Battlefield 2 Booster packs and patch update

Breaking News! EA have issued quite a lot of information about the so called “Booster packs” and the new 1.2 patch. Most of it looks very promising, especially some of the patch fixes. The Booster packs also look like they are going to add a lot of cool stuff to the game.

Here it is, straight from the horses mouth:

Today we have some big announcements that we’re excited to share with you! First of all, news about 2 new booster packs that will expand the battlefields of Battlefield 2, Battlefield 2: Euro Force and Battlefield 2: Armored Fury. Euro Force will be released on February 8th and sees the introduction of the all-new European Army in 3 new maps. Each Euro soldier will come equipped with a new primary weapon, from the FNP90 to the Benelli Tactical Shotgun. There will also be 4 new vehicles, including the (in)famous Eurofighter. The 3 maps are “Operation Smoke Screen”, “The Great Wall of China” and “Taraba Quarry”.

Armored Fury will be released on March 28th and the focus is on large mechanized battles, harking back to the El Alamein style maps on BF1942. There will be 3 new maps – “Midnight Sun”, “Operation Harvest” and “Operation Road Rage” – but also 2 new vehicle classes. Attack Jets and Recon Helicopters, which can spot nearby enemy units, will make their debut.

Both packs will be available exclusively online at www.downloader.ea.com at $9.99 each (€9.99 in Europe and £5.99 in the UK).

More stuff on the Booster packs and patch 1.2 after the jump.

Here is some more information on Euro Force, specifically what new stuff will be avaliable

The battle expands in the first booster pack to 2005’s hit game Battlefield 2. Take the powerful new Euro Force into action against MEC and Chinese armies as you battle for control of all-new Asian locations. The action escalates to a fever pitch with the latest high-tech vehicles and weapons including attack helicopters, battle tanks, assault rifles, and much more.

Available this coming February only through EA downloader!

3 New Maps
Operation Smoke Screen
Taraba Quarry
Great Wall

4 New vehicles
Main Battle Tank – Leopard 2A6
Main Battle Tank – Challenger 2
Fighter – Eurofighter (Typhoon T1)
Attack Heli – Eurocopter Tiger (Tiger HAP)

7 New Weapons
HK53A3
Famas
SA80 L85A2
SA80 L85A2 with UGL (AG-36)
HK21
Benelli M4
P90
L96A1

1 New Army
European Union

1 New award
European Union Special Service Medal

Jump over to the EA newsletter article on the Booster packs for some screenshots of the new vehicles and weapons! 

Now onto the patch, and I have highlighted the fixes which should make the most difference to the gameplay

• Helicopter now carry 8 missiles rather than 14
• TV-Guided missile now have a shorter range
• Hit points on all air vehicles has been reduced
• AA missile lock has been improved
• Support kits have had their primary weapons adjusted for accuracy
• Sniper kits have had their primary weapons adjusted for accuracy
• Anti-Tank kits have had their primary weapons adjusted for accuracy
• “Dolphin Diving” is no longer possible
• Players can no longer jump and shoot at the same time
• “Prone Spamming” is now fixed
• “Sprint exploit” is now fixed
• The Sa80 weapon has been improved
• The G3A3 weapon has been improved
• Reload while sprinting has been enabled
• Chinese and MEC APCs can now shoot through penetrable materials
• Damage decreased for the M134 (thats the Blawk Hawk minigun btw)
• Medic defibrillator paddles have been adjusted. They now reload while not in use.
• Server search filters now work properly
• All mines (Claymore, Anti-vehicle, C4) can now be picked up by the same class that dropped it by using the “G” key.
• Mines can no longer be destroyed with other explosives
• Flash bang effect radius decreased
• Added unlocks for Sniper and AT kits
• Fixed a bug in terrain rendering with night vision, whereby terrain was still dark in dark areas.
• Fixed a bug whereby mods that are not bf2 or not xpack permutate shaders every time a level is loaded.
• Fixed a bug whereby non-xpack mods cannot use xpack shaders.
• Fixed bug in TV guided missiles of Havoc helicopter
• Bug in MP7 fire rate fixed. Ammo count increased and mag count and damage decreased
• APC Update – “Chinese and MEC APCs can now shoot through penetrable materials”. This fix was a miscommunication to the patch team. Chinese and MEC APC’s have been reverted and the LAV25 now no longer shoots through penetrable materials.
• Vehicles no longer disappear when viewed from some vehicles with a HUD (e.g. Tanks).
• Performance gain found in static mesh rendering.
• Detonation radius from grenade launcher explosions has been reduced.
• Grenade launcher projectiles now have a minimum time before arming.

Note that some of these fixes were mentioned before, but they are all listed here for completeness.

Well, thats all EA had to say, now we wait for February 8th to roll around!