Among the plethora of issues plaguing Battlefield 2042 at launch, nothing is more tragic than the loss of what made the franchise extraordinary, feeling more like a Modern Warfare version of Battlefield than like Battlefield itself, having lost sight of what makes the series truly special. Officially a sequel to BF4, Battlefield 2042 is both a return to a modern setting and reintroduction to the basis of the franchise. While 2042 had the staples of Battlefield, like massive ground battles and vehicle combat, the game seemed to mimic other franchises in a variety of other ways. It revamped the class system with specialists with unique abilities, and the vehicles felt more akin to Modern Warfare's ground war mode, obstacles rather than present threats. While Battlefield 2042 added features that overhauled the gameplay and revamped the player count to 128, it seems to have forgotten what made it unique.
Developed by DICE and released in 2002, Battlefield 1942 laid the franchise's foundation with massive ground battles, vehicle combat, a class system, and an emphasis on cooperative play. In the subsequent games, the developer improved the system in multiple ways. One big way was emphasizing large-scale environmental destruction in Battlefield: Bad Company with the Frostbite engine that continued to be used in subsequent games. The Battlefield franchise became known for its vast ground battles, objective-based matches, and features focused on immersive gameplay.
Battlefield 2042's new improvements and additions are buried under a broad focus on features that overlook the foundation of the Battlefield franchise. Large, focused ground battles go hand-in-hand with Battlefield; however, the 128-player cap does more harm than good. Conquest, Battlefield 2042's main game mode, is reduced to chaotic and sporadic engagements. While the extreme weather effects add another avenue to contend with, large-scale environmental destruction, especially during a firefight or vehicle engagement, is lacking. Moreover, the specialists are a unique step forward in the class system; their inclusion, however, doesn't impact the gameplay as much as it might have. While the essence of Battlefield is there in 2042, the game feels rushed and incomplete.
Battlefield 2042 Is More Quantity Than Quality
A distinct and founding feature in the Battlefield franchise was being part of an army, and its game modes reflect that. In Conquest, the original game mode of Battlefield, players would capture points with the battle turning to whoever utilized their resources and had the best teamwork. Arguably the game mode in Battlefield 2042 that works better than Conquest, breakthrough underlined the experience with a definitive frontline giving that tug-of-war feeling. Despite the 64 player limit in the original games, both game modes felt constant, with skirmishes from the primary battle breaking out across the map. Most of all, the effort was focused on giving players a definitive direction on the objective and approaching it. Battlefield 2042 ups the ante from its predecessors in two significant ways: the player count and the map size.
The former doubles the 64-player count to 128, while the latter had to be increased to compensate. However, the consequence of making everything twice as big was a loss of focus and direction. Half of the time, a Conquest match was running from objective to objective, with Battlefield 2042's enemies turning into 2D Cartoons from afar and resources like vehicles used as taxis rather than support. Moreover, the vehicles themselves felt more like obstacles than present threats, easily disposed of similar to the vehicles in Modern Warfare. While breakthrough was more focused, each match was like a mosh pit of vehicles and bodies rather than a frontline.
Battlefield 2042 Forgot About Environmental Destruction
One of the most impressive innovations that have defined the franchise, environmental destruction, separated Battlefield from the other first-person shooter games. Each level became an immersive experience with damage to buildings and streets filled with craters reflecting the ongoing battle. Sometimes Battlefield's destructible environments are compared to CoD: Vanguard, with Battlefield generally regarded as superior. Moreover, the destruction adds a tactical option rather than a passive feature to players; instead of entering a building and risking death, blowing it up was a preferable tact. Even in some instances, the destruction shaped the overall landscape of the battlefield with destructible dams and skyscrapers. The environmental destruction mixed up each match, creating a new experience for players.
However, while 2042 does include destruction, it's not to the scale as its predecessors. In effect, the feature is significantly reduced, with most map locations missing the level-changing scale of destruction with each building remaining primarily intact during the battle. While 2042 adds extreme weather effects such as tornadoes and sandstorms, these moments are few and far between. Moreover, the change in weather doesn't do much to shape the environment, and when considering the buggy mess Battlefield 2042 was at launch, it created a disappointing situation on multiple levels.
Battlefield 2042's Specialist Lack Direction
The staple across all the Battlefield games, the class system split players into different roles in the match. From assault to the medic, each role was armed with specialized equipment and specific tasks such as repairing tanks, holding points, or supporting other soldiers. The class system underlined the importance of teamwork and coordination with players encouraged and awarded for doing their part and playing their class. Moreover, each player was immersed in their respective classes, with subtle appearance changes to their character to reflect their accomplishments.
While Battlefield 2042's redesign from a class system to specialists seems reasonable, it's more akin to hero shooters like Overwatch, with each soldier having a unique ability. Moreover, the similarities don't stop there, with holiday-themed skins revealing a deeper disconnect in Battlefield 2042's story and to its players. This disconnect bleeds into the match, blurring the directions of each specialist and the structure of the overall game. The specialists remove the tasks and roles of classic Battlefield; even Maria Falck, the designated medic, and her ranged Syrette pistol can be played closer to an assault class than support. Without roles, chaos supersedes the game's structure, moreover, while their design is impressive, the specialist designs take away from the immersive qualities, further taking away from the Battlefield experience.
While 2042 adds features that take the franchise to new heights, it is at the cost of both what made it special, with a list of missing features of Battlefield 2042 even emerging online. Unlike 2042, previous iterations successfully created an engaging experience despite having smaller player counts. Moreover, Battlefield improved the experience with highly destructible environments that shaped the levels and how players approached every area. The class system awarded designated tasks to make players' contributions satisfying, adding to the overall immersion of each game.
The Battlefield experience lies in not just massive battles, more prominent locations, or specialized classes, but making as much of an immersive experience as possible. It's the ultimate franchise that skirts the line of a military simulator with a more contemporary and far more approachable twist. While Battlefield 2042 does a lot right in scale and features, it sacrifices what made the franchise great in the first place.