Without further ado, here are the 14 biggest differences between Battlefield 5 and Battlefield 6.

World War 2 vs Modern Day

Obviously, the first major difference is that Battlefield 5 unfolds during World War 2 while Battlefield 6 occurs in a more modern setting. While the latter is set in 2027, it’s focused on grounded military engagements and doesn’t include any near or future technology.

The Company vs Loadouts

For all the things that Battlefield 5 did right, there were some odd systems introduced, like The Company. It was essentially a loadout system where you could assign Combat Roles, weapons, gadgets, grenades and melee weapons into each class slot. You could also assign different characters, customizing their appearance with cosmetic items and vehicles. Battlefield 6 offers loadouts as well for each Class, though DICE has committed to a more grounded look for its characters (and only two factions to choose from, at least for now).

Co-op Support

With everything that Battlefield Studios is doing to ensure Battlefield 6’s success – including the introduction of a proper Server Browser, going so far as to rename the Portal section to Community – it won’t have co-op. You can’t team with other players in the campaign, and there are no separate modes or even a Horde-like activity to battle AI enemies together. All that said, the Portal and its toolset could allow for creating such missions after it goes live (heck, if the development team can use it to create Pong, anything is possible).

As for Battlefield 5, it didn’t have co-op at launch either, but added it post-launch in Lightning Strikes, the second Tides of War Chapter, with Combined Arms. It offered four unique objectives, from assassinating targets to slaying a select number of targets, followed by an extraction phase against hordes of enemies. Not the most complex mechanics, but it offered a diverse range of levels with unique plots.

Class Changes

Remember how the Assault Class in Battlefield 5 focused on infantry combat and vehicular destruction, packing anti-tank mines and rocket launchers alongside assault rifles? Following Battlefield 6’s open beta, DICE has reworked the Class to focus more on flanking and deployment. It now has an Assault Ladder for accessing higher ground more easily, and the Recon’s Spawn Beacon, now known as the Deploy Beacon. There’s also a new Signature Trait, Enhanced Mobility, which allows for faster objective capture when near allies.

Grand Operations vs Covert Operations

Grand Operations were introduced in Battlefield 5 and arguably represented the most ambitious mode in the series yet. Players would fight in massive conflicts over the course of four in-game days with different locations and modes. For example, the Battle for France began with attackers parachuting into Twisted Steel on the first day as defenders tried to stop them. Day 2 on the same map involved playing Breakthrough, while Day 3 took place on Arras in a 64-player version of Frontlines. Assuming both teams hit a stalemate, the Grand Operation would proceed to Day 4 and Final Stand – an all-out war with no respawns and a continuously shrinking zone.

Battlefield 6, unfortunately, doesn’t have this, but EA did mention something called Covert Operations in a recent email. It’s unlikely this is a substitute for Grand Operations, and as some have pointed out, it could simply be the name for seasonal objectives. Time will tell.

Number of Launch Weapons

DICE hasn’t detailed all the weapons available in Battlefield 6 at launch, but it confirmed that there will be over 40. By comparison, Battlefield 5 offered 30 primary weapons, seven sidearms and nine melee weapons. Neither total factors in all the Gadgets either, but it seems that players will be spoiled for choice when Battlefield 6 arrives.

Combat Roles vs. Field Specs

Each Class in Battlefield 6 has a Signature Trait, from the Support’s faster revive and drag speed to the Engineer taking less damage. Believe it or not, Battlefield 5 offered something similar, known as Combat Roles. Assault started as Light Infantry, with two traits – more health and more ammo from corpses – but leveling it up unlocked Vehicle Buster with its ability to spot vehicles for the team when damaging them (and gaining more Requisition upon their destruction).

Battlefield 6 has Field Specs, which essentially provide progressively improved benefits when performing Class-specific actions. The Recon, for instance, makes it so that enemies can’t be revived when killed by sniper headshots in level 2 of Sniper Training Path. However, if you opt for the Spec Ops Path, its level 2 benefit will effectively remove any spotting on yourself upon going prone. Both of these paths have their own passives available from the outset, and as you progress, level 3, an active ability, becomes available.

