As of today, February 11th, the second beta test for Battlefield Heroes has tip-toed out into the hands of old and new testers alike. And while there isn't any information about additions to this beta, we're certain that DICE hasn't just been lazing about all these months having tea parties.

Now that things are officially back in action, we expect to be hearing more about the game in the coming months. Hopefully, official launch day isn't too far off as spring slowly creeps up behind us draped in ninja garb. Pretty soon we'll be sitting on plane wings and gunning down our cartoony adversaries with unreasonably-sized mini-guns. At least, assuming this version of the beta is the last one.

It's been a while since we heard from the folks over at Battlefield Heroes, but we assumed that they were busy putting their noses to the grindstone since the game's delay last year. As it turns out, though, the next beta is approaching and sign-ups have been reopened for those who haven't done so yet.

As for those who were already in the last beta or had signed themselves up, you need not apply again. Anyone previously accepted will automatically be invited into the new one upon release. Even with the new sign-ups, DICE has promised to give priority on original applications before getting to the new ones. Although the choice to include so many people makes us wonder how much larger this new beta will be compared to the original.

So when does this second beta begin? We're told to watch for further announcements in the coming weeks, although that makes it hard to guess on an actual date. We're hoping it'll be sooner rather than later, because our curiosity about the game's progress has become quite insatiable.

The colonization of space isn't a brand new idea for the realm of MMOs. 2006's Seed was all about the subject, but it unfortunately failed due to a lack of publisher interest. There's no denying that such a game wouldn't be anywhere near a hugely popular title. Still, I'd like to think that with the right design philosophy, platform and business model a game focused on the challenges of discovering another planet and making it a new home would be incredibly worthwhile.

Gamespy's excellent ongoing MMO column OnLife has been regrettably on hiatus for some time, but it looks like it is back with a vengeance. Its first column back in the saddle is all about the online free-to-play FPS Battlefield Heroes. While not technically an MMO, author Miguel Lopez notes numerous similarities between Heroes and high-end PvP in MMOs. As he observes, the fact that he can even make these comparisons is bad news for the folks at DICE. The stated purpose of the stylized online shooter has been to offer a simple, fun, low-cost experience for FPS players. Instead, even in the game's extended Beta, the game is already beginning to resemble World of Warcraft's sometimes-arcane PvP build strategy game.

Says Lopez, "I'll admit that much of what makes me want to play Heroes' is its promise of varied abilities, full of potential for synergy and experimentation. But I hope that its designers will tread thoughtfully when it comes to implementing them." Check out the article for his full assessment of the game, then click below the cut for a look at the hyper-cartoony graphics and strange sense of humor found in Battlefield Heroes.

One of the newest trends in the PC gaming industry--perhaps best exemplified by Battlefield Heroes--is a re-evaluation of development priorities such that lower minimum system requirements have become more important than raw graphical horsepower. This has the dual effect of improving performance across the board as well as expanding the potential customer base by several orders of magnitude. Consider the number of people playing Team Fortress 2 as opposed to Crysis.

With the release of Age of Conan and the considerable hardware it requires in order to run smoothly, we wonder whether we've seen the end of the rig-busting MMO. What do you think: will developers do as NetDevil has done in modeling their own minimum specs after World of Warcraft's, or will there always be room for beefier graphics?

In the wake of such resource-intensive MMOs like Tabula Rasa and the upcoming Age of Conan, it's good to know that every once in awhile, we can get back to the fundamentals of games: having fun. That's exactly what we anticipate with the upcoming Battlefield Heroes.

Opening an MMO up to a broader audience is something many newer developers have not yet grasped completely, but could it be as simple as hardware compatibility? EA certainly hopes so, since Battlefield Heroes is said to run "on your grandma's PC". With a download size less than 250MB and rumors of it running on an integrated video system, we're certainly curious to see if this will become a new trend. Less is more, people.

Some of you may have been patiently (or not so patiently, if you're like us) awaiting the closed beta for Battlefield Heroes. Unfortunately, there seems to have been a bit of miscommunication between developer DICE and the community that has formed around Battlefield Heroes. The closed beta -- that started yesterday, May 6th -- is invite only for the time being.

DICE is quick to point out that this is for the first phase of the beta only and that eventually everyone will be able to apply for it. What's a bit surprising is that so many people apparently hit the official site yesterday it actually went down for a while. Seems like DICE may be onto something with Battlefield Heroes, but only time will tell.

[via Blues News]

Battlefield Heroes is one of those titles that easily crosses a few genres. There's no question, however, that the game has a good chunk of free-to-play MMO shoved within its most gooiest bits.

Eurogamer has the news that sign-ups will be handled over on the official website on May 6th for anyone interested in playing this quirky-go-lucky online shooter. If you somehow haven't seen this inspiring trailer, you really need to check it out. The character screen features plenty of hard-points for character clothing options and the required level/experience-to-next-level indicator that completes the MMO addiction trifecta.

It goes without saying that we'll be tossing our hats into the beta ring. The gameplay looks exactly how you would imagine a WWII-cartoon-styled persistent online first person shooter -- or WW2CSPOFPS if you love acronyms -- would look like; strangely awesome.

In a Gamasutra interview with Battlefield Heroes producer Ben Cousins, the news was slipped that the MMO will launch its open beta with only two maps in place. For those of you unfamiliar with the genre, maps are different locales upon which matches can be played, selectable before entering the action. Cousins' reasoning behind only having two maps at launch was the trend for players to typically pick only two or three favorite maps to spend their time on, leaving the rest to go unplayed; why not, then, just release the best two right out of the gate?

Of course, it's not the developers who can decide which maps will become popular, and with only two at launch, there's the distinct possibility that players might become bored with the offerings and leave earlier than usual. Perhaps anticipating this reasoning, Cousins went on to say ' ... we already have another map quite far along in development which will be included in an update soon after launch.' The game looks like it could be quite fun, and of course, 'free' is a great price for any endeavor.

[Via EvilAvatar]

When last we heard, there was no other information about the upcoming casual MMO Battlefield Heroes other than 'It's in development'. Well, now we have more -- a lot more.

According to the trailer, BH is completely free to download and play, features full leveling of your character, a matching service that ensures that you only play against others of your level, an overarching 'metagame' to measure your progress against, and it's still slated for a Summer release.

It's worth checking out the website for the developer blog, as anyone who's interested in how a game like this comes together will find items of interest both now and going forward. Perhaps our earlier question about whether or not the WWII setting will feel limiting is mitigated by the fact that for all intents and purposes, you'll be playing an olive drab colored online version of Mario Kart.

[Via Joystiq]

While there isn't a lot of information on their website, Electronic Arts has announced Battlefield Heroes, an MMO featuring the popular World War 2 milieu. Created by Dice, the team that made Battlefield 1942 and Battlefield 2, this will be EA's first attempt at a microtransaction- and advertising-based revenue model.

Judging by the look of what images do exist on their site, BH's graphics will likely appeal to certain players, but others might be put off by its cartoony style. Its being free-to-play, though, will no doubt make more willing to try it than not. However, after playing in all manner of fantastical, imaginative worlds, with characters of radically vast ranges of appearance and abilities, will people be interested in the thematically-limited (some might say 'pure') WWII genre?

[Thanks, Boltar!]