At a large playable event by publisher Electronic Arts, developer DICE, and Ripple Effect, MeinMMO author Tarek Zehrer finally got a closer look at Battlefield 2042. The impressions are quite mixed.
What exactly could we play? Together with colleagues from GameStar, GamePro, and Gameswelt, I was able to play in a squad. At the event, we were able to test the early access version of Battlefield 2042, which will also be available to some players starting tomorrow, November 12.
We were able to take a look at all modes of the shooter:
- All-Out Warfare with Breakthrough and Conquest.
- The new mode Hazard Zone, reminiscent of Escape from Tarkov and Hunt: Showdown.
- Finally, we could also try Battlefield Portal and some classic maps.
In total, we spent about 10 hours in multiplayer, around 4 hours in All-Out Warfare, 2 in Hazard Zone, and another 4 hours in Portal mode.
We played on PC. Here you can find out what my impressions of Battlefield 2042 are and why I still have major concerns.
Here I quickly and compactly summarize my impressions of the play event. If you’re looking for more detailed info about the modes, you can check our overview.
Aside from that, he has experience with numerous multiplayer shooters. Large maps, material battles, and team play are his thing. That’s why he typically plays as a medic in Battlefield, or he plays as an engineer, the fool who runs behind your tanks on foot to repair them.
Info on hardware: Played on a PC with Nvidia GTX 1650 with 4 GB VRAM, AMD Ryzen 5 3600 processor with 6 cores, and 16 GB of RAM.
Classic Battlefield moments and a lot of fun in All-Out Warfare
Our first session focused on All-Out Warfare and was thus the classic Battlefield experience on the new maps. We were allowed to try the 7 new maps like Hourglass or Kaleidoscope.
After just a bit of acclimatization, we were right in the middle of the battle, especially Breakthrough was intense, and we were able to start directly in the attacking team. By “we” I mean colleagues Dimitri Halley (GameStar), Annika Bavendiek (GamePro), and Sascha Göddenhoff (Gameswelt).
As a fixed squad, we were able to play most of the different modes together, and the war quickly forged us together. The frustration over technical issues contributed to this, but more on that later.
Our first session in Breakthrough was a lot of fun, and we had glorious moments, such as when we stormed the enemy defense point with a mini-tank, while two of us had to take a seat on the roof due to lack of space. These are the crazy moments I love Battlefield for.
Conquest was also fun, and it was interesting to get to know the new maps and find out which spots are critical and where the most fierce battles occur.
Unfortunately, I couldn’t form a comprehensive opinion on the maps yet, there simply wasn’t enough time. I can say for sure: They look damn good and each one is unique. I noticed negatively the many wide and empty areas where there is almost no cover.
In some places, you were therefore potentially defenseless against enemy snipers. This especially concerns maps like Orbital, Hourglass, or Renewal. How heavy this weighs, I cannot say yet.
Hazard Zone is interesting but has balance issues
If you’re not familiar with Hazard Zone, here’s a brief overview: The mode is a variation of the battle royale principle and also mixes PvE with PvP.
- You are dropped onto a map where you encounter both human opponents and AI enemies. The goal is to collect data drives and extract.
- This gives you credits, with which you can buy weapons and tactical upgrades for the next round. If you die, you lose almost everything. If you have no credits and thus cannot buy anything, you start with standard equipment in the match.
- If you successfully extract, you get refunded the purchase price for the items bought. Streaks and other elements are added, which the developers call the meta-game of Hazard Zone.
While I find the idea of Hazard Zone not bad and believe that the mode could bring variety to the usual Battlefield modes, I also have some concerns.
Thus, my impression after a few rounds is that weapons are quite expensive. If you have difficulties at the beginning and can’t manage any extractions, you usually remain stuck with standard equipment, especially since there is no loot in the form of equipment, unlike what you might expect from Hazard Zone.
This could quickly lead to good players being permanently better equipped, while players with lower skill levels get stuck.
It may be a conscious decision by the developers, but it could quickly lead to a loss of motivation for players. The standard weapon is at a disadvantage in most situations, lacking any sight.
The spawn points at the beginning of a match are also sometimes suboptimal. We were frequently dropped in open areas where we immediately came under sniper fire. Despite the criticisms, I had fun, and with a few adjustments, the mode could keep players engaged longer.
I personally see it more as a nice addition, because I certainly wouldn’t buy Battlefield 2042 just for Hazard Zone. There are simply too many great competitors.
Thus, Hazard Zone feels a bit like an outsider, disconnected from the classic Battlefield experience. Apart from a jeep, there are neither vehicles nor aircraft, which means typical elements are missing. Thanks to All-Out Warfare and Portal, that’s not a problem though. Especially the Portal mode could be the big deal for the shooter.
Battlefield Portal brings custom modes and offers you a lot of freedom
Portal has been the most interesting mode for me right from the beginning. Because it is not just a mode, but also a toolbox for players who want to create their own Battlefield modes.
Moreover, Portal brings back content from previous installments of the series:
- Battlefield 1942
- Battlefield Bad Company 2
- Battlefield 3
The content includes 6 classic maps, numerous weapons, all classes, and vehicles as well as aircraft. A huge package that will already provide a lot of fun in its standard version. With the editor, creators also have various options to create their own Battlefield experience.