Locked vs Universal Weapons

Controversial as it was, Battlefield 5 continued the series’ tradition of restricting certain weapon types to their corresponding classes. An Assault class couldn’t just use a sniper rifle, and a Recon wasn’t going to hoist a light-machine gun anytime soon. Battlefield 6 followed 2042 by allowing all classes to utilize every single weapon, but following some backlash, it introduced the Closed Weapons playlist, which once again restricts weapons to their respective classes. You also had Signature Weapons, which provide benefits for a class that utilized its specific firearm type.

Unlocking New Weapons

Leaning further into the whole “Universal Weapons” philosophy is how unlocking new weapons works. In Battlefield 5, progressing through a Class would unlock their respective Combat Roles, weapons, side arms and more. However, in Battlefield 6, new weapons are unlocked by increasing your Career Rank and can include options from outside your class. Again, if you’re the type who enjoys using whatever, this will hardly matter, but for those who want to stick to Closed Weapons, it’s jarring, to say the least.

Campaign vs War Stories

It’s funny when you think about it, but Battlefield 4 is the last time that the series had a campaign focused on a single core cast of characters throughout. Battlefield 6 returns to that concept, focusing on Dagger One Three, as they tour the world and battle the Pax Armata, a private military company aiming to topple NATO, with Alexander Kincaid serving as the main antagonist. By comparison, Battlefield 5’s campaign followed the same structure as Battlefield 1 with War Stories, each with unique characters and plotlines. It worked well considering the massive scale of World War 2, but for those seeking a more consistent cast, Battlefield 6 could be it.

Rush Changes

Rush is perhaps the most beloved mode in Battlefield, dating back to the days of Bad Company, with attackers assaulting an objective while the defenders try to stop them (and subsequently switching sides). It’s frenetic, fast-paced and an overall good time, with Battlefield 5 following in its predecessor’s footsteps by featuring artillery strikes. Unfortunately, Battlefield 6 makes some rather disappointing changes. Instead of 16v16, it’s 12v12, and the overall flow is nowhere close to the Battlefield classics of yore. Granted, DICE confirmed that layouts have been “revised for better balance between attackers and defenders,” but here’s hoping it raises the player count at some point.

Firestorm Differences

One of the biggest new additions that Battlefield 5 brought to the franchise is Battle Royale, known as Firestorm. Taking place on Halvøy, the biggest map in the series till that point, it supported 64 players and included different vehicles, including tanks, as players looted weapons and other resources while evading the ever-shrinking ring of fire. While the map name and player limit of Battlefield 6’s Firestorm is unknown, DICE has been testing 100 players in 25 squads. Perhaps the biggest change from Battlefield 5 is that Classes aren’t cosmetic, allowing you to utilise their unique perks and Signature Weapons to succeed. Then there’s the ring, which vaporizes players caught in it, no exceptions.

Crossplay

Perhaps the biggest downside of DICE ending support for Battlefield 5 to work on 2042 (besides, well, the fact that it resulted in 2042) is that it never received cross-platform play. Battlefield 6, like 2042, fixes that by offering cross-platform play at launch, but it goes even further to avoid many of the pitfalls. The matchmaking will prioritize other console players first and eventually expand to include those on PC if it takes too long to fill a lobby.

First Season Content

Rather than using the term “seasons” for its post-launch content, Battlefield 5 went with “Chapters,” as part of the greater Tides of War initiative. Chapter 1 went live in December 2018 and added the fifth and final War Story, “The Last Tiger,” a new Conquest map (Panzerstorm), five weapons, the Practice Range, and various cosmetics like weapon skins, emblems, dog tags, and whatnot. Not a bad assortment of content, but Battlefield 6 is going much further with its first Season. Starting on October 28th with Rogue Ops, it introduces a new mode (Strikepoint), three new weapons, new attachments, a new vehicle, and a new map (Blackwell Fields).

Phase 2, California Resistance, goes live on November 18th with the new Eastwood map, the limited-time Sabotage mode, two new weapons, a new attachment and the return of Battle Pickups. Winter Offensive is the third phase and offers the Ice Lock limited-time event, where players compete on a snowy version of Empire State and deal with new freezing conditions. It also features a new melee weapon in the Ice Climbing Axe. Whether EA will maintain this cadence with future seasons remains to be seen, but it’s a strong start and ensures that players won’t have to wait too long between new drops.

