Xbox Living

Any fan of the Battlefield series will know that Conquest is what it’s all about.  In fact, Bad Company was the first Battlefield game to not feature Conquest as a game mode.  Fans of the series weren’t happy about this, so EA’s DICE studio announced that they’d be adding Conquest to Bad Company (for free) after the game’s release.

Now, a month later, we have our first glimpse at Conquest mode in BF:BC.  No release date has been set yet, but the team behind the game has given us a screenshot, a few new details, and a promise that it’s coming very soon.

For those of you who haven’t played any of the previous Battlefield titles before, here are the basics of Conquest.

• Each map contains five flags placed throughout the map.
• The goal is to “capture” each flag by controlling the surrounding area (standing near it).  Points are earned the longer you hold each flag, and at the end the team who controlled the most flags for the longest, or eliminated the other team, wins.
• You can only spawn next to flags you control, and when your team controls no flags you’re not able to respawn.  It’s up to the rest of your team to re-capture flags before everyone is wiped out.

It’s not unlike the “War” mode in Call of Duty 3 or the “Territories” mode in Halo 3, except there’s no flag-to-flag progression and either team can recapture a point at any time.

EA has said that four of the existing maps have been redesigned for Conquest, suggesting that not all maps will be Conquest-ready.  New lighting and weather effects will also be added to add a little more realism to the battle.

EA also announced today that they’re shutting off some of the demo servers next week, and encouraged those still playing the demo to get in on the action.

I for one am greatly looking forward to Conquest.  Gold Rush is a fun game mode but I really do miss the classic Battlefield gameplay.  Hopefully we’ll get a release date (or a release) soon.