The Battlefield franchise is back, and the upcoming Battlefield 2042 looks to have made a ton of changes compared to the last few games to release. No longer set in the past, the franchise is returning to the relatively near future, which means more gadgets, more unique weapons, and tons of new vehicles. The reveal trailer gave gamers a ton of reasons to be excited for the game's October release with exciting new maps, crazy new weather events, and a completely new game mode that features 128 players.
With that much new information thrown at players over the course of just a few minutes, there are tons of things that the trailer doesn't draw too much attention to that look like they could be major factors when the game releases. It remains to be seen just how much the final game will resemble the amazing gameplay that was shown in the trailer, but it's safe to assume everything featured in the trailer will be in the game to some extent, even if it doesn't end up being as cool or useful as the trailer made it seem.
BASE jumping
The awesome base-jumping scene that the trailer opens with has a lot to unpack—assuming it's a snippet of actual gameplay. BASE jumping is a feature that was included in several Battlefield games but hasn't made an appearance for some time.
If there are one or more maps that encourage or even force players to BASE jump, it will be interesting to see how that affects gameplay and what new specialist classes will be effective in maps that have players falling from the sky. Parachuting is a staple in games like Call of Duty: Warzone, so it'll be interesting to see how DICE differentiates 2042 from its competitors in this regard.
Wingsuits
Although the wingsuit itself was hard to miss since it got plenty of screentime in the trailer, the BASE jumping scene the trailer opens with does pose an interesting question about the suit.
With most viewers focused on the wingsuit, it's worth pointing out that there was only one player with a wingsuit, whereas the rest of the players were using the traditional parachutes. This might imply that the wingsuit is a special ability that is tied to a specialist class or something similar. Regardless, it's an interesting ability that might entice players to use the class even if it offers little else.
Dynamic Maps
Perhaps the biggest talking point of the Battlefield: 2042 trailer is the massive weather events that can affect the map. However, there are several instances throughout the trailer in which it seems that the weather events are not the only thing that can drastically alter the layout of the map.
One of the BASE jumping scenes sees an aircraft destroy a large structure, and, later in the trailer during the tank assault on a beached cargo ship, a large piece of the cargo ship falls and crushes players. It's possible this was just a cinematic for the trailer, but it wouldn't be the first time that players can bring down large structures to change the flow of a map in a Battlefield game.
Vehicle Drops
Numerous scenes throughout the trailer feature vehicles like tanks, boats, and more falling from the sky with parachutes. Though this may not seem that important, it does seem that calling in vehicles to a certain spot on the map may be possible in the game. Vehicles have been a part of virtually every sequel in the franchise, yet this feature has never been fully used.
With the maps in Battlefield: 2042 supposedly being the largest yet seen in the series, it makes perfect sense for the game's developers to include some kind of system in order to prevent players from getting stranded on the far edges of the map.
Cosmetic Items
Little is known about the specialist system that is going to be included in the game, and it's possible that some of the unique-looking cosmetic items are just for the trailer or aren't actually all that unique.
However, with the various versions of the game's season pass for sale, it's possible that Battlefield is going to be taking a page out of the Call Of Duty playbook and making cosmetic items a large part of the game. The lack of cosmetic customization has been something fans of the series have been talking about for a while, so it might be time for players to spice up their specialists a little bit.
Clouds
An extremely minor change that could have massive implications on dog fights, and aerial battles in general, is the addition of cloud cover, something viewers might not have noticed. If any of the maps have immense cloud cover, it would make it extremely difficult for players to see jets coming until it's too late. Furthermore, it would make it harder for them to pick jets out of the sky from a safe position, which has been a problem for aerial gameplay in past games in the franchise.
There is also the possibility that the cloud cover won't vary by the maps themselves, but by the changing weather patterns in each map. Aerial combat in Battlefield, was already fairly difficult, and this could push the limits of veteran BF pilots.
Jet Stalling
During the climax of the trailer which saw the classic "rendezook" move that has made the rounds on social media in previous versions of the game, the jet seems to stall in the air. This is a new feature to aerial combat—assuming it's actually implemented in the game—and it will force players to think carefully to avoid stalling their jet while being pursued by another aircraft.
This also may prevent the annoying glitch of getting stuck when flying too high in the air that has been a problem in the past. Regardless, most fans will welcome anything that makes the game more realistic, and make for some gameplay that looks straight out of a movie.
Aircraft
There are a ton of different aircraft in the trailer; multiple jets, helicopters, ospreys, etc. all feature to some extent in the trailer. What players might have been too dazzled to notice is just how many of these aircraft seem to appear on screen at the same time.
In previous versions of the game, it seemed like there weren't that many aircraft in the playing field at any given time, probably to encourage players to play most of the game with their boots on the ground. With 128 players in a game, this doesn't seem like much of an issue, and it seems the trailer is teasing some massive vehicle combat.
Scale
Much of the hype around this game has been on the size of the maps. The trailer features some great aerial shots that do a good job of giving viewers a feel for just how big these maps are. As the trailer switches from map to map, it can be hard to notice that the frozen, ice-covered map is actually the same map as the base jump that the trailer opens with.
During the free-fall sequence, viewers can see just how large the map is, and that's not even the whole thing, it actually seems like it's barely half of the playable area based on other angles seen later.
Nightvision Goggles
The trailer never actually shows anything resembling "night-vision," but there are many scenes in the trailer in which players seem to be wearing some kind of goggle on their faces, the best shot occurring when the tornado rolls in and everyone turns to look at it near the end of the trailer.
Night vision goggles did feature in Battlefield: Hardline, but they were not commonly used. With maps as big as the ones expected in the upcoming game, it's entirely plausible that there will be parts of the map that are especially dark where that kind of thing might come in handy.