METRO EXODUS

The Metro series has always prided itself on pushing the envelope with its visuals, and Metro Exodus certainly didn’t disappoint on that front either. From how spectacularly it realizes all of its many post-apocalyptic environments to how thoroughly it immerses players in its world with its diegetic and detail-oriented aesthetic, Metro Exodus is still one of the best-looking games out there, over four years on from its launch.

DOOM ETERNAL

There aren’t a lot of studios out there who can boast an equal level mastery over both game design and technology as convincingly as id Software can, and DOOM Eternal is a perfect example of that. Not only are its hellish battle arenas a veritable attack on the senses in the best way possible, the game also excels at making every combat encounter feel breathtakingly explosive in a way that very few of its peers are capable of.

HUNT: SHOWDOWN

Crytek is no stranger to developing visually spectacular first person shooters, but Hunt: Showdown in particular deserves a special mention. The game boasts all the technical polish and obsessive attention to detail that you’d expect from a Crytek joint, but on top of that, it’s also uplifted by some of the strongest art design we’ve ever seen in a shooter, allowing its dark fantasy horror world to come to life in spectacular fashion.

RAINBOW SIX SIEGE

Rainbow Six Siege might be nearly a decade old, but that just makes its technical accomplishments that much more impressive. From the destructibility and dynamics of its environments to the impressive coat of polish that encases every inch of the experience, there’s so much about this game that can still easily be described as best-in-class, several years on from its initial release.

CYBERPUNK 2077

Even when Cyberpunk 2077 was as broken as it famously was in the immediate aftermath of its launch, it was still easy to see how impressive it was on a visual level. Now, with three years of updates and improvements under its belt, it’s nothing short of a graphical masterpiece. No matter where you are in Night City, it’s hard not to be taken aback by how gorgeous it looks and the painstaking attention to detail it exhibits on a consistent basis.

WITCHFIRE

Witchfire launched in early access earlier this year after years of anticipation, and instantly impressed the masses in more ways than one- its visuals being chief among them. The dark fantasy aesthetic of the setting alone is enough to elevate Witchfire’s visuals in and of itself, and the fact that the game has the technical chops to be able to properly back its artistic ambitions only makes it that much more an impressive graphical ride.

HALF-LIFE: ALYX

VR may not have managed to permeate the gaming mainstream the way many had hoped it would, but in Half-Life: Alyx, we do have at least one major game that truly demonstrates just what a AAA VR megaton can look like. Not only does the game look excellent on a consistent basis, it’s also crammed full of a level of interactivity and attention to detail that you would think would have necessitated some technical sacrifices in a virtual reality game. That Half-Life: Alyx so confidently has its cake and eats it too probably doesn’t get enough credit.

BATTLEFIELD 5

For all the problems DICE’s games have launched with over the years, one area that the studio is pretty much always guaranteed to excel in is the visuals. Take Battlefield 5, for instance- a game that divided fans upon release, but in spite of its issues, stands as one of the best-looking shooters you’ll ever play. From the snow-encased Norvik to the war-torn ruins of Devastation to the wide, open spaces of Panzerstorm, every map in Battlefield 5 is gorgeous to behold.

STARFIELD

It’s fair to say that Starfield has plenty of rough edges on the visual and technical fronts, but for all of its many typical Bethesda flaws, it’s still a game that’s capable of taking your breath away with its graphics. Whether you’re looking at the futuristic city of New Atlantis stretching out in front of you or standing on a desolate planet and watching the sun rise over the horizon, from time to time, Starfield showcases just how incredible it can look when it isn’t being bogged down by technical issues.

WOLFENSTEIN 2: THE NEW COLOSSUS

It’s hard to believe that Wolfenstein 2 is over six years old at this point, because even it certainly doesn’t look its age. Though perhaps not as much of a visual stunner as something like DOOM Eternal, Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus is still a gorgeous game. From the detailed character models to the explosive and gleefully violent combat, there’s plenty about this game that still stands out on a technical level.

FAR CRY 6

Ubisoft has got the balance between scope and visual fidelity down to a science by this point, and Far Cry 6 illustrates that point perfectly. You’d expect that a game as massive and sprawling as this one would have to make significant cutbacks in the graphics department, but that most certainly isn’t the case here. The level of detail and fidelity that Yara’s many biomes boast is partly why exploring Far Cry 6’s enormous map is as engaging as it is.

