The next entry into EA’s FPS franchise Battlefield arrives in Battlefield 2042. Opting to skip out on a campaign this year, the new title does bring dynamic weather mechanics that can heavily effect player advantage in-game. Another franchise first for the series is the addition of cross platform play allowing PC and console players to go at it head to head.

Battlefield 2042 is a 2021 multiplayer shooter, it is developed by DICE and published by EA. It is currently available on PC & console.

Editor’s Note: A Xbox One review code for Battlefield 2042 was provided by EA in support of this review. Potential spoilers for Battlefield 2042’s in-game lore may be present within this review.

Battlefield returns with crossplay.

The annual Battlefield is here again with a futuristic setting. As the title suggests the game is based in the near future of the year 2042. Dangerous weather conditions and economic collapse has caused destruction to much of the world. The world has also suffered from broken alliances and some countries such as Germany have even gone bankrupt. A Kessler event has caused a global permanent blackout and America has been to war with Russia since 2040.

Classes have been revamped in 2042.

THE GOOD: In Battlefield 2042 there are three gameplay modes at launch including All-Out Warfare which features Breakthrough, and Conquest. Conquest is a King of the Hill style game where two teams vie for control of multiple control points and the team with the most points controlled win. Breakthrough has players capturing control points while also defending their own designated control points. Each mode is crossplay supported between PC & console players giving anyone access to their friends in-game if they have a copy of it. However, it should noted that for last gen consoles crossplay is limited to those consoles. PC & current-gen consoles feature a massive 128 player count per game while last-gen are up to 64 players.

New to Battlefield is the Portal mode which acts as an in-game modding tool where players have certain control over match up types & gameplay mechanics such as health, weapon loadouts, etc. This is basically where you can let some of your creative juices flow. Much of the modding takes place within a web-script where you can toy around with some ideas and test them out with friends or random players in the game itself. There’s also some other light customization where players customize weaponry as they please through the Plus system.

The third mode is called Hazard Zone a co-op mode where players try to extract data from downed satellites. The data is guarded by AI-controlled enemies . Players form teams where they compete to extract as much data as possible and they earn dark market credits to spend on new upgrades like weapons for said mode.

The future is bleak in Battlefield 2042.

Specialist return with four playable options in Assault, Engineer, Medic, and Recon. Naturally, each specialist has their own gear and skills unique to them. These abilities stretch out apart from each other fairly well creatively. For example, one of the specialist possesses a wingsuit which they can use to fly around the map in certain scenarios. Campaign mode is unfortunately not present in 2042 in favor of story progression told through the online modes. While a cool idea on paper what with giving the specialists personalities & back stories this ultimately fails to live up as a proper replacement for a traditional story mode. For what it’s worth there’s a short film called Exodus on YouTube that EA released that talks about the story in greater detail.

Battlefield 2042 also features a dynamic weather system such as tornados & sandstorms. These can have gameplay changing effects and when it works it can be some cool experiences. I’d like to imagine that more weather scenarios will be released with DLC like maybe hurricanes and such.

A lack of campaign really hurts this year’s entry.

THE BAD: Battlefield 2042 feels like an unfinished product out of box and it’s a real shame. When it works it’s some of the most satisfying experiences you’ll ever have. The absence of a campaign mode is quite annoying and the core problem is it often feels like the you’re fighting with the game to do just that. Whether it’s connection issues or simple gameplay glitches Battlefield 2042 just often feels like a headache booting up. That in addition to the lack of basic features such as scoreboards is a bit of a mess right now.

Gameplay effecting weather arrives to the Battlefield.

OVERALL THOUGHTS: Battlefield 2042 still has a lot of potential going for it. It also has just as much work to do in order to not only have that potential realized, but also to just have the game feeling like a decent shooter. Basic features and future content being delayed behind a frustrated community really isn’t helping matters. At best EA & Dice are ultimately able to fix these glaring and minor issues and everyone playing has a great shooter on their hands. At worst, Battlefield 2042 will act as another cautionary tale of the latest live service rushed out the door because reasons.