Battlefield 2042 could not meet the expectations of the fans at its release. Almost 2 years after release and after several updates, the question arises: Has the shooter made a comeback and is it finally playable?
What was the state at release? Battlefield fans need to be strong now, but for the sake of completeness, let’s briefly go over the release state of 2042. If you have a weak stomach, you should skip this part.
I probably don’t have to tell you, but Battlefield 2042 was released in November 2021 in a dreadful state. The only thing more negative than the player reviews on Steam was the gameplay experience itself. We don’t want to delve unnecessarily deep into the details here, so here’s “only” a brief overview of some known issues that the shooter had at release:
- Poor performance + bugs
- Server issues
- Poor map design
- You could order tanks on a roof/ ship and drive hovercrafts vertically up walls
- Specialists instead of classes
- No scoreboard
- No server browser
- No option to switch squads
- Missing popular game modes
- Few maps and weapons
- No campaign
The list can probably be extended indefinitely depending on the player, but serves in its current form as a basis to clarify whether DICE managed to save Battlefield 2042 and whether the shooter is now playable.
What has DICE done regarding the criticism?
The developers of Battlefield 2042, EA DICE, have really worked hard on the shooter in the past 23 months and have actually addressed many of the criticism points.
The maps have been overhauled and are now partly significantly better than at the release of the game – even if that doesn’t mean they are good. Overall, new maps were also added, which can also be seen positively, as the map selection at release was simply too small.
In addition to new maps, there were also new weapons and vehicles. Some of them are really fun to play with. We are slowly approaching a selection that is large enough – not large enough for a game that has been receiving updates for 2 years, but large enough for the release state of a Battlefield.
Additionally, there is a scoreboard, a kind of server browser in the portal mode, and the option to switch squads when the random teammates are boring campers, and you don’t want to spawn at the other end of the map with them.
I am still not a fan of the specialists that continue to exist in the game, but at least there is now a class system. That DICE would not spontaneously delete the specialists was foreseeable, so one can actually be satisfied with the current solution.
Fun to play, because the matchmaking is poor
Battlfield 2042 can indeed be fun if you get into the game. The quite fast movement is fluid and complements the intuitive and very easy gunplay. It is quite entertaining to slide into groups of enemies thoughtlessly and to look for one fight after another.
However, the matchmaking must be clearly criticized. We were thrown into a lobby far too often with and against significantly worse players.
As I wrote in an article back in August, it was quite funny for us, because we easily overwhelmed our opponents, but there should simply not be such a big skill difference in a match. I can’t imagine that it is fun for a casual gamer to have to play against players with significantly more playtime who wipe the floor with you.
The performance of Battlefield 2042
There was a point during the year when I would have probably given Battlefield 2042 a plus point for performance – but that is currently not possible.
I have the feeling that the performance of the shooter is better than it was at release, but it is still not good – at least according to my personal gaming experience. I play on PC and know that my CPU is my bottleneck. Nevertheless, it should be possible to play the game without 90% CPU usage or more.
I mean, the game runs smoothly and I have solid FPS, but I didn’t intend to fry my processor. So I looked around in various forums and discovered that this is a known issue.
After some research, I also found a way to lower CPU usage. Long story short: Battlefield 2042 or the engine used did not utilize all cores of my processor, which I was able to change with a Windows script.
Then I played several weeks of Battlefield 2042 with acceptable CPU usage and unchanged FPS until an update for the shooter was released. After the update, my trick no longer worked and my CPU usage shot back up to over 90%. That was the moment when I uninstalled Battlefield 2042 again.
Since we usually play everything together in our group of friends, the short-lived Battlefield enthusiasm in our group stopped, and we returned to other games.
How is Battlefield 2042 currently received by other players?
How is Battlefield 2042 currently received? In the past months (from June 30 to October 10, 2023), Battlefield 2042 collected a total of 3,587 reviews on Steam. Of those, 60% are positive. That doesn’t sound like much at first, but it is already significantly better than in previous months.
From the release day, November 19, 2021, until June 30, 2023, the shooter collected 80,029 reviews, of which only 39% are positive. A large part of the players left negative feedback. That has changed.
What do the latest reviews say? The Steam reviews in recent weeks are divided. For some, Battlefield 2042 is still a bad game because it has bugs and other issues, while for others, a lot has changed and they are actually having fun.
- “Now, due to all the updates and patches, absolutely playable! Fast shooter that captivates and makes you want more (via Steam)!”
- “Bringing an alpha game at release is not worth recommending. While it is now playable and has some fun moments here and there, it is not enough to say in the end that it is a top game (via Steam).”
- “I really like the game despite the huge hate. It is a solid and good game (via Steam).”
- “Now it’s really fun (via Steam).”
- “BF2042 maps are mostly unbalanced, too large, and the spawns are often poor. In TDM, it happens regularly that enemies spawn right behind you. […] I believe you are better off with one of the earlier Battlefield parts (via Steam).”
- “It’s not that bad anymore, it’s worth it for 20 €, but not for 60 € (via Steam).”
What do the player numbers look like? The player numbers on Steam have been worse, but they are not really good either. In September, an average of 5,104 players played Battlefield 2042. For Battlefield V it was 6,712 in the same month, and for Battlefield 1 it was still 4,796 (via Steamcharts).
The advantage here is clear: several players join via console through crossplay or on PC via the EA launcher. This results in a number of players that leads to acceptable matchmaking times.
Conclusion: Has Battlefield 2042 made a comeback?
Sort of, there are indeed aspects that have improved significantly. Moreover, the shooter can be really fun. However, that largely depends on how well the game performs for you. Since Battlefield 2042 is very demanding, most of the fanbase will not be able to enjoy the shooter properly.
At least a solid amount of content is now offered. Battlefield 2042 should have had that at release. For a game that has been receiving updates for almost 2 years, that is unfortunately still the minimum – especially considering that the new content also consists of recycled maps and weapons.
Many Steam reviews hit the nail on the head: For €60, you are offered a game with Battlefield 2042 that can hardly justify the price. However, if you can catch it in a sale for €20, you will have a quite solid shooter experience, provided the performance is adequate.
Battlefield 2042 does not make a complete comeback, but it is at least somewhat playable.
If you want to spend money on new games cautiously after purchasing Battlefield, we have a list of the currently best F2P shooters for you:
