While Battlefield 2042 still has a way to go, DICE has turned a sinking ship into one that might reach its final destination.
Singleplayer.
Co-op Multiplayer.
PvP Multiplayer.
Battlefield 2042 was so poorly received at launch because DICE and EA forgot what made Battlefield beloved by its community and instead tried to cash in on the success of other games and genres.
As a result, no one was happy, and the small influx of new players due to the redefined focus did not make up for the mass exodus of longtime fans, many of whom felt like they had been cheated and that the Battlefield 2042 they were pre-sold was not the Battlefield 2042 they received.
For the first time in its rocky existence, Battlefield was at the point where many in the industry felt the franchise was done. That DICE and EA had gone too far this time and that abandoning Battlefield 2042 and refocusing on “Battlefield 2024/2025” was the only chance for the franchise to endure.
Thankfully, not all felt this way, and this site and many others held to the belief that DICE would turn it around (like they had done previously with Star Wars Battlefront 2) and that EA while being a profit-focused publisher, would not allow their flagship franchise to become a laughingstock if only to appease the investors, many of whom would have been rightfully angry to see EA squander the reputation of a flagship franchise without at attempting to correct course.
While we could write a novel about why Battlefield 2042 was so poorly received and what has changed since its launch, the main points of interest were as follows.
Since its inception, Battlefield has been a game that pits two teams of players against one another, with each side fighting on behalf of a faction.
While these factions normally take the form of rival nations such as the USA and China or rival ideologies such as Allies vs Axis, this formula had even been (unsuccessfully) extended to cops vs robbers.
And yet, despite almost two decades of faction-based warfare, Battlefield 2042 was developed as a hero-centric shooter, with each specialist having access to their unique abilities.
While this system has worked (Overwatch) and continues to work (Apex Legends) for some games, it has also proven to be a disaster several times, with even popular franchises such as Call of Duty having to revert to more traditional operators after fans voiced their displeasure at being limited to a single operator for some playstyles.
Thankfully, DICE partially reverted these changes in January 2023 by reintroducing the classic class system to Battlefield 2042, immediately resulting in a massive uptick of players and a 50% increase in positive user feedback.
While this is only one step on Battlefield 2042 journey to recovery, it is the most important step, as for the first time since its launch, Battlefield 2042 truly feels like a Battlefield game.
Battlefield may have traditionally lacked multiplayer characters who had much to offer in the way of personality; however, Battlefield, unlike titles such as Overwatch, does not need interesting characters to be fun, and if Battlefield 2042 is anything to go by, placing more emphasis on the character than the player is a recipe disaster.
While Battlefield 2042 brought much-needed diversity to the franchise, the clumsy way it was handled resulted in a wave of negativity, with many gamers attributing the fact that their favourite shooter was in such a terrible state to “wokeness”.
EA, in a desire to appear in touch with modern sensibilities, put the cart before the horse and made a bigger deal about the race or sexuality of specialists over their functionality. Unfortunately, This move moved many gamers who were “on the fence” regarding diverse characters further to the right.
While much of this is in the past, and due to the reintroduction of the class system, specialists are less important, the damage has already been done, and DICE confirmed Season 4’s specialist was likely to be the last.
I hope EA does not learn the wrong lesson from this and back away from diverse characters; the problem was not diversity; rather, diversity was the only thing most specialists had going for them.
Battlefield games have always combined vehicular and infantry-based combat in a way that while controlling a tank, plane, helicopter, or speedboat felt great, fighting on foot was also very rewarding.
Unfortunately, Battlefield 2042 got this very wrong. At launch, infantry was little more than target practice for players who could gain control of a vehicle, with aircraft, in particular, dominating the Battlefield for much of its first year.
Thankfully, this is no longer the case in Battlefield 2042, and infantry vs vehicle combat, while still challenging, is no longer a one-sided and unrewarding slaughter.
Battlefield 2042’s launch maps were massive, sparse, and poorly laid out, resulting in players running for 5 minutes to get back into the faction, only to be often killed within moments of arrival by an enemy vehicle.
As a result, players would spend roughly 70% of each match running back to the action instead of making the type of memories for which Battlefield is famous.
As of 2023, many of the original maps have been redesigned to reduce the long run of shame to more manageable levels and improve aesthetics, which has gone down well with the community and has resulted in more active matchmaking and greater player retention.
Battlefield 2042 was an unmitigated mess at launch. While most modes were awful, there was still some fun to be had, and certain limited-time events were very well received, such as playing on the smaller 64-player maps on 9th-generation hardware.
For the first time in its short life, Battlefield 2042 was being talked about positively, and players pleaded with DICE to make these limited-time events permanent, or at least until the rest of the game was in a good place.
Unfortunately, DICE and EA had a plan, and they stuck to it, turning off the event as scheduled and driving away yet more players, many of whom felt as if the developer was actively working against the community for some nefarious reason.
In mid-2022, DICE removed the 128-player mode from Breakthrough, making the popular limited-time 64-player mode the only way to play, a move which started Battlefield 2042 on its long journey to redemption that continues to this day.
Another example of ignoring feedback occurred when DICE surveyed the community on specialists vs classes, only for classes to win by a huge majority and DICE to come back saying something to the effect of “they were surprised at the result and that many people liked specialists, so they would continue as planned”.
