Another benefit of the third-person camera is that players can more easily see the customizations they've applied to their character. Almost every aspect of a character can be personalized, from pants and shirts all the way down to facial hair.

By hitting the "Q" key during gameplay, players can bring up a 3x3 grid that provides a number of expressive animations. This emote system provides the baseline for in-game communication, allowing combatants to easily and visually express emotion, such as boastful laughter.

Abilities
A number of specialized abilities will be available, with players selecting their traits before the game begins. Demonstrated techniques included what Cousins referred to as a "legit wall hack," which allowed him to briefly see outlines of other players though walls, as well as a temporary damage bonus and an ability that provided a burst of health.

Mapped to number keys, abilities can only be used sparingly, with their respective icons sitting along the bottom of the screen indicating availability and recharge status.

Some abilities, such as the health burst, will affect not only the player but also those within range. Floating health icons indicate when a player is using their health burst skill, and the use of other abilities is illustrated by similar visual cues.

Advertising
There will be no billboards or any sort of in-game advertising within Battlefield Heroes, Cousins assured the crowd.

Instead, the game-supporting ad revenue will come from the Battlefield Heroes website, which players must visit to launch the game.

A bright yellow "Play Now!" button is prominently featured on the page, as are news posts, details on purchasable items, and, of course, banner ads.

When a player registers an account, that form will also contain banner ads. And when players go to launch the game, the loading screen will contain ads, too.

In short, anytime someone loads the game, EA is guaranteed at least three ad views--one on the main page, and two on the loading screen. As a result, there was no apparent need to integrate advertising into the game itself.

Low System Requirements
As EA DICE is targeting a broad demographic with Battlefield Heroes, the system requirements are quite low.

At the bare minimum, players will need a 1GHz processor and an integrated graphics chip in their system.

And Yet...
Despite the information-packed presentation, loads of questions still remain. Aside from an off-hand comment, Cousins barely touched on the subject of purchasable items. Will they be weapons? Abilities? Fashion accessories? If they are weapons, how will EA DICE balance the game to be fair, and yet still entice folks to buy new armament?

Sadly, I wasn't able to play the game myself. It looked fun, no doubt, but with all the gameplay tweaks and casual-oriented changes to the typical Battlefield formula, I'm left wondering just how much of the original dynamic is left in the title. Will long-time fans embrace the changes, or will they shun Heroes as a nerfed offspring?

Sure, Cousins regaled us with tales of how internal testing has proven the title to be much more popular than anticipated, noting that the studio has been forced to set up multiple test servers so that everyone on staff can play. He even admitted that the game's unexpected popularity may have had a "slight impact" on the other games DICE has in development, hinting at Team Fortress 2 levels of addictiveness.

I suppose a better question is, will the fan reaction even factor into the title's reception? By creating a free-to-play web title with low system requirements, EA DICE is targeting those that fall far outside of the series' typical demographic.

I have no doubt that when it launches later this year, Battlefield Heroes will be successful--at least from a business standpoint. But the same thought keeps running through my mind: Is it still Battlefield?

Honestly, I still have no idea.