With the Battlefield 2042 beta in full swing for those with early access privileges (and soon open to everyone), I’ve managed to get some quality hands-on time with the PS5 version of the game (thanks to EA), and as an old-school Battlefield fan, there’s a lot to take in — both good, and bad.
With that said, here are five things we didn’t like about the Battlefield 2042 beta, and five things we think worked. Important to note: we didn’t include bugs, and other stuff that we know DICE has been working on; most of the items here are purely gaming-related, design choices and the like, that we hope DICE takes a look at it.
Same as with any list, this is mostly my (the author’s, not the site’s) opinion, and there are stuff that we missed, or you just don’t agree with, and that’s fine.
Five Things About the Battlefield 2042 Beta That Worked:
Gunplay
Possibly one of the most important aspects in any multiplayer shooter, and one we’re not surprised has been nailed right on the head by DICE, is the game’s gunplay. It feels satisfying downing enemies, shoveling bullets and other explosives at enemy infantry and vehicles feels good, which shouldn’t surprise no one. Even the time-to-kill (TTK) feels fine, which might probably be one of the main concerns from series fans after what happened with Battlefield V.
Plus System Is a Good New Addition
In case you didn’t know, Battlefield 2042 features the Plus system where players can swap various weapon attachments on the fly, which helps in tackling multiple engagements, and the like. It’s a step in the right direction when it comes to letting the player customize their loadouts, and not feel penalized for going with a specific gun attachment instead of another. Locking weapon attachments might work in standard multiplayer shooters, but in Battlefield where there are multiple ways to engage with enemies, and the distance that gunfights play out vary greatly, this is a much-needed addition.
Vehicles and Overall “Feel” Are Reminiscent of Battlefield 4
Adding to the gunplay is how the driving and using the vehicles feel like Battlefield 4, which is considered by many to be the best in the franchise (or at least one of the best ones). This same “feel” applies to the overall game, too. It feels like Battlefield 4 in a good way, even if you know it’s not.
Call-In System for Vehicles Actually Work
Another new-ish (since it was implemented before with Commander mode albeit in a different manner) addition to the franchise is the call-in for vehicles. It’s a system that feels like it can be abused, but so far, it works. Mind, we don’t know how it’ll play out once the game is out in the wild in its final form, but in the beta, it’s good to have a way to call in a vehicle right at the palm of your Specialist’s fingertips.
Variety in Environments
While there’s only one playable map in the beta in Orbital, it does offer a wide range of environments to fight on. There’s greenery scattered across the map, there are structures, bunkers, and verticality even. If the rest of the game’s maps are the same in terms of environmental variety, that’s definitely a win column for DICE, even if we’re not getting a whole of maps available at launch. However, not everything regarding the map is good, which we’ll talk about more in detail in a bit.
Five Things About the Battlefield 2042 Beta That Needs to Change:
Map Size Is Too Big, Layouts Needs to Be Better to Have the Action Flowing
As mentioned above, while Orbital does give players variety, it also feels kinda empty even with 128 players. There are hot spots in maps where almost all the action takes place, but outside of that though, you’ll experience moments where you’re actively looking for action, which isn’t something you want in a multiplayer shooter.
Sure, one can argue that trekking and walking has always been part of the franchise since you need a good-sized map to make sure vehicles and infantry can co-exist, but in the beta, I experienced quite a lot of downtime where I was just walking, and generally not shooting or spotting anything or anyone. The map felt empty at times, which is possibly one of the worst experiences to feel when playing a shooter.
UI Is Hard to Navigate, Map, Objective Markers, Scoreboard and the Like Need to Be Clearer
We’re lumping all these in one entry since they are essentially part of the UI (user interface), though different parts of it.
The UI for loadouts while clean, is just hard to navigate. Never mind the bugs (which we’re hoping will be fixed at launch), but just changing your gear, equipment, Specialist and the like, feels like a drag. One might argue that the UI is the same with past Battlefield games, but isn’t it time we had a better one? It just adds way more button presses than it needs to.
At the same time, objective markers, and stuff pertaining to how to win the match should be clearer. Countless times, the way colors blend in and whatnot, I couldn’t tell where Flag B was and so on. Mind, I’m a franchise fan, even. Now imagine a franchise newbie, they are going to be lost on where to go, what to do, and just how to contribute to the team.
Not only that, but even the map is a lot harder to use than in past Battlefield games. Not only is hard to “read,” but you can’t even expand the mini map outside of what we can see on the lower left. Mind, this should be quite an easy fix, so it’s not that big of an issue.
The scoreboard is an odd one as well. Can we have the old scoreboard from past Battlefield games, please?
Air Vehicles Take Way Too Many Hits to Destroy
Hate air vehicles in past Battlefield games? Well, you’re going to hate how durable they are in BF2042! It takes four rocket shots to down a heli in the beta, which is simply just too much! What’s worse is, sometimes your anti-air rocket just disappears or something. From our count, it takes roughly 3-4 rocket hits to down a chopper, which is just insane. Fortunately, this is something DICE can fix quickly should they feel these flying death bringers are a tad too hard to take down.
Figure Out a Way to Let Players Know Which Character Can Do What for Their Team
This is an odd one. In past Battlefield games, you know that the Engineer can repair and destroy vehicles; it doesn’t matter if they’re carrying an anti-air missile, mines, an RPG, or what, as the important thing is, we know that once we see the character model, that said character is for repairing or destroying vehicles. The same could be said for Medics, Support, and the Recon. We know to ask for a med box from the medic class, and so on.
In Battlefield 2042 though, given how Specialists can essentially equip anything, it’s guesswork whether X character can either heal you, resupply, or have an anti-vehicle weapon in tow (this is outside of each Specialist’s specific ability). This adds a whole layer of confusion among your entire team, as you don’t know which character can do what specifically.
Speaking of confusion…
Specialists Needs to Have Proper Factions and Color/Skin Coding
Possibly the most annoying thing out of the entire beta is the game not having faction-specific skins/outfits! Imagine going up against an enemy with the same Specialist as your teammate. Yep, they look exactly alike, and it’s quite hard to know which one is your teammate, and which one is an enemy. Here’s an example of what I mean:
See? With Battlefield 2042 confirmed to be getting cosmetic customization, I don’t see this getting any better. Let’s say a cool new headgear or something is released, what if your enemies and teammates wear it? You’re back on square one! It doesn’t matter how these cosmetics are mixed and match, the fact that they look exactly the same for both sides means that people will get confused as to who the enemies are, and which ones are on their team.
A simple fix? Perhaps add a hue to each side, and this could be done without redesigning how Specialists look. Here’ an example:
That simple thing alone would make a world of difference, no? This is one complaint that people on social media, Reddit, etc. are all in agreement with, and I agree as well, given the times I was confused whether the Specialist I was aiming at was a friendly or foe.
That’s it for our list! If you’ve played the beta, do you agree with our picks? Sound off below and let us know what you think in the comments!
