Conclusion
Unfortunately, Battlefield 2042 is an uneven game, even before getting to “What the audience wants” being a sticking point for many.
Hazard Zone for me, simply doesn’t fit with what I want from the series. I like scale, I like spectacle and bombast. Hazard Zone with three friends might have a tightly cinematic focus, but I don’t think it holds up in public play. And I think the design decisions surrounding the mode with weapon buying don’t have longevity.
So for me that’s functionally a third of the game I just don’t have any interest in interacting with.
For the rest? Portal offers so much. It’s messy right now. The servers are still settling from everyone and their dog testing things. there’s a tonne of kinks to work out. And obviously, it’s based on a promise of support. If that doesn’t turn up, then it’s not going to be the success it really could be.
But as a tool set, it’s incredible. I look forward to seeing what an invested community can do with it. And as a means of offering access to features from older games, I approve.
All Out Warfare is what I want from Battlefield. I lament the loss of some of the infantry play from V, and I know that at its core, the actual impact I can have on a whole match is much less immediately meaningful than in prior games.
But when the chaos of a round is unfolding, aircraft falling from the sky and teammates streaming towards an objective under fire, it’s so easy to lose yourself.
I think, even more so than most Battlefield games, \Battlefield 2042 will antagonise a lot of players. They won’t like or want what this game is offering. Because it’s not their Battlefield. It’s not the tight infantry play of V. The game is bigger and messier than 4 and 3. It’s got more of a focus than Hardline or Heroes. (But those people wouldn’t be happy regardless). There’s currently no meat grinder maps for the Locker/Metro people.
And partly that’s just wanting more of the same.
It’s not wrong to lament that the series you’ve felt invested in isn’t catering exactly to you any more.
But I think that (barring Hazard Zone), Battlefield 2042 offers a vision of the series that I can get behind. There are other games to fill niches. Battlefield is big. broad. brash. And utterly, spellbindingly beautiful in that chaos.
Available now from Steam, Origin, Xbox Store and Playstaton Store
(Promo Screenshots and Trailers Courtesy EA)