Battlefield 2042: Return of Classes in the Eleventh Hour and Future Directions

“Nothing except a battle lost can be half so melancholy as a battle won.” –Duke of Wellington

With Eleventh Hour and the recent class rework, Battlefield 2042 has reached a state where it finally handles as its predecessors did. The fundamental mechanics behind the game are operational and smooth, with weapons handling very well. Most of the major bugs and errors are now resolved, and the reintroduction of classes means the clear delineation of roles, resulting in increased emphasis on team play as players must focus on their class’ focus. In particular, support players become invaluable for reviving and resupplying allied players, while engineers can concentrate on vehicle-related elements, whether it be repairing friendly vehicles or destroying enemy vehicles. While recon players are typically maligned for running off to the furthest corners of the map and camping with a sniper rifle, a good recon player will have no qualms using drones to spot enemies or finding clever places to drop a spawn beacon and ensure faster return to the frontlines. Assault players are all about pushing forwards onto objectives now, using their speed or durability to initiate a capture. With each class given a specific role, players have more inclination to support their allies, and after returning to Battlefield 2042 following the class rework, the game feels distinctly like its predecessor. In particular, the support class has become especially powerful, and I find myself being revived with a much greater frequency. Looking at how Battlefield 2042 handles, it is fair to say that the current implementation of classes and specialists is what Battlefield V‘s archetype system was likely meant to be – originally, Battlefield V had provided each class with two archetypes. Depending on which archetype one had chosen, one would be given different perks to facilitate a different play-style. Although this was an innovative addition that encouraged players to fulfil a specific role, archetypes were also quite limited, and there had been different incentives to switch between them. On the other hand, Battlefield 2042‘s specialists, once a maligned and questionable change to the game, now make sense: each specialist carries a unique gadget and passive abilities that allow one to fulfil their role in a manner they are most comfortable with. The reintroduction of classes shows that specialists can be made to work with the class system, and while questions of why DICE had initially dispensed with classes remains a valid question, in its current state, adding classes back into Battlefield 2042 is a “better late than never” change – the game now feels properly like a Battlefield game.

The fourth season’s launch brings with it four new weapons, one new gadget and one new map; in keeping with the relatively paltry amount of content, Battlefield 2042‘s limited content continues to remain a point of contention, since older Battlefield titles released up to nine new weapons and four maps with every update. However, there is no denying that the new content remains entertaining, and here in the fourth season, players gain access to Flashpoint, a desert facility set in Richtersveld, South Africa. Early concept art had suggested that the Flashpoint map would be similar to Operation Metro and its successors. Had this been the case, Flashpoint would’ve been a brilliant infantry-only experience of the sort that I’d become very fond of, providing a novel experience in Battlefield 2042. However, the actual product was quite different: the map retains the Battlefield 2042 design in that it features a mixture of open areas and tight interior spaces, so that each weapon type is viable depending on where one is on the map. The balance of narrow passageways and cliffs with excellent vantage points was designed with Battlefield 2042‘s class system in mind; players are most effective when working together, wielding a variety of weapons. The map itself is also visually impressive. Although perhaps not as jaw-dropping as the new maps from previous seasons, Flashpoint is by no means boring – the fuel storage units and generator buildings create an industrial aesthetic that fits in with the themes Battlefield 2042‘s maps strive to convey. There are, however, some design problems and disappointments with flashpoint. The map has three main lanes of travel, with all of the capture points being placed along the centre lane, while the outermost lanes are quite barren. This leaves players fighting for objectives open to vehicles and snipers camping in the side lanes, and similarly, the sheer number of flanking routes mean that one can’t ever be too sure of how secure their position is, as enemy players can readily sneak in, unseen, and eliminate whole squads in seconds. The constant chaos makes it difficult to regain momentum, and on most of the matches I played, once a team gains the upper hand with vehicles, it becomes tricky for the other team to mount a comeback. Similarly, the emphasis on outdoors combat, and the relatively small tunnel area, means that like the existing Battlefield 2042 maps, Flashpoint is vehicle-centred. Introducing an infantry-only map into Battlefield 2042 would’ve increased map variety and provide players with an environment where infantry chaos reigns supreme, offering a novel experience, but leaving the map as being vehicle-friendly limits options for players. These minor gripes notwithstanding, Flashpoint remains a fun map, and the same design constraints that lead me to dying to sneaky foes can be utilised against others, resulting in some memorable gameplay moments.

Screenshots and Commentary

• Since I last wrote about Battlefield 2042, DICE added thermal optics to the game. These optics cut right through smoke and render players as clear as day, giving players an effective counter against smoke grenades. Although thermal optics have limited utility in most games owing to how bright environments are, and weapon attachments are fixed, forcing one to choose carefully, the +-system in Battlefield 2042 means it’s easy to swap between optics depending on the situation. Beyond thermal optics, the updates have also brought back marksman bonuses that provide one with a visual indicator of how distant their best headshots were.