GTFO

You don’t need a massive budget of dozens of millions to make a visually impressive shooter, as evidenced so convincingly by GTFO. Made by indie Swedish studio 10 Chambers, the co-op horror shooter flexes its technical muscles almost constantly, immersing you in is terrifying reality that much more. GTFO’s impressive visuals alone making it worth checking out, even if its uncompromising approach to difficulty might turn some people off- though of course, for many that’s exactly what makes the game as good as it is.

RESIDENT EVIL VILLAGE

The Resident Evil franchise has always been associated with cutting edge visuals, especially in its RE Engine era, and Village, like all of its siblings, demonstrates the series’ graphical mastery every step of the way. Whether it’s the varied and horrific environments of the titular village and the areas surrounding it or the many monstrosities you clash horns with throughout the experience, there’s no shortage of things in Resident Evil Village to remind you of just how impressive a AAA flagship Capcom release can look.

DESTINY 2

As a game that’s over six years old, Destiny 2 maybe doesn’t have the wow factor that many of the other games on this list do, but the fact that it is still comfortably earns itself a spot here is testament to just how good it looks. On a technical level, the looter shooter is one of many fine examples of Bungie’s mastery and knowhow, but it’s with its stellar art design that the game really cements itself in your memory.

DEATHLOOP

Arkane Studios’ games have never really been leaders of the pack with their graphical ambitions, but even though Deathloop isn’t the most technically impressive game you’ll ever play, it’s hard not to be impressed by how good it looks. A lot of that is obviously down to its unique art style and aesthetic, but the game is no slouch on a technical front either. The end product is one that looks significantly better than you’d expect from an Arkane game.

According to a community manager at EA, the decision to end support for the titles on those specific operating systems was due to Microsoft itself having ended support for older versions of Windows earlier this year. For context, Microsoft ended security updates and technical support for Windows 7 back in January 2020, while Windows 8.1 had its support ended back in January 2023.

It’s worth noting that Battlefield 1, Battlefield 5, and Star Wars Battlefront 2 can still be played on more modern Windows operating systems—namely Windows 10 and Windows 11.

Earlier in October, developer DICE and EA had released a trailer for the current Battlefield title—Battlefield 2042, showcasing the game’s sixth season of post-launch content.

As fans of the franchise would know, Battlefield started off on a very strong foot. Battlefield 1942 was released in 2002 and was an instant hit on both a critical and commercial scale. At the time, DICE was able to distinguish its military shooter offerings from the competition by focusing on a sense of scale and team-based gameplay. Where other first-person shooters restricted themselves to smaller-scale maps and game modes focused on individual performances, Battlefield 1942 introduced its signature Conquest mode which emphasized teamwork and strategy in large-scale maps. In addition to this, Battlefield also added classes into the mix – and depending on the chosen role, players would have to fulfill their responsibilities and act accordingly during the game.

Fun fact: DICE originally proposed Battlefield 1942 as a GameCube exclusive, but in the absence of proper online functionality on the console – the game was then built for the PC.

DICE would then go on to continually succeed with each passing entry in the franchise. Future installments like Battlefield 2: Modern Warfare also provided a much-needed change of scenery to a modern landscape, but the developer also paid due attention to polishing its signature large-scale gameplay while also introducing new modes into the mix. The series’ upward trajectory continued with Battlefield: Bad Company, which added set-pieces and a likable cast of characters in the single-player department which helped widen the target demographic for the franchise.

All of this set the perfect stage for Battlefield: Bad Company 2 and Battlefield 3, the former becoming the biggest hit in the franchise’s history up until that point (and arguably to date). It sported great single-player campaigns and adrenaline-pumping multiplayer with a wide variety of destructible maps and environments. This was also the time when EA’s own IPs were struggling to find their place in the rapidly changing shooter landscape, which eventually led to the closure of Danger Close games and by extension, the final nail in the coffin for that franchise.

But EA’s premium shooter had a tough future ahead of itself. While Battlefield 4 would go on to receive great critical and commercial acclaim, fans were not impressed by the single-player campaign and the game wasn’t technically stable with bugs and glitches galore. Post-launch patches and DLC did eventually turn the game’s fate around, but the franchise’s reputation had already taken a blow. It also didn’t help that Battlefield: Hardline didn’t get well with a decent chunk of the fanbase, despite featuring some interesting spins to this tried and tested formula.

