide variety of guns, explosives, and vehicles to kill enemies. There is no blood, but the violence is nearly constant. Note, too, that the game supports online text chat, which means players could be subjected to inappropriate language and messages.

Educational value: Not applicable.
Positive messages: This game makes war feel like a Saturday morning cartoon. It doesn’t feel nearly as cold or brutal as other, grittier shooters, but bear in mind that it is still quite violent and that it makes light of a serious subject: war.
Positive role models: Players can create soldiers in two armies clearly designed to evoke the American and German forces of the Second World War. One side is depicted as buff, tanned, and stereotypically Western, while the other has characters with angular faces and dark uniforms. Both sides engage in violence with equal zest.
Ease of play: The controls are traditional for a PC-based third-person shooter and ought to be easy for players new to the genre to pick up.
Violence: This game is brimming with cartoonish violence. Players use a wide variety of firearms, including machine guns, rifles, and pistols, and have access to specialty items, like grenades composed of sticks of dynamite. They can also man emplaced guns and pilot planes, tanks, and jeeps, which can be used to shoot and ram enemies. There is no blood or gore; characters simply fall down and disappear when killed.
Sex: Not an issue.
Language: No profanity has been coded into the game, but creative players could potentially find ways around the automatically monitored text messaging system and send out misspelled obscenities easily recognized for what they are.
Consumerism: This game is part of Electronic Arts’ popular Battlefield franchise, and by offering this downloadable game for free, it helps to promote the franchise. It monetizes by offering micro-transactions. So while it is free, it is also marketing during the game. However, you don't need these microtransactions to grow your character.
Drinking, drugs, & smoking: One of the virtual items players can purchase is a “chocolate cigarette.” Plus, a fake banner ad with the message “Drunkenness not allowed” appears in the web interface prior to starting the game.
Our ratings and reviews are informed by child development guidelines. Learn more.

More on Battlefield Heroes

What to talk about

Talk to your kids
  • Families can talk about how Battlefield Heroes’ cartoonish and light-hearted artistic design makes it feel less gritty than many other shooters, despite the fact that it shares the same basic objectives, mechanics, and controls as most games in its genre. Do you think graphics alone can have an impact on the age appropriateness of a game? Do you feel that this game has been properly rated by the ESRB?
  • Families can also discuss the appeal of free-to-play games and the micro-transaction systems that typically go along with them. If you really enjoy a free game, are you more likely to spend money on virtual items? Do you feel like you are at a disadvantage without them? Did you feel the need to buy virtual items while playing Battlefield Heroes?

What's the story?

What's the story?

BATTLEFIELD HEROES is an online third-person shooter that has players creating a character, choosing weapons and abilities, and then venturing out into large maps filled with working vehicles and gun turrets. It has much in common with other games in the Battlefield series, right down to the core objective of capturing and holding strategic points of the map. That said, it has a sense of humor lacking from previous entries in the series. In fact, thanks to a cartoonish aesthetic -- complete with goofy character costumes and animations -- and some outlandish abilities, like being able to sit on the wing of a plane while it’s in flight, the action is sometimes downright light-hearted. This game has been released under EA’s new Play 4 Free business model, which means it is completely free; there are no registration or subscription fees. And while there is a store that sells virtual items such as equipment and clothing, players need not make any so-called “micro-transactions” to grow their characters and remain competitive in the game. Most of these items can be purchased with points earned simply by playing.

Is it any good?

Is it any good?
 
Even if it weren’t free, Battlefield Heroes would still be easy to recommend. From its impressive cel-shaded graphics to its surprisingly deep character customization options, it feels more professional and polished than many boxed retail games. Plus, it sports a decidedly light-hearted atmosphere -- a rarity for a military-themed game. That’s not to say that it’s a good choice for pre-teens -- players still spend much of their time engaged in activities such as shooting and driving over enemies -- but the Loony Tunes-ish vibe makes it a good choice for older players hankering to play a shooter without the blood and gore typically associated with the genre. The only real issues we encountered while playing were technical in nature. With over a million players currently slamming EA's Battlefield Heroes servers, it can be difficult to join a game. And even if you do manage to get in, play is often bogged down by excessive lag. However, assuming EA can remedy its server problems, this is one shooter worth checking out -- all the more because it doesn’t cost so much as a penny.

Online interaction: Players play in teams and communicate with one another via a text message system designed to automatically weed out common spellings of popular obscenities. However, the system doesn’t stop words with creative spellings or clean but abusive messages.