• These details have meant that at the time of writing, Battlefield 2042 finally feels like an almost-complete, enjoyable Battlefield experience. The only thing that’s missing from the game now is a server browser. I’ve heard that the lack of a server browser in modern multiplayer titles stems from a multitude of factors: between forcing skill-based match-making on players and attempting to appeal to a non-PC demographic (console players generally prefer matchmaking over server browsers on virtue of lacking a comfortable UX for looking through long lists of servers), most studios omit this feature nowadays: Modern Warfare II also lacks a dedicated server browser.

• For me, the main advantage about the server browser is simply being able to play on the maps I’d wish to play on, versus being matched into a map I may not be particularly fond of. Every Battlefield game has its share of maps I’m less keen on (Fao Fortress, Fjell 652 and Aerodrome come to mind), and a server browser lets me to spend less time on the maps I don’t like. In Battlefield 2042, the lack of a server browser means I’ve not been able to try some of the newly reworked maps, but every season opens with dedicated matchmaking for the new map, allowing me to focus purely on the new experiences as they become available, and here, I manage to land a two-in-one with the DRX-1.

• As the new map, Flashpoint is a desert map set in South Africa, and the in-game lore states that here in Richtersveld, the aim is to capture a rocket fuel processing facility and a special bit of hardware within. Flashpoint consists of fractioning towers and warehouses in a rocky environment, with a central tunnel leading into a vast silo at the heart of the map. When promotional imagery for the map first released, people had been hopeful that an Operation Metro-like experience would be the result, dealing with a vast underground mining tunnel under construction or similar.

• Infantry-only maps in Battlefield have always been enjoyable for offering unparalleled chaos, so it was a bit of a disappointment to see that Flashpoint doesn’t have the same intentions as Operation Metro-like maps. With this being said, Flashpoint is aesthetically pleasing, which is a lot more than can be said of most desert maps. Longtime readers may be familiar with my distaste for desert maps, and this can be attributed to the overuse of desert environments in works of science fiction. George Lucas is notorious for favouring desert maps – although literary critics have helpfully explained that deserts were meant to symbolise dead-end, lifeless environments devoid of hope, so a hero’s ascension is all the more inspirational and Christ-like, it doesn’t stop deserts from being any less exciting.

• From a filming perspective, it makes sense to pick deserts simply for ease of production, but the need for all deserts to include large, carnivorous worms and spice grows old quickly. This is why in a given Battlefield game, I tend to avoid playing on desert maps that are too Saharan or Arabian in aesthetic. On the other hand, deserts like the Kalahari are fine. I did not finding myself growing bored of Flashpoint’s environment because the number of fuel processing facilities and warehouses kept the map fresh. Despite the wide open spaces, there’s room for everything from submachine guns to sniper rifles on Flashpoint.

• Accompanying the class update is the fact that every class now has weapon proficiencies. Assault players gain extra magazines when equipping assault rifles, while support players can swap weapons faster if they’re running a submachine gun. Engineers have improved weapon stability if crouched or prone with a light machine gun, and recon players have superior weapon stability with sniper rifles. Bonuses notwithstanding, all classes can equip all weapons, with the obvious difference being that the weapon proficiency bonuses aren’t applied if one picks weapons their class typically won’t run with. This ensures players keep the options they’ve become accustomed to, while at the same time, encouraging players to stick with their proficiencies if they want maximum efficacy in a team setting.

• Players aren’t punished if they choose to run with weapons outside of their proficiency, and in this way, I was able to use the BSV-M in conjunction with the support class. Since the class rework, I’ve found that Falck has replaced Angel as my favourite support specialist: her passive ability is instantly healing all revived players, and her special gadget is the S21 Syrette Pistol, which fires darts that heal allied players over time and can be used to instantly bring one back to full health in a pinch. I found that, when combined with the resupply crate, Falck has limitless utility, being able to resupply and heal friendly players alike.

• The BSV-M had seen less utility in previous seasons, but on Flashpoint, the combination of wide open spaces and close quarters confines meant that the BSV-M’s ability to adapt instantly to long and short range combat made it indispensable. Here, I gun down to players with the BSV-M’s automatic mode with back-to-back headshots, including one player calling themselves “AngelaBalzac”,  a not-so-oblique reference to the 2014 film, Expelled From Paradise. Admittedly, owing to Battlefield 2042‘s poor reception despite having made considerable strides, player counts in the game remain quite low, and during the start of this fourth season, I had some difficulty in finding populated servers to join.

