Video Game Review – Battlefield 2042

As a long time fan there isn’t much to be said that hasn’t been already. The game has had a piss poor launch and long time fans of the series are rightfully ticked off. The game feels bare bones and ultimately not complete. There are dozens of things missing for me that kind of ruin the core Battlefield experience, and should be a no brained. Battlefield 2042 feels like it went backward in it’s progression. That being said, I do have fun with the game somtimes and it really shines when you play with friends, yet even that aspect has a weird design flaw because there is no way to communicate within the game?!? Overall I have a hard time recommending this game in it’s current state. Even though Battlefield is one of my favorite shooter games for the past decade or more.

The game is trying to be something that it is not. It’s leaning heavy into the hero shooter mechanics of special abilities and goofy “specialist” characters, instead of the nameless soldier classes that encouraged teamwork and a rock-paper-scissors style of strategy. In Battlefield 2042 It’s just a mess of the exact same model of characters, all of which can revive and also carry a rocket launcher, with a light machine gun that lacks recoil, or a sniper rifle. The game just feels very “meta”ish. Now everyone runs around with the most effective gear and that’s about what you see. The action is so spread out it often just feels like chaos with no sense of holding points or strategized movement and flanking.

The game plays decently on the Playstation5 console and luckily I haven’t experienced the game breaking bugs that a lot of people complain about. The game runs fairly smoothly for me. Only occasionally will it freeze or not load me into a match. The visuals are OK but nothing dazzling and atmospheric like the past two entries. This game just has a generic samey feel that I can’t quite put my finger on. I joke and call the game Battle of Apex Duty Field: present day fight game. The gun play is good and tight for me and the sound is decent but it all lacks some of the chunk and boom and umph of the past titles.

I like the setting and the time period, but like so many others I was hoping more for an updated BF4 style and feel. I really like calling in vehicles and equipment even if they Ranger drone is kinda worthless I can imagine the future with all kinds of other equipment that you can call in. Playing with friends is definitely the highlight for me. Unfortunately for a team focused game, it completely lacks any formal communication system within the game. This had me scratching my head as it renders one of the featured game modes pretty much unplayable. The maps are good in my opinion but I will be honest, compared to the past 2 titles the maps in this game feel very sterile and empty, even soul less. There is no gun emplacements, or blown up wreckage, there is no trash in the big cities except for a plastic bag blowing around every now and then.. For such massive and gorgeous maps they lack any atmosphere whatsoever.

Of course by now you can tell that there are plenty of things that I am not happy with. I don’t like the fact that there is no in game voice chat. This ruins any sense of team play and coordination. Aside from there being no way to communicate outside of discord, the game doesn’t reward the player for doing team related stuff. There are no bonuses for following the leaders orders, there are no real assist bonuses for spotting and killing enemies or sticking with your squad. There are no squad bonuses at all except for small ones for spawning on squad mates and marking enemies. This is a drag as it just promotes a solo playstyle where everyone just kinda plays for themselves. Medics don’t revive, Everyone can be carry a Sniper rifle AND have rocket launchers, and now characters can literally squirrel suit and zip their way to you with spring grappling hooks.. One of my biggest gripes is that there is no scoreboard or out of match stats. One of the things I geeked out on as a long time player was seeing how many kills I got with each piece of equipment or in total over the countless hours i would spend with the game. There is none of that lasting appeal in this game. I don’t care about dorky skins and stupid cosmetics. I just want a Battlefield game that feels finished. The game needs balancing as well yada yada yada, I could literally write a full post on what I think could be balanced for a better experience, alas I am no developer or game designer..

Honest recommendation as a long time fan. If you know what you are buying and think you will enjoy it, you probably will. If you are expecting too much or were hoping for an actual Battlefield game, I regret to say.. this isn’t it. Not yet.. This isn’t to say I don’t have hope. It took BF1 and BFV about a year to fully start fleshing out and being dialed in. I am confident that the game will get better as time passes.

The past couple Battlefield games have left a bad taste in my mouth because they took a bunch of my money at full price and then slashed the price of the game less than a couple months after release. That is shitty. I should have known better and waited honestly. I feel slightly cheated. But I think I finally learned my lesson because this wasn’t the only title I purchased in the past several years that were not worth the full price.

I wish I hadn’t have pre-ordered and waited for more content or for a discounted price. Because at this point the game is not worth the full price. I give the game a 2.5 out of 5 stars. I hope it will be more complete in 6 months to a year, but that is a sad statement considering Battlefield used to be one of my go to video games.