Battlefield 2042 is technically available for players who own the gold and ultimate editions of the game, but maybe it shouldn't be, as the state of the game at launch is a buggy nightmare. Publisher EA and developer DICE promised the next generation of first-person shooters, but Battlefield 2042 feels like a step back for the series when it comes to technical polish.
Of course, Battlefield as a franchise is no stranger to bugs. Whether server issues or visual bugs, Battlefield has seen it all in nearly every one of its modern releases - but Battlefield 2042 is simply on a whole other level. The fact that players spend extra money on the gold or ultimate editions of the game to play the game a week early, only for it be be in such a sorry state, makes matters even worse. Technical issues, a broken Specialist ability, visual bugs, and gameplay glitches make Battlefield 2042 hard to recommend right now.
That's not to say Battlefield 2042 isn't fun. Portal mode allows Battlefield 2042 players to reexperience classic maps from some of the franchise's greatest games like Battlefield 1942, Battlefield 3, and Bad Company 2, and looks to be stealing the show. But the number of bugs and glitches continue to add up, and can put a real damper on the experience. It will take time for these issues to be fixed, but the real question is why was the game allowed to launch like this to begin with?
Battlefield 2042's Buggy Launch Is A Disappointment
The number of known bugs and issues currently affecting Battlefield 2042 are many. Perhaps the biggest is that many players simply can't play the game. Upon trying to connect to the game's servers, many players are receiving an "unable to load persistence data" error message and then booted back to the main menu. Players trying to play the game's Portal mode can get stuck in an infinite queue to join a server, with no option to quit the queue other than hard-quitting the game.
But that's just the beginning. Actually getting into a match is to be assaulted with visual bugs that, while harmless, are extremely distracting, and there are numerous bugs affecting Battlefield 2042's gameplay as well. Whether it's dead character models standing completely upright as if they are still alive, or being revived and sliding across the battlefield, the issues are numerous. Even one of the game's 10 Specialists characters, the riot-shield using Dozer, has had his signature ability disabled thanks to a bug, effectively making the character useless for the time being.
Perhaps the disappointing state of Battlefield 2042 was to be expected. Numerous red flags were raised during the game's buggy open beta back in October, where many of these same glitches and technical issues were also present. But despite many fans sounding the alarm about the state of the game, EA and DICE made the decision to launch Battlefield 2042 as planned. While the game was delayed about a month prior to the release of the beta, it's clear that much more time was needed in order for Battlefield 2042 to be the kind of product fans would feel comfortable spending $60, $70, or even $100 on. In many ways, the "finished" product still feels like a large-scale beta test, only one that people have spent their hard-earned money on.
Battlefield 2042 should have been a return to form for the franchise and a celebration of the FPS chaos that makes the series so enduring. Instead, Battlefield 2042's launch has been a major disappointment. While there is little doubt DICE will fix the various problems plaguing the game over time, players shouldn't have to wait months for a working product. The game is fun, assuming players are able to actually join a server, but it's clear Battlefield 2042 needed more time in development to iron out some of the worst issues currently affecting the game.