While we were able to take a look at the editor, we couldn’t try out any modes created by us yet. This is understandable, as chaos would be preprogrammed. At the start, we played a mode in which two teams faced off against each other. Each team had a VIP, continuously highlighted to the enemy.
The goal was to eliminate this VIP. It was quite entertaining, but the classes were not selectable, and the spawn points were completely random, resulting in being shot at from everywhere.
But that was nothing, as the developers gave us two modes that are rather atypical for Battlefield to try out.
Free-for-all + rockets = absolute chaos
First, there was a free-for-all where players competed against each other in a limited part of a map in a classic everyone-against-everyone format. The chaos began from the very first second, where dozens of players attacked each other simultaneously.
Sometimes players spawned side by side, and there were reports of three players appearing right in front of a colleague, who just had to take them out.
In the next round, it was taken a step further: they called it everyone-against-everyone 2.0. The “brilliant” idea: every player got a rocket launcher with just one shot. Anyone who wanted to regain ammo had to jump 5 times. Thus, the map was filled with bouncing crazy people shooting around with rocket launchers, or with people who simply pulled out knives and went into melee combat.
This is absurd and is fun for a while, but for me, it was more of a wasted opportunity to showcase the possibilities of the Portal mode. Because apart from the FFA modes, there were no other custom modes to test.
Overall, Portal convinced me, but unfortunately, the presentation left me and my squad rather frustrated. At least there was a classic round of Rush with Bad Company 2 classes and Conquest with the classes and maps from Battlefield 3 afterwards.
Map remakes are absolutely successful
While the start with the self-created modes in Portal was initially unconvincing, the classic round fully compensated for me. Bad Company 2 was my first Battlefield, and the maps Arica Harbor and Valparaiso look absolutely fantastic.
Everything is there, and even the destruction is at the level of back then. Even though the team balance at the event was very uneven, and our team was mercilessly overrun, it was a cool feeling to be back on two of my favorite maps. The Conquest rounds on Caspian Border and Noshahr Canals brought back many memories of Battlefield 3 and I enjoyed them a lot.
In conclusion, I can say about Portal: For me, the mode has the greatest potential. I can’t wait to see what players will create with the editor, and the standard scope is already enough to keep players engaged for hours. Pure nostalgia. Overall, I had a lot of fun at the event, but now comes the big BUT.
If it were up to me, Battlefield 2042 could be postponed for another 6 months
While I have no major criticisms of gameplay and scope (there was simply too little time for that), there are still plenty of technical issues to complain about.
I can at least mention a positive aspect: There are fewer “gamebreaking” bugs and glitches in the game than in the open beta. That’s something, because for me, it was periodically unplayable back then.
Surprisingly, I encountered a new issue: While the performance in the open beta was no problem at all, it is quite concerning in the early access version for me.
Yes, my GPU is certainly not a high-end graphics card. Nevertheless, it meets the system requirements of Battlefield 2042, and as I said: In the open beta, I had hardly any performance issues; my FPS rarely dropped below 60. I wasn’t the only one affected either. Participants of the event with significantly stronger hardware also complained of similar issues.
In the early access version, I had significant drops in FPS depending on the map. On the map Discarded, it was so bad that the FPS occasionally dropped from 60 to 15 and fluctuated constantly in that range. This problem primarily occurred in the Conquest mode but varied in strength across all modes.
Notably, performance degradation depended heavily on the specific map, and weather effects like tornadoes had a significant impact on it.
- There are still issues with the game’s physics. Vehicle wreckage often flies strangely around, collisions seem to overwhelm the game.
- At times, players simply ran in the air, could shoot through walls, and so on.
- Particularly annoying for people like me, who usually play as medics: if players died too close to a wall, you simply couldn’t revive them.
- Too often, my squad and I ended up losing our lives because I was foolishly flailing around a wall while trying repeatedly to revive someone.
Along with the severe performance issues, the many other problems added up to a large pile of difficulties that the game still has. The most severe issues may have been fixed, but I still don’t see a smooth release happening.
Other participants of the event also reported various technical problems they experienced.
Conclusion: Battlefield 2042 has the potential to become a really good Battlefield game. With Portal and All-Out Warfare, the basic ingredients are already present. How Hazard Zone fits into all this remains to be seen. For me, it is currently more than a bonus.
The biggest obstacle for me is clearly the technology, and I am curious how the official release on November 19 will unfold. As it stands, I fear a rough start for Battlefield 2042, especially in the early access version that we were able to play.
Therefore, I could not yet give a recommendation from a technical standpoint at launch.
It should be mentioned once again: All of this is based on 10 hours of gameplay. It is still far too early for a conclusive verdict. Questions about balance, map design, and other aspects can only be comprehensively assessed with the release and significantly more time.
When does the early access phase actually start? On November 12, participants can already start playing. The preload has been running since November 10.
Who can participate? Pre-order customers of the Gold and Ultimate Editions receive access to Early Access. Additionally, those who are subscribers to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate or have an EA Play Pro subscription also get early access. The actual release will then be on November 19.
Battlefield 2042 will soon start in Early Access – Which specialists will you play?
