Recently, EA released the trailer for BF 2042, and the gaming community exploded in response. We’ve all been waiting to see what was next after the (in my opinion) utter flop that was Battlefield V. This will be a post explaining what I’ve heard so far and my early opinions on whether or not I think BF 2042 will be a success.
Rumors
From a series of sources, ranging from the typical gaming news websites, to social media, to rumors from around the internet, here is what I’ve heard BF 2042 will have.
The first, and my biggest concern, is that 2042 will have operators instead of Joe Soldier and Jane Soldier, our typical nameless grunts we use. That makes me immediately think of CoD, and I don’t like it at all. Battlefield has always had an anonymous feel to characters, and they didn’t have any dumb quirks or particular skills outside of their class. Having these “specialists” goes against the tradition of just being an average soldier on the battlefield. I also heard a rumor that they will be specialists in the sense that you can unlock them for specific classes, i.e., play a sniper class long enough to unlock a specialist. There was also a rumor that there won’t be the typical class restrictions the old games had, meaning snipers might not only be available to recon class, LMGs to support classes, and so on—another feature pushing BF closer to CoD if true.
I heard that 2042 would also allow you to call in vehicles of your own instead of them spawning at assigned locations. I would assume there would have to be some sort of killstreak or scorestreak system for this to be a thing. Otherwise, how would the game determine when you can get a vehicle? At random? By time? While I like the idea of calling in vehicles, so they don’t get stolen or nabbed by someone who’s just going to ditch them at a camping spot or objective, it once again sounds more and more like CoD. Maybe Titanfall, in a way, if the vehicles are somewhat similar to titans.
The next few aren’t rumors, as they’ve been confirmed. The first is the sheer size of games in 2042. On next-gen and PC, games will be up to 128 players in total, twice what the old games had. The maps are expected to be larger as well to help fit the increased lobby size. The games will be simply insane, and I’m sure we’ll be seeing a TON of snipers on each map as well. The second is the inclement weather system being added. All BF games have some grand way to destroy a few of the maps in a game-altering fashion. With the risk of things like monster tornadoes that can pick up and throw players, this game is no different. I’ve always loved the idea of severe weather messing up a battle, and now I’ll be able to experience it. Both of these sound incredible to me, though I’m sure there’s a chance they’ll get old after a while.
A few more certain things I’ve read or heard include the lack of a single-player campaign, which is messed up, confirmed battle pass like in most games these days, there aren’t any nations in the future-ish setting, and there’s a squad mode either similar to the old ones where it was squad TDM and such or like a battle royal, though EA swears it’s not.
Conclusion
Overall, apart from the trailer seeming to reach out to us BF veterans, this game makes me worried. There are so many possible similarities to CoD that I’m worried it might not really be like Battlefield. What with the potential for kill or scorestreaks, operators, and the possibility of no class restrictions, I’m troubled by what 2042 might turn out to be. I think I’m just going to sit and watch to see if my worries are justified or not. Hopefully, I’m mistaken, and 2042 is a million times better than BF V and Cold War. Also, remember; NO PRE-ORDERING!
The Ranting Gamer 