Out of all the first-person shooting experiences, I firmly believe that DICE has done its best to keep its Battlefield series fresh, even sometimes when it doesn’t exactly go as planned. First, it was bold for them to go all the way back to World War I with Battlefield I, bringing some simple ways to fight a war with it that made the campaign and multiplayer experience challenging. The series shifted back to World War II with Battlefield V, where the maps got larger, the battles became more intense, and the series offered up smaller narratives to appease a campaign hungry audience.
Now, DICE is set to return to more modern times that find the series 21 years into the future, where a very broken earth equals a broken human civilization that is just trying to survive the best way it can. Sure, we’ve seen this before with other series, where the future brings new and innovative technologies to use in battle, but this Battlefield game seems to be more focused on what it is, as well as transforming its series into a service. Whether that is good or bad, only time will tell, but one thing is for certain, they are doing their best to ‘bring it’ with this latest edition.
Let’s get into this information session/preview.
How big is this going to be? Oh, huge.
The first thing you should know is that Conquest is going to be a 128-player affair. Think about that for a second. There will be a massive player size on a massive set of maps that players are accustomed to in the Battlefield series. That amount of people covering that amount of land in an all-out war is absolutely insane, even for a BF game. It’s impressive considering the maps and something to look forward to for multiplayer fans out there. The initial release of the game will be driven by All Out Warfare, which includes Conquest, where you have certain points of capture. While you may not see 128 players at once in a particular area, the notion that it could happen is exciting.
The game seems to have gone big all the way around.
Maps
DICE’s preview event showed off some large maps, though the promise for more is structured within its game service seasons. What maps we have seen are listed below and are officially confirmed:
Kaleidoscope – This is a South Korean landscape, where you have a mix of large buildings, canals running everywhere, and plenty of ways to get from building to building. It’s like a futuristic Los Angeles without a desert.
Manifest – This is a shipping container yard with massive boats parked everywhere. You can move the containers on this map and make life hard for teams. I could see where you will find a lot of campers in this area, but also a lot of ways to drop containers on unsuspecting enemies.
Orbital – The structure of this map was circular with a large rocket launchpad (with rocket) right in the middle of it. Fighting for space in this map and fighting around an unpredictable launch is what’s going to make this special. There are a lot of good ways for this map to go wrong but in a good way.
Discarded – Based in India, this map is akin to the scene out of Age of Ultron, where the Hulk is waiting in the abandoned shipyard for the rest of the team to take down Ultron. This is an ocean-less landscape filled with rusting ships. Lots of open spaces, but at the same time a real paradise for snipers to get you. If you know a lot about BF maps, you know when one is fit for the snipes.
Borderline – This Egyptian map is divided into two very different sides of a map – one that is filled full of agriculture and lush growth and one that is filled with a harsh climate that will eventually sneak itself over the wall.
Hourglass – Ahhhhh…Qatar. This map will seem familiar to BF4 fans, but not quite the same. On one end of the map, you have a destructive desert that has grown rapidly over structures, such as a soccer stadium. On the other side, you have skyscrapers that are ripe for the picking, and to camp on. This map is a hodge-podge of goodness that is equipped for all types of solider.
Irreversible – The last map that was previewed, and what DICE considered the largest of the bunch, is a melting Antarctica that has a weather base on top of a large, jumpable mountain. There is no good way to describe how big this map is in comparison to the other massive maps in this game, but this one is the hugest of the huge. If you enjoy jumping off mountains, you’re in the right place.
These are the maps that will be featured when this game is launched on October 22nd, 2021 of this year.
Weather you like it or not
One of the bigger selling points for this year’s Battlefield is the weather conditions. There are some maps that feature random weather occurrences. Sometimes that is as simple as a nasty sandstorm that is going to absolutely disrupt gameplay, especially on the vehicular side of the tracks. Other times you will be seeing tornadoes in action, which can be used for strategy. Regardless, the weather conditions are pretty cool.
Other aspects of Battlefield will be showing up in the form of destructible terrain and environments per usual.
What about the players, player?
The preview event detailed out how each specialist at launch would work. First, each one will have their own traits. Second, each specialist will have their own specialty and gadget, which isn’t too far off what you might be used to in any first-person shooter. Lastly, the secondary slot for each specialist will be open to anything and everything, which makes things a bit more interesting, as you can mix/match from other specialists. Not too bad.
At launch, the game will feature 10 specialists, but we were only privy to four at the time. The specialist are as follows:
Casper – He is exactly what he looks like here and features an OV-P Recon Drone, a keen sense of movement sensing via a movement sensor, and ENP darts.
Maria Falck – She is armed with an S21 Syrette Pistol and acts as a combat surgeon.
Pyotr “Boris” Guskovsky – A brute of sorts that features SG-36 sentry system and is a certified sentry operator (shocking).
Webster McKay – His specialty is sporting a grappling hook and is the nimblest of this bunch.
As for other odds and ins, you have an attribute called a plus system for each character, which will customize your weapons on the fly. For example, this means you can take an assault rifle, add a medium scope, attach a shotgun, and improve hip-fire accuracy through this system. Again, all of this on the fly. Generally, you would spend a great deal of time in a lobby menu customizing, but BF2042 apparently doesn’t work that way – you do it as you battle. I’m not sure if this idea has been tried before, but the thought of it makes me giddy.
Game as a service
There is no true campaign for this game. It is broken down into small narratives, kind of what DICE did for Battlefield V, which wasn’t a bad idea at all. It certainly kept the game going for a little while. The majority of this game will be online and will feature All-Out Warfare, which, as mentioned earlier, includes Conquest. There is a new mode called Hazard Zone (high stakes, squad-based), and an unnamed mode that DICE L.A. is putting together (no info on that, but apparently, it’s very different). We have no other mode details beyond these.
The first year of this game will consist of four seasons, each season requiring the purchase of a Battle Pass, although there is a free version, it doesn’t include all the goodies/bells/whistles. With each season release, you’ll get new locations. The game has a long timeline, so DICE looks to go the slow-burn route, as Call of Duty Warzone and Fortnite have proven that blueprint’s longevity.
We’ll know more about it as the launch draws closer. One thing that was pointed out is that as of right now, a Battle Royale is not on the docket.
Last Generation v Current Generation
If you’re lucky enough to own a current generation console, then you are guaranteed all of the above items. If you own a PlayStation 4 and/or Xbox One console, then you will be just a bit smaller in all aspects. This means you won’t get the 128-player online battling. It also means smaller maps. One thing I want to credit DICE for is its honesty about the disparity. I think that in the last year, developers, and especially management, have come to realize you shouldn’t lie to your audience about your game’s capabilities. Bravo to DICE for the transparency. At least consumers will know what they’re getting.
On that sweet note, that is all the details we have for you right now. The game has a lot of promise, as well as an equal amount of mystery. One thing is for sure, Battlefield is going to be big and it’s going to be beautifully chaotic. I’m not sure any first-person shooter fan is going to thumb their nose at such a promise.
We’ll report more as we know more.
