Games publisher EA and developer DICE have finally unveiled the trailer for EA’s next incarnation of its Battlefield series of first-person shooters.
Now, featuring a futuristic setting following its predecessor’s historical WW1 theme, Battlefield 2042 was announced with an accompanying cinematic trailer rendered with DICE’s in-game engine. The trailer is an adrenaline-spitting, bullet-filled hell where “explosive” is an understatement.
Time will tell if actual gameplay will come anywhere near matching the trailer’s hyper-intensity. Sensitive viewer warning – bloody violence.
No Campaign, no Battle Royale
According to Eurogamer, Battlefield 2042 will focus exclusively on multiplayer, a move away from traditional incarnations of the series where storyline-driven campaigns were Battlefield’s main draw.
“I think that’s just something that enables us to really lean into what we are best at,” Battlefield 2042 design director Daniel Berlin told Eurogamer about the lack of a single-player campaign.
“If you look at the DNA of the studio, what we’ve been doing for so long, we just said you know what, we’re not going to have a traditional single-player campaign this time around, but we’re going to put all that emphasis and all those resources into building depth into the multiplayer. Because that is what we do best.”
Berlin hopes Battlefield 2042’s main draw will be its minute-to-minute gameplay instead.
DICE and EA say that there are also no plans for a Fortnite-like battle royale mode, with Berlin saying “Battle royale is definitely something that is exceptionally popular right now. We don’t have any battle royale plan at this point, but we do have other experiences within the game that we can’t talk about which we are super excited for.”
The news that the game will not feature a battle royale mode is in contrast to the beginning of the trailer itself, showing what is assumed to be player avatars “dropping in” to a fire-laden warzone. EA may be looking to rebrand the “battle royale” with Battlefield 2042. Perhaps with a spin on the mode to separate themselves from competitors.
Battlefield 2042 a “Love-Letter” to Fans
EA and DICE are also teasing a new Hazard Zone squad-based mode for the new Battlefield. This mode will probably feature the tornadoes and hazardous weather effects seen at the end of the trailer. A full reveal of this mode is slated for 22 July.
However, the developer has noted that they are keeping the fans firmly in mind with this new incarnation.
“The experience that DICE LA specifically is building is this love letter to our long-term players and fans,” Berlin says. The trailer features several easter eggs for long-time fans to enjoy, including a reference to a popular fan-made video where a player shoots a fighter jet out of the sky with a missile launcher.
The entire #Battlefield2042 trailer felt like a tribute to what players have done with Battlefield over the years. This game feels like it's being made to create more of those #OnlyInBattlefield moments ♥️ pic.twitter.com/Y62tAqIdy5
— Westie 🚀 (@MrProWestie) June 9, 2021
“Our focus right now is to get 2042 out and make sure that it’s the best it can possibly be,” said Berlin.
“I think we do provide a multiplayer experience that no one else really does with the cutting edge technology and all the modern hardware to vehicles, to specialists and the dynamic world. In regards to free-to-play, I mean, we’ve done this in the past, we’ve got Battlefield Heroes, we had Battlefield Play for Free as well – so we’ve dipped our toe into this space. And it’s exciting for us to see what the future holds here. But we don’t have anything particularly to announce today – our focus right now is to make sure that 2042 comes together and really is the best game it can possibly be.”
Battlefield 2042 comes to PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One and Xbox Series S and X on 22 October 2021.
By Luis Monzon
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