Battlefield 2042
Battlefield 2042 is a fine, beautiful looking game that is extremely versatile, especially thanks to Battlefield Portal. All-Out Warfare offers spectacular action for 128 players (64 players on PS4 and Xbox One) on huge maps, where vehicles often decide the battle and there is little you can do as a loner, unless you are a top pilot yourself of course. Hazard Zone makes the action smaller, but puts even more emphasis on good teamwork. The lack of in-game voice chat is currently a handicap for solo players that will hopefully be remedied soon, because in fact All-Out Warfare and Hazard Zone only really become fun for them if that function is present. So the icing on the cake is Battlefield Portal. The combination of traditional maps and modes from old Battlefield games, which can be used for completely new game concepts, is a hit. Not every homemade game mode is equally fun, but there are already some nice variants among them and there will probably only be more in the coming period, especially if EA and DICE add new content to the builder. We wouldn’t be surprised if Battlefield Portal has much more value in the long run than Battlefield 2042 on its own, but the presence of the game mode makes it definitely worth getting the game.
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When the new consoles hit the market last year, we got a glimpse of what the machines are capable of. In recent weeks, however, we have only seen games that clearly get a lot of added value from the stronger hardware. On the Xbox Series X, Forza Horizon 5 was a good example, while on the PlayStation 5 Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart showed nice things. Next in line is Battlefield 2042. The shooter series has been reaching a great level on every available platform for years and that doesn’t change with this new game. DICE and the other cooperating studios have managed to put in a great performance, with the Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5 almost equaling the audiovisual level of the PC version. Not only that: the features are also the same. That means you can experience the multiplayer action of Battlefield 2042 on Series X, PS5 and PC with up to 128 players simultaneously.
Battlefield 2042 does not have a single player campaign, but it does have a story. That’s a bit strange of course, but come on: we understand that there has to be some context for two large groups of soldiers to fight each other somewhat legitimately. The year is – you’ll never guess – 2042 and the world is in bad shape. Climate change has completely changed the world and made all kinds of raw materials, including clean water, rarer than ever. Moreover, a so-called Kessler Event has caused seventy percent of the satellites to crash from space, which has caused the necessary blackouts. Amid this chaos, the European Union has collapsed and the United States and Russia have become diametrically opposed. Tensions rose in the years until 2042, after which a new war broke out between the two superpowers.
There is quite a bit of history available and the intention is that in Battlefield 2042 the story is also further explained via the multiplayer. That effect is not yet visible at all. Well, for each game you see a short introduction to why there is fighting in the relevant place and what the stakes of the fight are, but it barely sticks. We may see some further developments in the setting and story in future updates to Battlefield 2042, but for now we’re just sad there isn’t a single player campaign. The setting is cool and intriguing, because the scenario might be less far from our bed than it seems…
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