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The press release:

Battlefield 2142 Northern Strike Booster Pack Brings Futuristic Close-Quarters Combat and Delivers All-New Maps, Vehicles, Unlocks and more for Battlefield 2142

The battle for survival wages on! Today we announce that Battlefield 2142™: Northern Strike* is currently in development for the PC. The booster pack is being developed at the EA Digital Illusions (DICE) studio in Stockholm, Sweden and is slated for release in March 2007.

Battlefield 2142: Northern Strike drops gamers deep into a desperate conflict for control of Earth's last scraps of inhabitable land following the onset of a cataclysmic new ice age. The Pan-Asian Coalition (PAC) has secretly moved into mainland Europe, using abandoned urban areas to establish new strongholds in a last-ditch push for superiority. The European Union must quickly mobilize north to dislodge PAC forces from a series of urban strongholds and regain the upper hand.

Battlefield 2142: Northern Strike features three new maps, including the infamous WWII battle scene at the Bridge at Remagen, an Alpine Titan docking harbour in Port Bavaria and a claustrophobic showdown in the Liberation of Leipzig. The booster pack also features new vehicles including the EU’s heavily armed IFV Goliath and the PAC's hovering light IFV Hachimoto in addition to new unlocks, new badges and ribbons, new gameplay and more.

"Our number one goal with Battlefield 2142: Northern Strike was to give fans more of the close-quarters combat, increased persistence and new toys they've been asking for," said Kristoffer Bergqvist, the booster pack's producer. "We've also added gameplay enhancements including two brand new vehicle types in an asymmetrical set-up. Furthermore, we're introducing the Titan game mode into an urban setting and will debut the intensified Conquest Assault Lines game mode."

The intervieuw
Learn more about Battlefield 2142: Northern Strike as the booster pack's producer Kristoffer Bergqvist talks about the back story, the new vehicles, increased persistence and more.


1) What was your overall focus and vision when you set out to create the booster pack?

Main focus for Northern Strike was to create something that felt new and fresh and appealed to both veteran and casual players. A lot of time and effort was put into designing new vehicle and level types, to add another layer to the Battlefield experience, but still keep the Battlefield core values. We also wanted to expand on the persistence experience, to add a new layer of unlock items and new badges to earn. Last but not least we strived to incorporate the booster pack with the original game. Rather than having booster pack players gather on one server and original game players on another we wanted to allow booster pack owners to enjoy certain parts of the new content while playing the core game.

2) The vehicles that are introduced in Battlefield 2142: Northern Strike are two new types compared to the vehicles available in the core game, could you tell us something about how these will change gameplay?

Both vehicles' main purpose is to assist and hunt infantry, but in completely different ways. The EU Goliath is a slow moving heavily armoured beast with 6 different guns placed on it, it's carrying a spawn point, re-supply functionality and regenerative armour. The PAC Hachimoto is more about doing quick strafing runs trying to help your infantry while dodging enemy fire.


3) Where does the name "Northern Strike" come from?

As the war around the Mediterranean rages on, the Pan Asian Coalition make a move into Europe, scavenging the abandoned, dead cities that once were the heart of Europe. When the EU finally realizes what is going on the PAC already established several bases in urban central European areas. A counter offensive is launched, the spearhead is pointing to the north and the EU army has no intentions to stop until they got back what was once theirs, snow covered or not.

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