With the specialists, Battlefield 2042 was actually supposed to revise its class system. So far, however, they are not very well received by some players. The main reason: They are hardly distinguishable, confusion guaranteed. Now there’s mockery because of this.
What exactly is the problem? The specialists in Battlefield 2042 do not just embody “any” soldiers, but are characters with backstories and real names, like you might know from operators in CoD Warzone.
Accordingly, they also have a more characteristic appearance than was the case with earlier units in other Battlefield titles. The only problem is: In the beta version of Battlefield 2042, there are only 4 specialists.
- Per match, however, there are between 64 and 128 players on the map, depending on the platform.
- This means that the same specialists are on the map and that even independently of the team.
- Regardless of whether you play on the Russian or the American team: There are the same specialists with the same outfits to choose from.
The only noticeable difference is the orange lettering above the enemy players. This elicits reactions from fans ranging from frustration to humorous jokes.
“Mackay stabs Mackay while Mackay is looking the other way”
This is what players are saying about the problem: There are numerous voices regarding the problem in the Battlefield 2042 subreddit. One of the most popular posts (over 3,300 upvotes, as of October 8, 14:33) shows how creepy it can look:
The image shows why it can get confusing so quickly in matches. Here you can see how the specialist Mackay – yep, that is the correct spelling according to EA – eliminates an enemy Mackay while another Mackay is looking at something interesting elsewhere.
There are many other examples, like this video here:
The three players each have Boris as their specialist and seem somewhat confused about whether there might be an enemy Boris among them.
The comments on this are mostly written humorously and make a joke out of the situation.
- For example, TheAArchduke writes: “The Clone Wars have begun.”, referencing the Star Wars saga.
- Tai_Jason says: “Immersion level 5000.”
- Kalahan7 notes: “They somehow made everyone feel even more generic, despite the specialists.”
- Born-To-Grill is quite disappointed: “I thought each faction would at least wear different uniform colors, but not even that. (via reddit.com)
- pukelman warns: “In the grim darkness of the far future, there is only the light brown uniform Webster Mackay.”
However, critics do see the specialists as a step back compared to the earlier classes. Not only because they are hardly distinguishable. Many also do not like the division of roles and gadgets.
They wish for the old system to return.
But how was it actually? In the past, there was a fixed role distribution in Battlefield. There were roles like medic, attacker, technician, and sniper.
This is how it looked in Battlefield 4:
With Battlefield 2042, DICE tried to open the system and gives players much more freedom in assembling their specialists. Here on MeinMMO, you will find an overview of the specialists and their advantages.
Ultimately, it remains to be seen how it will look at release. Because there are supposed to be not just four, but ten specialists at the launch of Battlefield 2042.
How long does the open beta run? You have until October 10 at 9:00 AM to try out the beta.
What’s included? Besides the four specialists and the orbital map, you can try out the “Conquest” mode.
On which platforms can you play? The beta is available on PC, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PS5, and PS4.
We keep you updated with current information in our live ticker for the open beta.