The next entry in the series, Battlefield 1 then released in 2016 and shifted gears to a different setting. Battlefield 1 felt like a much-needed breath of fresh air amidst the barrage of modern shooters on the market, and it also helped that DICE crafted a well-designed multiplayer experience complete with iconic vehicles and weapons of the era. While the single-player campaigns were short, these self-contained War Stories were quality stuff regardless. Battlefield had once again risen from the ashes, but that victory was short-lived.

Battlefield 5 was released shortly after in 2018 and was subject to substantial criticisms from fans on account of its derivative gameplay and lack of meaningful content upon launch. Again, post-launch updates did manage to reinvigorate some interest in the franchise, but the general consensus surrounding the game was one of wasted potential and that’s something most people are likely to agree with.

And this brings us to Battlefield 2042, the franchise’s biggest blunder to date. The game was highly anticipated by fans and was also the subject of a short delay due to the COVID-19 pandemic. But when the game was released, it was once again criticized on account of its forgettable multiplayer modes, balance issues, and inconsistent matchmaking alongside a general lack of polish with the experience. Since the game’s launch last year, EA has continually tried to recoup player numbers with post-launch updates, but it has repeatedly failed and the future of Battlefield 2042 looks really bleak at the moment.

So, when went wrong? We can see that modern shooters became all the rage during the Xbox 360 and the PS3 era which is when Battlefield was at its peak. Fan interest slowly disintegrated in the subgenre as time went by, and the lack of any real gameplay innovation didn’t do the game any favors. While Battlefield 1 was able to recoup some interest within the series, the tendency to make iterative upgrades over substantial changes put the franchise back in the slumps once again. Battlefield 2042 was released as an underwhelming and unfinished package during this crucial time, all of which have dealt a significant blow to the franchise’s reputation.

But I think that EA knows that maybe Battlefield has outstayed its welcome. Multiplatform publishers like EA, Ubisoft, and Activision know that any franchise has a limited lifespan – and they know that the best way to make the most out of it is to keep churning out games until it’s no longer profitable – and then move on to the next best thing. Franchises like Guitar Hero, Dead Space (although it’s now coming back in the form of a remake), and so many others have died similar deaths at the hands of these publishers. 

That said, a counterpoint to this argument could be that EA is still working on turning Battlefield 2042‘s fates around for good with plenty of post-launch updates, so it’s not giving up on the franchise just yet. But that could also just be the last of EA’s attempts at salvaging some life from this game, and judging by the current market scenario and the recent moves made by Battlefield’s competitors – it seems that the best course of action is to diverge the franchise into a premium and a free-to-play segment; just like how other shooters have done with its offerings. 

Spending upwards of $70 on a middling experience like Battlefield 2042 doesn’t make a lot of sense when games like Fortnite are offering mostly similar experiences without any price of admission. What EA eventually ends up doing with the Battlefield franchise remains to be seen, but one thing is certain – that some big changes are going to have to be done in order for the franchise to have a future.

Note: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, GamingBolt as an organization.

And another thing – visually portraying a weapon’s character is only half the story. Animators must stimulate that most nebulous of concepts too: game feel. How does the player feel holding the weapon? Of course, there’re additional aspects at play: the weapon’s appearance, its fire rate and sound design, for instance. These aspects exist in harmony with weapon reload animations creating a tactile sensation for the player. If a firearm’s reload animation doesn’t match the rest of its design elements, then game feel is lost, and player satisfaction gone.

So, without further ado, here are fifteen totally awesome reload animations, ranging from rapid in-and-outs for breakneck gunplay, to stately, tactical, detailed reloads, with unnecessarily inefficient but visually epic flamboyance stuffed in-between.

Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon

Wearing its retro-future 80s action clichés firmly on its sleeve is Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon. Playing as Cyber Commando Sergeant Rex Colt, himself a tongue-in-cheek homage to Terminator-esque half-man half-machines, gave animators plenty of wiggle room for flashiness. There’re excessive exaggerations in Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon’s reload animation; movements are wide and freewheeling, shotguns unnecessarily spin mid-air before cartridges are coin flipped down the barrel in carefree volition, providing both visual ostentation and information for players of Sergeant Colt’s robotic strength and precision. In short, they’re totally unrealistic, eye-popping attention-grabbers.

Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater

The guerrilla warfare aspect and lack of a radar in Metal Gear Solid 3 turned sniping into a fairly important mechanic. Rifles could be used to scout ahead and pick off foes from a safe distance, after all though you still had to be careful about leaving bodies. The true test came when facing The End – if you actually tried fighting him, then tracing his position and not getting caught out was key, especially with how incredible his aim could be. This also opened up a number of strategies like capturing and releasing his parrot while using the directional microphone to find his position.

In an update detailing the upcoming fixes and patches for Battlefield 2042, DICE said that the game has already amassed “millions” of players since its launch just a few days ago (though it was, of course, also available in early access for some days before its official release). DICE also confirms that Battlefield 2042 has nearly twice as many players at launch as the previous game in the series, Battlefield 5, did.

DICE has started its journey down the road to recovery for its newest release, and given the developer’s plans for the game as a live service platform for at least the next couple of years, hopefully, they’ll be able to turn things around for it and get it to the level that series fans were hoping it would be at. If that doesn’t happen, the game’s performance could decline rapidly from its strong start.

Battlefield 2042 is available on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, Xbox One, and PC.

With only one map and Conquest mode to try out, can the beta really achieve much by way of feedback? Or is it simply part of the pre-order incentive package, the never-ending cycle of hype feeding into the desire for early early access while hoping fans enjoy it enough to not cancel? That last one is more rhetorical but you get the idea.

DICE and EA have moved to address concerns regarding the beta’s quality. EA Studios lead community manager Adam Freeman said that it was based off of a build that was already a “few months old.” He also added that, “We polish and enhance it to make sure that it’s representative of the game we’ve built, but naturally we’re making daily improvements, changes, and enhancements all the time.”

DICE GM Oskar Gabrielson also chimed in on Twitter, noting that there had been “amazing progress” made over the past few months. This includes “improvements to the visuals and stability that didn’t quite make it into the Open Beta build….” So the idea seems to be that the beta may not be up to snuff but trust us guys, the full game is going to be great! And roll tide.

In the wake of this, the open beta’s age is up for debate. Insider Tom Henderson has been leaking details on the game even before its official announcement and recently spoke to sources for a report on GamingIntel. This includes an unnamed associate from DICE and a source that revealed the game’s delay to November. Both confirmed that the recent beta is actually from early-mid September. A look at the beta’s files revealed that it’s from September 20^th 2021, just one day before it was originally meant to go live. DICE would subsequently delay the beta and the full release but we’ll come back to that.

You would think this means that the open beta is off of a more recent build and not one that’s a few months old. Even if that’s not quite the case, the date in the files indicates that it was delayed by a few weeks and DICE made no changes or improvements before it went live in October.

There are many possible reasons for this. The developer probably took a long look at the current state of the game and decided to delay it to allow for more polish. The beta, whether it’s actually based on a months-old build or not, was placed by the wayside to provide more resources for the full game. After all, early access for the release begins on November 12^th for Gold and Ultimate Edition owners, which is one week before its global release. That period will be even more critical since any issues could affect critical and fan reception (and of course, sales) in the long term.

In light of all this, you’d think that something weird is going on behind the scenes with development. Sure, this is the biggest Battlefield ever and it has multiple studios working on it, from DICE and Criterion Games to Ripple Effect (formerly DICE LA). But it’s inherently a DICE-led game and the studio’s last release, Battlefield 5, isn’t universally loved by its community. As it turns out, there have been problems with development.

In the same report by Henderson, the same sources said that management – composed of figures who worked on Star Wars Battlefront 2 – has been less than ideal. “Management is allegedly not committed enough to the project, with creative being simply told to do X, Y, and Z,” Henderson noted. Any concerns usually fell on deaf ears, resulting in problems that could have been fixed early on. It also seems that the Specialists were inspired by Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (2019)’s Operators. Other design decisions and how they were inspired by Call of Duty are still unknown but it’s apparently not the title that was the biggest inspiration.

