Changelog:

Server – Some potential sources for lag/rubberbanding have been eliminated
Server – The old reserved slots has been replaced by a kick-on-demand system like in BF2
Server – Log file for server admins: all remote admin interface commands/events are logged
Server – Log file for server admins: major server events + all chat messages are logged
Server – Idle kick is controllable
Server – Profanity filter can be disabled
Server – Teamkill-kick system is controllable
Server – Ticket counts and bleed rate are controllable per-level
Server – Infantry only mode available per-level
Server – Initial spawn delay and respawn delay are adjustable
Server – Server description can be up to 400 characters, and use “|” for line breaks
Server – Banlist can contain up to 10.000 entries
Server – reduced latency in packet handling

Admin Interface – fixed the player.onKill spam that occasionally happened
Admin Interface – ensured that player.onJoin events always report the player name
Admin Interface – events triggered when people spawn
Admin Interface – much more info on kills
Admin Interface – detailed stats are reported at end-of-round

Gameplay – Various minor level bugfixes
Gameplay – Helicopter handling has been tweaked
Gameplay – Weapon tweaks have been implemented based on PC public feedback
Gameplay – Tracer dart gun speed has been changed from 300 m/s to 200 m/s
Gameplay – Fixed technical hang when a crate was armed outside of the combat area
Gameplay – “Victory is near” message was shown for the wrong team on Valparaíso, this has been fixed
Gameplay – Countermeasures can be fired when driving a helicopter
Gameplay – The brightness of the pilot view in the Russian helicopter has been reduced
Gameplay – Advanced Spotting scope works better
Gameplay – Knifing people in the back works again (we backed out the change that we had done for Server R11)
Gameplay – Hit box for moving targets expands based on the speed of the targets movement
Gameplay – G36 now has crosshair when in Hardcore mode

Server Browser – Servers are sorted into 3 categories: Normal, Modified, Hardcore depending on their settings
Server Browser – Added support for retrieving update progress
Server Browser – Now refreshes information
Server Browser – Join queue system when attempting to join a full server
Server Browser – All settings are automatically saved between sessions
Server Browser – Pings are sent via an alternate mechanism, which should work for non-Administrator users as well

Client – Fixed DX9 issue, which likely caused graphics glitches and perhaps crashes
Client – Fixed some crashes
Client – Toggle/hold crouch is user controllable
Client – Toggle/hold zoom is user controllable
Client – Vsync bugfixed for DX10/DX11
Client – Rewritten how settings are written to disk; this should reduce/eliminate the spawn lag
Client – Fixed bug where a player could join a server before the stats has been downloaded causing faulty stats in “EOR- unlock progression”-screen
Client – New chat system allows chatting when dead (but not during end of round) and keeps a 100 lines log
Client – Improved Play Now functionality
Client – Removed K/D ratio and Skill Level filters in the leaderboards
Client – Any points you get while being dead will be added to your score
Client – Reduced negative mouse acceleration
Client – Increased health on the Cobra to match other vehicles
Client – More informative disconnection/kick reasons
Client – Support for Map Packs so PC gets future VIP maps at the same time as consoles

The Balance tweaks are as followed:
Slightly increased the damage of the UZI at long range.
The AKs74u now has more felt recoil when aiming.
The G3, VSS, and all SemiAutomatic rifles now settle slightly faster between shots when aiming.
The PKM, Type 88LMG, G3, An94, and 40mm shotgun have returned to their former glory.
Increased the damage of the MG3 to bring it in line with the rest of the LMGs.
Fixed a bug where the Saiga12 with slugs would do too much damage at long range.
Fixed a bug where the SVU would do too little damage at long range.
Fixed a bug where M95 rounds would not kill armored targets with headshots.

Source

Bearing in mind that this is a beta product, with over three months until release, let’s get stuck in. The first thing that is shown to you is the main menu, which is obviously ported directly from console versions, designed for navigation with a gamepad and with large fonts. Play is obvious. Career contains your ranks, medals, ribbons, and leaderboards, much like Bad Company 2. Options lets you change video settings and adjust your TV display. Exit Game lets you exit the game, I haven’t used this one yet because the game crashes when it thinks I’ve played enough. Let’s hope DICE has the time to improve this for us PC users. Medals and ribbons are awards you can earn in ranked servers, including the Action Commendation you can see below. Each medal or ribbon you earn in-game will increase your score and help you on the way to your next rank, earning you new weapons and attachments.

There are three classes in the game, Rifleman, Spec Ops, and Sniper. Riflemen have assault rifles, grenade launchers (sigh), and can unlock LMGs. Spec Ops have SMGs and rocket launchers. Snipers have sniper rifles, though they start out without a scope, and C4. All pretty generic modern combat shooter stuff, and unfortunately that’s a theme throughout Medal Of Honor, everything you see in this game has been done before, and done by two games. If there ever was an offspring of two games, this would be it. Those games are of course Modern Warfare (2), and Bad Company 2. Running off the Frostbite engine, it looks and feels a lot like Bad Company 2, which is not necessarily a bad thing, but in it’s current state BC2 is a better game, so one could ask oneself what’s the point in Medal Of Honor?

