Battlefield 2 expansion

By Ellie Gibson Published 14 July, 2005

And first official details revealed.

EA and DICE Canada have confirmed that an expansion pack for Battlefield 2 is currently in the works and should be with us this autumn.

According to an article on IGN, Battlefield 2: Special Forces focuses on infantry combat and features six new team types: SAS, Navy SEALs, MEC Special Forces, Spetnaz and two insurgent factions (one modeled on the MEC, the other originating from Russia).

Lead designer AJ Marini told the website that you'll feel like a "super soldier" now, thanks to the addition of gadgets and abilities that have never been seen before.

"The two big areas of equipment are night vision, which transcends to commander mode as well, and then the other section is mobility based features [such as] a zipline and grappling hook," he said.

At least seven and potentially eight maps will be included in the expansion, including one set in an airport and another at a missile facility. All will host two-team Conquest matches and will support up to 64 players for more intense, concentrated action.

Around ten new vehicles are promised along with 12 new weapons, including FNScar, the US Special Forces assault rifle, and new flash-bang and tear gas grenades.

Classes will remain the same, but "You're going to find that what we've added does change things up a bit," Marini said.

"By adding new elements like the grappling hook and zipline, now the classes that carry these items play a little differently. They have a bit more versatility to them.

"So now you really want to have these guys as part of your squad. And the squad becomes more powerful as a whole," he added.

But Marini reckons it's the new night missions that will make the add-on a must have: "It's looking really great at night, I think that the feel of combat and these intense firefights in the night areas and dark areas is looking really good," he said.

"It really does give you a Special Forces experience in the Battlefield world."

The full interview can be found on IGN.

Picture of Ellie.

About Ellie Gibson

Since joining Eurogamer in the mid 2000s, Ellie has written about subjects as diverse as the fall of Gizmondo, the rise of Hollyoaks actresses in Red Alert games and the noise a bear makes under NSFW circumstances.

Read more articles from Ellie by visiting the Ellie Gibson archive page.

You may also like...

Comments (29) Latest comment 7 years ago

Comments for this article are now closed, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • Dynamize #1 7 years ago

    Concentrate on fixing the game that's already out though, eh lads?

  • Benno #2 7 years ago

    laughing out loud

  • Wash #3 7 years ago

    :S dont hang about do they...

  • MyWifeNowDave #4 7 years ago

    No word on supply lines then?

  • Celeborn #5 7 years ago

    This autumn? After the game has only recently been released? That seems a tiny period... me thinks stuff was cut from the actual game to be added to this "expansion" pack. cynical? me?

  • fourfour #6 7 years ago

    Its been developed by DICE Canada, not the swedish boys.

  • Tweakmonkey #7 7 years ago

    Fruit Salad - you are right. It's a right pain in the wallet to have to buy all these expansion packs.

  • souljah #8 7 years ago

    Seeing tracer fire and artillary strikes at night , and with night sights on...would be pretty nifty.

    /imagines squads full of grappling hook toting, zipline travelling batmen

    "Wheres the squad leader?"
    "Hes hanging from a helicoptor by a grappling hook"

  • PearOfAnguish #9 7 years ago

    Perhaps someday the 1.01 hotfix will be released, and I will able to play for more than five minutes without it crashing. Maybe even find a server without the browser hanging!

  • jumpdeveraux #10 7 years ago

    Once we have the hotfix I think we'll see one more balance patch then everything else will be rolled up into the expansion pack and we'll be expected to open our wallets (again).

  • richardiox #11 7 years ago

    Still no word of new game modes, in fact the fact they say it's still "conquest" means to me they have no plans for other game modes, despite the presence of a game mode filter on the browser screen.

  • Universal_Hamster #12 7 years ago

    "Lead designer AJ Marini told the website that you'll feel like a super soldier"

    To quote the incredibles: "With everyone super... No-one will be."

  • jack_klugman #13 7 years ago

    TEH UBERMENSCH!

  • tonynibbles #14 7 years ago

    Man this sounds awesomer!

  • oceanmotion #15 7 years ago

    Why is this game so screwed up. Did they do no testing at all!?!

  • Pablo2k5 #16 7 years ago

    Hmmm, can't say Im very excited about this.
    One of the screenshots on IGN looks like the Dalian Plant map but in the dark!
    Battlefield to me isn't about sneaking around in the dark with a grappling hook.
    What they need to do is release some additional FREE maps to make up for the lack of decent maps shipped with the full game. EA tossers.

  • asphaltcowboy #17 7 years ago

    lol, if you head over to the eaforums, you wouldn't believe the number of polls and conspiracy theories regarding how they don't release the mod tools and then magically announce an expansion. Something about being shown up by the mod community or something 8)

  • crashVoodoo #18 7 years ago

    they probably just don't want a 'prisoner torture' or 'hot cup-o-joe' mod coming out ... its probably on the disc somewhere, just needs unlocking
    Edited by crashVoodoo at 14/07/05 @ 20:05

  • Spin_Dr_Wolf #19 7 years ago

    Concentrate on fixing the game that's already out though, eh lads?

    Exactly. An expansion pack is no good if the game doesn't run in the first place. :(

  • Pablo2k5 #20 7 years ago

    Im sorry but most people that claim that EA need to "fix the game" before they release the expansion probably either don't have a system capable of running it or don't know enough about their computers to realise that their system is at fault and NOT the game.
    BF2 plays fine for the majority of users and is infintely more polished than BF1942 ever was at release.
    Sadly, most user expectations of a game are normally much higher than their PC specs.
    The thing I object to is EA releasing an "expansion" so soon after the originals release that probably could be knocked up by mod makers in half the time at a higher quality (see Desert Combat).

  • Celeborn #21 7 years ago

    Pablo: just because it works for you and a large number of users, doesn't therefore make the game bug free and stable. Hell, EA have admitted a huge problem in the patch they released recently, so quite clearly there ARE major issues that isnt just people with crap PCs

  • Furbs #22 7 years ago

    Can I just be the first to add:
    OMG!!!!WTFLOL!!! Does it have m0t0rb1k3s in it?????!LOLWTF!!11

  • Bumbuliuz #23 7 years ago

    Fix game first, then do addon. I havent played Bf2 since they pulled the patch after release. I cant be bothered re-installing the game. Rather wait for the next patch. Hope it will be soon, I dont want to see another Tribes2 :(

  • Pike #24 7 years ago

    I don't get this "don't make an expansion, make the patch instead" whining. The team working on this expansion is DICE Canada. It is DICE Sweden that are working on the patch. So making an expansion does in no way affect the work with patching BF 2.

  • Bezzy #25 7 years ago

    Good lord! I'm guessing that realism nuts are going to be all "wtf grapple hooks??", but I like battlefield for its arcady realism. Bring on the grapple, but for christ's sake let us use them on vehicles so we can hang from choppers, or waterski from the back of jets and boats, or be dragged along dirt tracks by a buggy!

  • Bezzy #26 7 years ago

    ..Even though this would probably totally break the fine balance of the game!

    IT'D BE WORTH IT!

  • glaeken #27 7 years ago

    Just as balance to all those claiming BF2 needs fixing I have no problems with it.

    Those who complain always have a louder voice than those who are satisfied.

  • Tommyc352 #28 7 years ago

    Any news on when the patch is out?

  • glaeken #29 7 years ago

    The latest news on the patch to 1.01 is they are testing a final release candidate. That too me says it will be out very soon. Early next week would be my guess.