After his report, Henderson would reveal in some recent tweets that Battlefield 2042 actually started out as a battle royale title. It was inspired by Call of Duty but Apex Legends, another EA-published title, was a “BIG” inspiration. Along the way, it morphed into a more “traditional” Battlefield title but when exactly this happened is unknown. It’s a fairly strong statement to make and Henderson claims that he has evidence to support this. We’ll need to wait until such evidence is revealed but certain design choices suddenly start to make more sense.

Why the support for 128 players, even though ex-DICE CEO Patrick Söderlund told GameRant in 2011 that the developer had done “substantial research” into the same and it just wasn’t fun? If the Specialists are indeed inspired by the Operators from Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (2019), why do they have unique abilities when the latter didn’t (like a grappling hook that’s akin to Pathfinder’s from Apex Legends)? Why the removal of classes and less restrictions on what different characters can equip? It all seemingly goes back to battle royale though a number of other factors were likely considered as well.

DICE has attempted a battle royale mode before with Battlefield 5’s Firestorm but it was a complete failure. After the success of Apex Legends, perhaps the call was made to focus on a more Battlefield-esque style of game instead. The monetization of skins for Specialists is likely another reason for their implementation since it’s worked so well for a number of multiplayer titles throughout the years.

If we’re being super-cynical, one could also believe that the deviation away from battle royale was in order to sell a “premium” product while also benefiting from excessive monetization. How Battlefield Portal and Hazard Zone fits into this business plan is unknown. Perhaps DICE wanted to provide some fan service to long-time players – if Ripple Effect Studios is essentially re-purposing older assets for Battlefield Portal, then it wouldn’t be a massive drain on resources and could generate some good will.

Hazard Zone could be viewed as trying to cash in on the success of Escape from Tarkov but how that could be monetized in the long run is unclear. Even the lack of a campaign makes sense when you consider the number of multiplayer-centric titles that have been successful without it.

Whether you believe the development troubles are as concerning as Henderson’s sources claim, to the extent that some employees are worried for their jobs, or if the game actually began as a battle royale title or not is ultimately up to you. One thing is very clear though – Battlefield 2042 seems to be lacking in a clear vision. It looks to be abandoning many of the tenets that helped it stand out in the past while leaning into more bombastic elements, like massive weather effects and lots of players. It’s chasing trends but also trying to be “new”, presenting itself as the tried-and-true Battlefield that fans love but without much of what actually made the games so iconic and enjoyable.

Time will tell if this strategy pays off but if the recent beta is any indication, then DICE has a long road ahead, one paved with post-launch fixes and revamps. This is on top of having to add new content for three different modes in the coming years. Whether it succeeds or fizzles out like Battlefield 5 will be revealed years down the line. But given the failure of EA’s non-sports live service titles, you’d think that hindsight would be 20/20 by now.

Note: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, GamingBolt as an organization.

Sony’s revealed the set of games coming to PlayStation Plus in May, and for once, the rumors flying around the internet were right. This month’s trio is Battlefield 5, Wreckfest: Drive Hard, Die Last, and Stranded Deep.

The big name this month is clearly Battlefield 5, the latest entry in DICE’s megahit shooter franchise. We liked it quite a bit here at GamingBolt. While the game received its final content update last year, the game is a great shooter that’s packed with content and still being played.

Wreckfest: Drive Hard, Die Last is the latest from FlatOut developer Bugbear. A full-contact racing game where players upgrade their cars to survive the onslaught of vehicular mayhem, Wreckfest reviewed well when it released in 2019 and features a Challenge mode and up to 24 players in multiplayer.

Stranded Deep is a survival game. Players are stranded in the middle of the Pacific Ocean after a mysterious plan crash and must scavenge supplies to craft the tools, weapons, and shelter they’ll need to survive the elements and animals of the Pacific.

May’s PS Plus titles will be available for download from May 4th to May 31st. If you haven’t picked up April’s games – Days Gone, Oddworld Soulstorm, and Zombie Army 4 – you have until May 3rd to do so.

METRO EXODUS

At the time of its release, every single Metro game has boasted phenomenal visuals, to the extent that even 2010’s Metro 2033 still looks great, and last year’s Metro Exodus upheld that proud tradition. Requiring a GeForce GTX 1070 or an RTX 2060 or an AMD RX VEGA 56 for the highest possible settings, and with full-blown support for ray tracing, Metro Exodus is by far one of the best looking games you can play on PC right now.