Guns are as close to recoilless as you could get, though EA have said they are going to tweak that during the beta. The two maps available, Kabul City Ruins and Helmand Valley, are too small. Helmand Valley is very linear, there is one capture point at each stage (think BC2 rush map) which focuses all combat on a single point with usually only two paths up to that point, unlike in BC2 where the maps are more open and you have more freedom to flank. Kabul City Ruins is even worse, if I were to draw the map in ASCII, it would look something like this;
___
|_|_|
|_|_|

the four empty squares each have a building in it which you can enter, but the map is basically an urban four-square court, and the teams rotate spawn points around the center every few minutes.

Visually, the game looks good, a lot like Bad Company 2 but different enough to be called it’s own game, which is a good thing because they most likely won’t be changing during the beta. Controls are what you’d expect, no prone or lean. Crouch can be toggled (yay), but it doesn’t work yet (aww). DICE is known for poor server browsers, every game they make they seem to forget how to make them and start again from scratch, Medal Of Honor’s server browser is no exception, their worst one yet. Performance for me at least is better than BC2 at high settings, though I was forced to play on DX9 to even start the game, which may be helping my FPS somewhat. I’d like to comment on the kill-streak bonuses, but I haven’t had any yet. Not because I suck, but because the game crashes to desktop whenever I have enough points to obtain one, eagerly awaiting a fix to that one.

While the beta doesn’t make me want to cancel my pre-order immediately, if DICE doesn’t work hard to improve the game over the next three months, I’ll probably save myself £30. There is still the singleplayer game of course, which could turn out to be worth playing. Could.

The Battlefield Bad Company 2 PC beta was released at 5pm, which will officially be known as the day the internet almost died. The combined might of Fileplay and FilePlanet ground to a halt as thousands upon thousands of pre-orderers attempted to download a single 1.5GB file. Perhaps somebody should tell EA about a little thing called preloading.

Gameplay wise, the game is classic Battlefield (minus the planes, woo), which shouldn’t need explaining. It is very apparent that this is a beta, with high levels of lag on almost all servers, countless people complaining about crashes, and a friend system that just plain doesn’t work. Console origins show through, the game falls short of my expectations for aesthetics and it runs choppier than one might wish for, even on my GTX280. Bloated interfaces that ask you to login, chose your soldier (profile), and then proceeds to spend minutes retrieving your online statistics from EA’s master servers every time you launch the game.

But that’s what betas are for right? Here are my first 10 minutes.

UPDATE! If you want to increase your performance in the beta, put level of detail on low. It reduces the distance you see some objects (noticeably trees), but can REALLY reduce stuttering, at least it did for me.

The good

The closed beta available to those who pre-order the game from selected retailers is planned to start on the 28th of January, just over a month before the real thing hits the shelves (or fibre wire). Places to get it from are Play.com, Direct2Drive, or Steam, others are not guaranteed to give you access to the beta.

The not so good

A fairly generic campaign trailer has been released, but who’s buying the game solely for the singleplayer anyway? DICE did promise dedicated servers but now apparently only from pre-approved partners, though it has been this way in previous Battlefield games unless you host an unranked server (no stat gain).

The bad

Rumours are that the PC version of the game will have a fixed FoV (field of view), however the details of what the fixed value will be are as of yet unknown. This is a problem for PC gamers who like to change the default FoV to suit themselves, and possibly for gamers with additional monitors or eyefinity. This is a sign of a console port.

The shady

Why have DICE not released any videos or screenshots from the PC version? They are also being very selective about what questions they answer and use their own forums and blogs so content can be carefully moderated… Why would they be hiding things from us?

If there was one game I’m looking forward to in the coming months it would be Bad Company 2 from EA DICE. There have been so few good multiplayer shooters recently (considering I didn’t buy Modern Warfare 2), and judging from the videos of it there isn’t much reason not to be excited. So, why will BF:BC2 be worth waiting for?

1. Dedicated Servers. Not only that, but DICE have said that they will be giving the PC version extra features, presumably modding tools. Player limits are said to be 32 per server, but that may be moddable.
2. Huge maps and destructible scenery, set in snow and jungle theatres, not just desert, desert, and more desert.
3. A fantastic engine if the videos are anything to go by, the game looks great.
4. Vehicles! Official count is 15 ground vehicles and helicopters
5. Online stats and rankings similar to BF2.
6. A massive armoury consisting of over 200 weapons and thousands of possible weapon loadouts.
7. Beta coming early in the new year.
8. Singleplayer, well, it could be worth a look at.

It is important to note that this is not Battlefield 3, which has been confirmed to be in development. This is probably going to be the natural successor to BF2 with 128 player servers and full air and sea combat. It’s unknown whether it will be PC exclusive but I think that’s unlikely to be the case. Here are some videos of Bad Company 2 so you can make up your own mind before the release date on (supposedly) the 5th of March 2010.

Panama Canal gameplay (by EA)

Arica Harbour gameplay (by EA)

Actual gameplay from PS3 beta