Game themes & details

Game Details
Available on: Windows
Available online
Genre: Third-person shooter
Developer: Electronic Arts
Released on: June 20, 2009
ESRB Rating: T for Violence, Tobacco Reference
Screenshots
This review was written by Chad Sapieha
 
 

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Most useful reviews by all members

CN_Fan63
kid, 10 years old
8
 
I have 3 concerns, but im not sharing them. This is pretty easy to play and this is ok for 8+. This should be rated E10+ for ages 10 and up.
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game watcher
adult
11
 
i love this game for my son because, its o.k. for his age, there is NO blood, and safty and swearing is not a problem.
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twentLOL123
kid, 13 years old
8
 
ages 8+
battle field heroes has no blood, gore and if some1 is saying inapropriate words in the chat, he/she will either get kicked from the game or the bad word will show up blooped out ( for exp. the s word would show up as **** and so on.) all you do is run around and shoot yor enemies.(no blood)
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GAME FREAK!
kid, 8 years old
7
 
Good Game.
Its a good game! I was just playing it with my friend's and we had a lot of fun!
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crissreviews
teen, 14 years old
10
 
Fun at first but very quickly you see it's a money sucker like all free things in life
First of all, the game is totally not iffy for 13 year olds. When I finally turned 13 and my dad let me play it my first thought was 'wow I waited a year or two to play this' It's completely cartoony, the tanks go 'pwoosh' when they shoot, not realistic noises. Absolutely no blood, the bullets just bounce off of you and inflict damage. Ten year olds can play this. The only reason it may have some higher rating on it is probably because that's what the other battlefield games have and they didn't want to bother having ESRB review this or something. As for the quality of the game, I was very disappointed. I was all excited about being a commando, the knifer/sniper who can go invisible until they get too close or attack. If you want to be a sniper, go see other games. A headshot will take away less than half of their health (this is with a sniper rifle!) and to prevent 'overpowering' the sniper rifles the closer they are the less damage they do, and the scopes on them are terrible. The game has a TON of consumerism. A common consumerism tactic is to sell a parallel currency that gets you special things and can only be bought with real money. In this game it is Battlefunds. Not only do you need battlefunds to customize your guy, but also if you want to buy a weapon for more than 3 days. I used to be somewhat okay with this, because Battlefunds couldn't give you an in-game advantage, but now they can. Battlefield Heroes now sells better assault rifles like the m16(an anachronism in this WWII game) and better sniper rifles (which STILL can't do instant headshot kills) and better machine guns. At this point just pay 10 dollars for the Battlefield deluxe pack and you will get several better games and nobody will be able to buy an advantage over you. Lastly, there is no chat filter, though SOME servers will kick you for bad language. I've only seen one or two such servers, and in one of them I got kicked for saying 'gg' or 'good game' at the end. Save yourself the frustration and disappointment and seek elsewhere for shooters.
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KinbJune
teen, 13 years old
11
 
Battlefield Suckers
This game is pretty good, but it tends to lag and you need to pay for almost every item. Pay for some of those gold tokens, but it's just shooting people.
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ramhawk123
teen, 15 years old
9
 
NO blood, and not even close to a 16+ game
IT used to be fun, then the open beta for battlefield play4free came along, i just ditched this. This game is AWESOME
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Roblox Adim
teen, 14 years old
13
 
BFH Dowload Saftey.
BFH is a war game legally its for 13+ and i agree although it show absolutly no blood or drug types at all it has a varety of guns.I have no absolute concerns.Battle Field Heros Requires a bagining download but is completely safe.They will not hack or enter viruses into you mac/pc. I reccomend this game.
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blue697
teen, 14 years old
10
 
Violence isn't that bad.
Perfectly fine for tween on up.
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iDoom
kid, 11 years old
10
 
good for tweens
I play this game an don't realy see the bad in. It's a little violent but other than that it FUN!!
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Ja13
kid, 13 years old
9
 
I LOVE IT BECAUSE IT RULES THE WORLD. U SHOULD TOTALLY LET UR KIDS PLAY IT.
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worstsitever
kid, 13 years old
11
 
Extremely fun!
This is probably the most fun I've ever had online,it's fun cartoony action. Kind of like cartoons.
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helped me decide (2) | had useful details (4) | read my mind (3)
dreweth
teen, 16 years old
13
 
Too old for Toontown? Too young for Halo or CoD? Look no further!
Great game for kids who want to play shooters, but their parents are cautious. Cartoony war is unrealistic, and you can choose to play as good, though you can play as bad, though.
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