Battlefield Premium is EA/DICE answer to Activisions Call of Duty: Elite service. While they both have their similarities, they handle content in many different ways. But I digress, this isn’t a comparison of the two “services”, more of a “Should I or shouldn’t I spend my money on BF Premium at this time?”. Well the purpose of me doing this review/opinion article is to help you make that decision.
Well the first thing you should consider is the price, $50 USD. That is almost the price of a new game and almost $20 more than most “season passes” that other games offer. Now it’s a one time fee unlike CoD: Elite (which is annual), and there is no new Battlefield game in the foreseeable future. Another thing to consider is that the expansions are spread out over the course of the rest of the year and leading into March 2013.
So that leads to the second you should consider, available content at the moment. At this moment in time only two expansions are available, “Back to Karkand” and “Close Quarters”. Both offer new “assignments” to unlock new guns, achievements/trophies, and vehicles (Close Quarters doesn’t have any vehicles, hence the name). Now being a “Premium” member entitles you to the expansions for no additional cost and the future expansions as they come available (Sept, Dec, and March are when they will be available). On top of that, a premium member does have access to each new expansion two weeks before they are available to none premium members to give them a chance to wipe the floor with the non-premium members when its available to them. So with only those two expansions out at the moment its kinda of a hard sell to those who bought BF3 and received the “Limited Edition” of the game. Let me explain, for those who got the limited edition got “Back to Karkand” for free at its release, and therefore saved themselves $15 dollars in the process, so that already makes premium a hard sell for a “Limited Edition” owners like me. Now for those who bought the game after the “Limited Edition” versions where sold out, then getting premium starts making a bit of sense right now. See each of the expansions are $15, and with two of the five out right now, that’s $30 invested into the game and why not spend the extra $20 and get all the content for it anyways (plus with the perks that are involved in going premium)?
Now here is another thing to consider, time frame for the expansions. With “Back to Karkand” and “Close Quarters” are out now, but now is the wait until September for “Armored Kill” and “Aftermath” following in December and ending with “Endgame” in March. Now if you are like me, you like a wide variety of games in different genres and with that tend to spend a handsome sum of money as the holidays roll around. Since “Armored Kill” comes out in Sept. and at the beginning of the holiday onslaught of games (FarCry 3 and Borderlands 2 both drop that month) coming out this year, it’s going to be harder than ever for one to go play a game almost a year old. While “season passes” for most games range in the $20-$30 range, dropping $50 for Premium is almost the price for a new game. Yes, you don’t have to buy every new release this holiday season and waiting will save you more money down the long run (and going to a site like Thriftynerd.com due find you gaming deals), so this where buying Premium can be beneficial. You will get new content during those months and save more money by doing so, but at the risk you may or may not like what your getting. Your taking a gamble with “season passes” and your taking a gamble with Premium.
So in conclusion, should you upgrade to Premium? Well I did and I’m still undecided about my decision. Sure I’m a Battlefield fan and have been one since BF 1942, but does that mean it’s a sure fire thing and you will be happy about it? I don’t know. I don’t really care for “Close Quarters”, I’m not saying its bad, it’s just not for what I’m looking in a expansion for BF3. I do enjoy the new assignments, but yet I can’t help to feel that Premium should have been introduced when the game came out in last year. So do I regret my purchase of it? Simple answer, yes I do. Long answer, I will probably be happy that I did once December rolls around after “Aftermath” has been released. But at the moment, if you have the “Limited Edition” of BF3, then don’t bother yet. If you own the standard edition, then it may be worth it for you right now. And if EA/DICE has learned anything, it’s that you don’t do something like “Battlefield Premium” unless it’s been planned out to coincide with the release with a game, not after the fact.
Team [JOY] Online 