Game Freaks 365 sat down with the development team from Battlefield 1943 for a quick interview on their newly released game. Keep in mind these questions were asked prior to the game’s release this week. Since this was a collective interview, we don’t have any names to credit the responses to.
Battlefield 1943 is a download-only game for PSN and Xbox Live. How much will it cost and when will it be available? Why did you take this route as opposed to a full retail launch?
The game will cost $15 on the Playstation and the equivalent on Xbox Live Arcade (1,200 Microsoft points). It is available now for both the 360 and PS3.
We took 1943 digital for two reasons. The first reason is accessibility. We want this game to be easily accessible to a wide audience and nothing is easier for the customer than downloading directly to the living room. The second reason we went digital is that 1943 was designed to offer the best bang for your buck. We didn’t intend to replace the traditional, packaged game, but set out to create an action packed, multiplayer experience from beginning to end.
Your game will have three maps: Wake Island, Guadalcanal and Iwo Jima. Could you spend some time to describe a little of each? What kind of tactical advantages do each of the maps have?
Wake Island is an old favorite and will be familiar to existing Battlefield 1942 fans, but it’s experienced in a new way thanks to the destructibility of the Frostbite game engine and other elements we’ve introduced. The island is arranged in a horse-shoe formation with flag points dotted along the arc. You begin on your aircraft carrier and boat or fly to wherever you’d like land. The island is pretty large, so, while it’s possible to snipe from one side to another, it ain’t easy. There’s an airfield near the middle that is always hotly contested.
Guadalcanal is a relatively skinny island of mixed terrain. The elevation changes often and rapidly, so it leads to a lot of surprise encounters and interesting scenarios.
Iwo Jima is shaped like a dumbbell with flat and mountainous terrain. There’s a flag located at the summit on one end and its elevation can be a tactical advantage, as there are several stationary guns at your disposal. However, it’s not insurmountable, pardon the pun, as there are several strategic paths around the sides.
What will be all of the vehicles that you can drive?
There’s a variety of vehicles, all authentic to the WWII era. We’ve got jeeps, tanks, dog-fighting planes, and even D-Day style boats for moving between islands and aircraft carriers. You even have the ability to pilot a squadron of bombers by activating an air raid. It’s a blast looking down the periscope and choosing your target for maximum carnage.
Will the game support downloadable content?
In a way, yes, one of the promotions we are most excited about is the Coral Sea Challenge, which summons the communities on each platform to tally 43,000,000 kills. Once they hit that mark, we’ll release the Coral Sea map, a level specifically designed to test your dog-fighting skills.
What kind of game modes are currently being planned?
The primary mode is called “Conquest,” where player aim to exhaust the other team’s “reinforcement points”. You do this by killing members of the opposing team, but also by capturing flags around the islands. Captured flags act as multipliers for your kills. So the more flags your team owns, the more “reinforcement points” your kills will deduct from the other team. You cannot overtake the opposing team’s home base or aircraft carrier and you will respawn at either your home base or at a captured flag near the action.
The second mode is called “Air Superiority” and is unlocked with the Coral Sea map. Air Superiority is your basic dog-fighting deathmatch mode, though not all kills are done with planes. You can even man anti-aircraft guns to take down opposing players.