• More often than not, I ended up joining a match on a server that was awaiting players. However, once the minimum number of players were queued up and the game started, I found that the ability for Battlefield 2042 to populate the remainder of the server with AI bots meant that the individual matches felt quite active, no different than a server fully populated with human opponents and allies. This was probably one of Battlefield 2042‘s best additions – I understand why the game still requires a certain number of human players to start the match, but once this threshold is reached and players are allowed to start, the experience is solid.

• During the previous season, I didn’t get to giving the NVK-P125 pistol or the NVK-S22 shotgun a whirl. The NVK-P125 is a excellent sidearm with improved range and accuracy compared to that of other sidearms. With its futuristic design, the NVK-P125 has a digital display for indicating the number of rounds available to players, reminiscent of Halo‘s iconic assault rifle. It’s an excellent weapon to pair with a submachine gun. On the other hand, I’ve yet to try the NVK-S22 out despite having unlocked it: shotguns don’t really seem to be effective in Battlefield 2042 as far as I can tell.

• During the course of my time spent in Flashpoint, I ended up switching back over to the LCMG – the PKP-BP has a higher rate of fire, and the Avancys is more accurate at range, but since the LCMG occupies a sweet spot between the two, it actually ends up being a remarkably reliable and consistent weapon. Besides Falck, I began using Lis significantly more after the class update. I always found Lis to be a fun character to play owing to her ability to automatically mark vehicles and for being able to utilise the G-84 TGM, a TV-guided missile launcher. This weapon had been quite effective, but in the present, has been tuned so it is harder to fly and deals less damage against vehicles. As a result of her specialisation, Lis is unable to carry the other shoulder-fired anti-vehicle launchers in the game.

• The introduction of a class system ultimately encouraged me to try more of the specialists out – previously, I played as Angel exclusively owing to his ability to call in loadout crates, and by creating well-defined loadouts early on, I could effortlessly change roles multiple times during a match without needing to return to the spawn screen. This made Angel the top means of running solo; although perfect in a game against AI bots, it also meant I had little incentive to use any other specialist while unlocking weapons.

• Thanks to the addition of Zain, the assault class is also a good choice – these players favour speedy insertion and exfiltration from a capture point and possess perks that allow them to push objectives. In Zain’s case, the passive ability to regenerate health after every kill encourages a more aggressive play-style, and I found this to be useful over what the other specialists offer. Here, I’m running with the AC-42, a burst-fire rifle. Although I used it primarily against the AI bots in the solo mode for the purpose of levelling it up, I found it modestly useful against live players at longer ranges: burst fire is reliable at close ranges, but with the right attachments and while in semi-automatic mode, it actually can serve as a makeshift marksman rifle.

• Throughout this post, I focus exclusively on conquest: the featured mode for Flashpoint conquest is 64 players, and this makes it both easier to get into a match. Further to this, the pacing in conquest makes it more suitable for exploring the map and capturing screenshots – owing to how Breakthrough works, I found that I would either join a team that was routing their opponent so hard that they blitzed through the sectors, or otherwise had reached a stalemate, leaving one stuck in one area for entire matches. This makes it difficult to really check out all of the areas of a map, whereas in conquest, since capture points come and go, there is more opportunity for exploration.

• The AC9 is one of the new additions to Battlefield 2042 – it’s a submachine gun modelled after the Brügger & Thomet APC9 and fulfils a similar role to the MP9, another weapon designed for supremacy at extremely close ranges. As with all of the weapons I run with, I ended up unlocking all of the attachments playing solo Breakthrough against AI bots. Once it’s kitted out, the AC9 appears to occupy a niche between the MP9 and the PBX-45: it has a higher firing rate than the PBX-45 and is more accurate than the MP9, making it a great choice for flanking enemies. In a straight firefight, the AC9 is bested by the K30 and MP9.

• I had moderate success with the AC9 when I wielded it against human opponents; the weapon performs best with a Warhawk Compensator and laser sight. Out of a force of habit, I tend to aim down sights even with submachine guns – in older Battlefield games, I was comfortable with firing from the hip whenever using submachine guns and made full use of the hip-fire accuracy to shred foes at close quarters. I’m not sure if submachine guns in Battlefield 2042 still have their predecessor’s hip-fire performance, but given I prefer to aim down sights, the PBX-45 has become my favourite of the submachine guns.

• For assault rifles, I find that the M5A3 and the SFAR-M GL are my go-to weapons, capable of excelling at most ranges. Here, as I reload the SFAR-M GL, the glint of light catches the weapon. Battlefield 2042 was originally not as visually polished or detailed as its predecessors: many places had textures that looked blocky and pixellated, and maps were quite lacking in detail. However, between DICE’s tireless efforts in making the new maps and overhauling the existing maps to have more cover and clutter, Battlefield 2042 looks significantly better than it had at launch. Some visual bugs still exist, but on the whole, Battlefield 2042 is evidently in a better place in the present.

