Battlefield 2042's new Portal mode lacks polish, as displayed at the end of games when characters have missing accents. Battlefield 2042 has three game modes at launch: the All-Out Warfare mode, which is the franchise's standard multiplayer, the new Escape From Tarkov-style mode Hazard Zone, and the Portal mode, which lets players replay maps from older Battlefield games. In Portal mode, players can play multiplayer maps from Battlefield 1942, Battlefield: Bad Company 2, and Battlefield 3 either with the content from the original game or with the new content in Battlefield 2042.
The three older Battlefield titles available in Portal are some of the best Battlefield games that have been made and the maps still hold up really well. When choosing the option to play the mode using the classic weapons and character models, Portal does a good job of bringing that classic experience back to life in the improved Frostbite engine. Currently, there are six portal maps in the game, two maps from each previous Battlefield, and more content will be added in Battlefield 2042 season 1.
There is one glaring issue with the current Portal mode, however, that makes the experience feel unpolished. When playing on the 1942 maps Battle of the Bulge and El Alamein, players play with character models of WW2-era soldiers, ranging from American and British troops to the German Wermacht's. At the end of game screen, the German and British models will strike a pose, and then say a voice line in an American accent, not a German or British one. It is equal parts amusing and disappointing, as the models themselves look genuine but end up sounding like Captain America. This is likely an oversight rather than another bug from Battlefield 2042's launch, as the voice lines are the same ones used in the All-Out-Warfare mode at the end-of-game screen when the U.S. side wins.
Battlefield 2042's Portal Mode Feels like an Afterthought
Portal mode's lack of genuine accents is not a game-breaking issue, but it is another example of why the mode feels like an afterthought. Many emphases have been put into the All-Out-Warfare mode and the new Hazard Zone mode - which is understandable if Battlefield wants to compete with Call of Duty: Warzone and Vanguard - but Portal mode should have received the same amount of attention because it offers something that Call of Duty does not which could set the two games apart. Portal mode's six map limit is also disappointing, as remastering maps should be a smaller task than creating brand-new ones. Battle of the Bulge and Caspian Border are good locations, but there are other classic Battlefield maps that should be in Portal mode too.
It is not a new thing for a game to be light on content at launch, only to slowly add more over time with battle-passes and content seasons. Battlefield 2042 was already light on content as it has no single-player or campaign mode. Portal mode seemed like it was making up for that, but with only six maps and oversights like missing accents, it does not do a good job of filling the void left by 2042's lack of single-player.
Battlefield 2042's Portal mode's lack of genuine accents is disappointing, and hopefully, it will be fixed in season 1. Given some of the character models for the WW2 soldiers were taken from Battlefield 5, it seems a little strange that voice assets from that game weren't reused for Portal. In any case, Portal would benefit from receiving more additions as Battlefield 2042 continues, some of which should address the lack of polish with the mode's WW2-era factions.