I spent more time with FPS Battlefield 2042, having freed myself from EA’s Vice grip. And it’s safe to say that combat fields have taken on a vastly different complexion, now largely in the hands of more players. Compared to three nights in confinement with magazines and other influencers, my emotions have definitely leveled off.
Basically, the honeymoon period is over. My relationship with the real-world game, outside of EA’s strict confines, has eased. I’m sorry to say it, but we’ve been apart. Things are average between us and maybe only Portal, the creator of the game’s custom mode, can salvage things.
Battlefield 2042 is a huge pack divided into three parts: All Out Warfare, Hazard Zone, and Portal. All Out Warfare includes Conquest and Breakthrough, the game’s ‘classic’ modes. Breakout was a favorite of mine in controlled review sessions, and it still is. Trying to hold the line as a Guardian, or breaking through to open the map and claim all areas as an Attacker, can make you very happy. You always feel that you have a clear goal despite the brutality of the battle, and being part of a whole team effort adds a sense of teamwork that few games other than Battlefield can offer.
What about Conquest? I’m still not convinced. In this mode, the entire map is unlocked from the start and there are a bunch of scattered shooting areas. The team that holds the most packs the longest wins. This is Battlefield 2042 without a tether, allowing you to run wild with your friends in its vast playground. With a limited number of magazines and influencers, it seems a bit quiet. But with maximum corridors, it’s definitely filled with tanks and hearses.
If you already have an action plan to deal with the aforementioned tanks and tangos, great! But for someone like me who never did, Conquest can be a struggle. You have to approach each match with a clipboard and set yourself achievable goals. You must chart your own path through 128 players, or it can quickly go from overwhelmed to boring. Longtime fans will most likely enjoy this mode, but it’s sure to come to life when bringing some friends on board.
The same is true for the Danger Zone, the second zone Hunt: Showdown– Battlefield 2042 special composition. 32 players, divided into teams of four, compete to extract as many data drives from a map as possible. There are only two windows for unpacking, so if you don’t risk stashing it in your drive and cashing in for credits, you can show up completely free. And you need those credits to increase the load for the next match.
During my previous practice, I worried that this economic structure would lead to an economic downturn where losing only leads to more losses. And guess? Those ouroboros were still buzzing around. Look at it, like the taste of its tail, it has. Grow up.
Portal, Battlefield’s custom mode creator and community creation hub, is the mode I think has the most potential. Maps, experts, and weapons from your many Battlefields can be combined and matched here. Also, you can only re-access the traditional modes from your golden old ones, such as Conquest in Bad Company 2. And man, these are much more colorful and vibrant than with products of the year 2042. They are a great way to relive the good times and serve as a reminder that the classic Battlefield formula works. Perhaps 2042 can still learn something from its predecessors.
But if you want to create something new, Battlefield Builder is the browser-based platform from which you will export your creations. It’s easy to navigate, intuitive, and despite being relatively simple on the surface, there’s actually a ton of options to tinker with. For those who want to enhance the options, there is a “Rules” section that allows you to set up logical tweaks.
Seeing that the custom modes we sampled at EA’s event weren’t great, I’m hoping that our time in the wild will bring us some gems. Unfortunately, that’s not what happened. So far, Portal’s server browser has been equipped with XP farming servers and the tedious Team Deathmatch mode. I tried something about zombies in the hope of a fun farce. It was a bit annoying. Then I tried a gun game. It was better. However, none of them represent what is possible. I still think there’s great potential here, but it clearly needs even more time.
But there are bigger problems that the community can’t fix. Firstly, the maps work inconsistently with different game modes. On the other hand, I’m a fan of how Breakthrough can feel like a journey through a changing landscape. You’ve got the Hourglass kicking off in the desert sand, then teleporting into the city with its towering skyscrapers. Removed as you battle through barren grasslands, before shoving you into a shipyard littered with massive shipwrecks. If all goes well, these twists and turns not only make for a beautiful scene, but also a pretty fun playground.
They currently support up to 128 players and that’s great, but I’m not sure I noticed a bump in the body. Sure, things are chaotic, but the maps are so vast to make up for it that the pockets of violence remain similar to previous, smaller entries in the series. And I don’t think many maps have been built with the Danger Zone in mind. So a lot of swaps take place on open ground with only a few pebbles to cover and this means they are usually decided in seconds as one team takes out the other with no counterattack. . This mode is squealing on space-dense preset maps designed for close-up performances.
“Expert” is a very loose terminology here, and they certainly blur the irrelevance in that great combo that’s All Out Warfare
Experts, the game’s different character classes, also just have different effects. In some modes, it feels completely unimportant whether you or anyone on your team joins the battle. The Specialists at least feel like they belong in the tight skirmishes of the Danger Zone, than they do in any other mode. Aside from looks, the only thing that separates the Specialists is a unique ability. Things like drones that can scout the environment and detect enemies, large shields or scanners that can see enemies through walls are really useful things, especially when the player count drops. down.
Unlike previous Battlefield games, there are no limitations on weapons and tools. Pick the Sniper class and you can still equip them with an assault rifle if you want. Hey, you can even give them intermediate packs or cartridges. “Expert” is a very loose terminology here, and they certainly blur the irrelevance in the great combination that is All Out Warfare.
There’s an issue that affects everything in the game, and that’s dodgy performance. It washes away everything like a murky stream. I’m running the game at 1080p on an RTX 2070, which should be more than enough to do the job, but my frame rates are choppy and choppy. It’s also an inherently unstable game right now, with frequent desktop crashes, weird glitches, and connectivity issues. Once, a friend and I went from trudging on a four-wheeler to getting sucked under the map and into a large, milky field. Thankfully I got out of my misery, but my friend was stuck in a swimming animation, watching all the action happen from above like a sad shark.
Updates promised hopefully solves many of the game’s performance issues, but even the game’s interface is disappointing and I don’t know if that can be fixed. It’s hard to summarize, but there’s an aesthetic flatness. That’s not to say the map doesn’t have “Cor, that’s cool” moments, but often they’re a thick strip of gray or brown and sometimes green. It is especially noticeable in Portal.
I really wanted to like it, but right now I see the little Battlefield 2042 logo and I simply don’t trust it. This game takes time. It’s time to untangle the performance problems and perhaps tweak the Danger Zone’s economy. The portal needed time to save it from the hordes of XP farming servers. Whether or not I have enough patience is another matter entirely. Simply put: this is a game that doesn’t seem ready yet.