Thankfully, DICE would later change this position, and class-based combat was restored in January 2023, resulting in another uptick in activity and a wave of positive reviews.
Allowing users to design and play user-created content is usually a recipe for success. Halo Infinite’s current mini-revival is almost entirely attributed to the long-awaited Forge mode; however, how Battlefield 2042 handled Portal is wrong.
Except for XP farming and 1000% Damage lobbies, Portal mode is an unmitigated failure that looks to be essentially abandoned by both the community and developer, with DICE having not made public any plans for the mode in 2023 and the global Portal mode player base hovering at around 500 concurrent players.
Battlefield 2042’s attempt at competing with Escape from Tarkov (Hazard Zone) was about as successful as its attempt at competing with Call of Duty: Blackout (Firestorm) in that it was a complete failure and was discontinued within a few months of launch.
Hazard Zone will stay as part of the experience; we’re not switching it off, but beyond addressing critical errors and odd behaviours that may appear in the future, we’re no longer actively developing new experiences or content for the mode. You’ll find that maps that we release across our seasons will not be supported in Hazard Zone. - Adam Freeman
I hope the lesson that DICE and EA take away from this is that “it’s better to be the best at what you are good at than to be a failure at someone else’s job”.
At launch, Battlefield 2042 was a mess that deserved every negative review it received and then some; in my original review of Battlefield 2042, it was given a review score of just 2, making it the lowest-rated AAA game review on bluntlyhonestreviews.com
However, unlike user reviews, which are often motivated by anger and rarely updated, I am thrilled to be able to give Battlefield 2042 a better rating this time around.
For any game to recover from a terrible launch or update is great for everyone, especially those who have already purchased the game, and it is something we should all hope to see happen more often.
Unfortunately, user reviews rarely reflect positive changes, and many gamers have an unhealthy mindset, which can be best summed up as “never forgive, never forget”.
Not only is this an incredibly negative outlook that poisons your relationships and interactions with others, but it can also cause physical health issues due to the negative effect resentment can have on the physical body.
Mental and physical aspects aside, holding unforgiveness towards others is a very serious spiritual issue, with Jesus Christ addressing this issue many times but never more famously than in Matthew 6:15, which states
A very bold claim, but one Jesus not only taught but lived by, even going as far as to ask his Father (God) to forgive those actively partaking in his crucifixion.
In short, while Battlefield 2042 sucked at launch and DICE made many mistakes during its development, the last 12+ months have seen Battlefield 2042 improve with each update, and while it’s not a perfect game, it is deserving of a far rating than that most users reviews give it credit for.
You can read the rest of what Jesus had to say about forgiveness here.
Battlefield 2042 is the first Battlefield game to offer no actual singleplayer content, something which has been poorly received by the community and which seems to have been noticed by the publishers who have assured the community that the next instalment of the Battlefield franchise will offer a fully fleshed out narrative campaign in the manner to which they are accustomed.
Battlefield 2042 allows players to swap between various weapon attaches mid-battle, allowing players to adapt to any combat situation.
While most AAA titles allow players to enter the pause screen and tinker with loadouts, being able to do so in just a few clicks feels very immersive. Defending hotly contested control points can be the difference between life and death.
While I love the more in-depth loadout system that is editable from the lobby and start screen of most AAA shooters (including Battlefield 2042), being able to quickly swap out various scopes and attachments without the need to die and respawn is game-changing, and I would love to see Call of Duty adopt a similar system soon.
Battlefield 2042 offers limited-time modes such as Free for All and Team Deathmatch, popular mode modes which, while very common in other FPS titles, have traditionally not been present in Battlefield titles, giving me hope that in the future, Battlefield titles find a way to embrace popular modes from other titles, without losing its own identity in the process, which for much of Battlefield 2042’s first year was, unfortunately, the case.
Battlefield 2042 is a shooter video game developed by DICE and published by Electronic Arts, it was released on 12 November 2021 and retails for $59.99+.
Battlefield 2042 is available on the following platforms: PC, Playstation 4, Playstation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S.
DICE has confirmed that work is underway on Season 7; however, as of December 2023, there has been no word about any content following the conclusion of Season 7; however, it is possible that Seasons 8 and 9 are being considered if Season 7 proves as popular with the community as season 5 and 6 were, and perhaps more Battlefield 2042 remains profitable enough to fund further development.
Battlefield 2042 has been through a rough first year and has come out stronger for it. While it’s not an amazingly popular title, due to its inclusion in EA Play and Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, it is doing well in 2023 and is likely to continue to do so, at least through to the release of “Battlefield 2024/2025”.
As of April 2024, around 3,750,000 people play Battlefield 2042 on a fairly regular basis.
Battlefield 2042 is extremely active, and instantaneous matchmaking is possible in most regions 24/7; however, in very remote regions, there may be wait times of around one minute to find a full lobby.
Battlefield 2042 supports:
Battlefield 2042 offers the following matchmaking options:
The Battlefield 2042 in-game store sells:
The following peripherals are officially supported:
Battlefield 2042 is rated PEGI 18+ and contains:
Battlefield 2042 is in a great place as of June 2023. While there is still some room for improvement, it has come to the point where I can fully recommend it and feel comfortable giving it a rather impressive 9/10 rating, something which was frankly impossible at launch, which saw this site rate it as a measly 2/10, the lowest review score awarded to an AAA title in our nearly six years of reviewing video games.