• The tendency of a Battlefield game to improve over time is an oft-repeated story: Battlefield 2042 joins the ranks of Battlefield 4 and Battlefield V as titles that had rough launches in being a title that managed to turn things around. While the end result is a series of strong comeback stories, I’ve long felt that it would make more sense for DICE to support a game for longer periods of time and not reinvent the wheel every time a new Battlefield title is released. Recent advances in game engine technology, especially the Unreal Engine, has meant there is precedence for studios to use a stable, reliable engine. The presence of the Unreal Engine has been a game-changer: my graduate thesis was developed in Unreal 4, and Unreal 5 is so sophisticated that independent developers have been able to make jaw-dropping games. In fact, Unreal 5 is sufficiently powerful so that 343 Industries has decided to drop their plan for additional Halo Infinite campaign elements and transition over to a new Halo game done in the Unreal 5 engine.

• As a result of using the solo mode to unlock weapon attachments, I was able to push the AC9 to the point where I even had the high-visibility laser sight unlocked. Unlike the other submachine guns, whose high-visibility lasers are green, the AC9’s high-visibility laser is blue. The new laser sights add a bit of bonus recoil control on top of improved hip-fire accuracy, and although some speculation suggested the inclusion of night maps, insofar, these additions have not been made to the game. The low volume of content is currently the largest issue on the minds of Battlefield fans, and while the game has made strides, there haven’t been enough maps or unlocks to keep dedicated players engaged.

• I still vividly recall when support for Battlefield V ended: back in June 2020, DICE released one final update to Battlefield V that added a variety of new weapons and two new maps. I remember playing through these maps on a stormy day – I’d been doing well on the Provence map when all of a sudden, the power went out. Without any other plans for that afternoon, I decided to take a quick kip while said rainstorm raged on outside. That time had been quite melancholy: deep in the midst of the global health crisis, there was very little to do besides stay at home and play games, so hearing that DICE was planning to stop updating Battlefield V just when the game had hit its stride was disappointing.

• There was always the risk that DICE would do the same to Battlefield 2042, since its sales and player retention hasn’t been impressive. With this being said, between the solo modes and returning to the seasonal content, I’ve already logged a total of 133 hours in Battlefield 2042. Similarly, I put in a total of some 362 hours into Battlefield V and 404 hours into Battlefield 1. From a value standpoint, I do feel that I got my money’s worth in all of the Battlefield titles I’ve picked up at launch. If DICE were to drop support for Battlefield 2042 after the fifth season, I still feel that the experience would’ve been a fairly enjoyable one.

• Here on Flashpoint, I set my own personal best for a recorded headshot distance: while trading fire with another player, I landed a headshot from 258 metres. Although I’ve previously managed a 400 metre headshot on Hourglass, there’s no indicator that this was the case, so my current headshot here is the longest confirmed headshot I’ve scored. Sniping in Battlefield 2042 is just as engaging as it had been in previous titles, and while I wasn’t always fond of picking up a bolt-action rifle, ever since Battlefield 1, I’ve been more open to using these long-range weapons. Battlefield 2042 does have a noticeable lack of long-range weapons, but the weapons available get the job done, and of late, I’ve spent more time trying to get to know the SWS-10 better – the DXR-1 has been my preferred rifle for having less bullet drop and better damage, but the SWS-10 has better handling and a higher firing rate.

• We’re now almost halfway through March, and it is not lost on me that I’ve only written one other post beyond this brief update on Battlefield 2042. I typically plan my posts well out in advance, and almost all of my posts for this month are scheduled to be published later this month: besides the Girls und Panzer tenth anniversary posts, I’m scheduled to write about Mō Ippon! and Itsuka Ano Umi de. The combination of delays mean that the end of the month is a bit of a busier time, and as a result of the seasonal anime’s releases, I’d prefer to use the time now and prepare some posts ahead of schedule so they coincide with milestone dates surrounding Girls und Panzer.

• A year ago today, I began the process of moving house. This was a particularly busy day, but the process had gone very smoothly, and in the present, I’m now settled in. Yesterday evening, I went out for dinner with family to a Chinese restaurant that we’d not been to in almost seven years: this particular restaurant is known for its excellent food, but in the past, was stymied by extremely slow service. Since changing management, they’ve turned things around – the food is excellent now, but service is also swift. We ended up enjoying a combination of familiar dishes, as well as things I’ve never tried before, including pig lung soup and crispy taro-crusted duck. Everything was flavourful, but not excessively greasy, and the restaurant was packed. Immediately, I understood why all of the reviews for this place were so positive.

• Back in Battlefield 2042, I’ve got some screenshots of the tunnel area, and here, I scored a kill on someone while defending the capture point, which is large enough so that vehicles can fit here. The sheer number of vantage points mean that defenders do have an advantage here, as they can hide in a corner and remain hidden from attackers, but on the flipside, a vehicle and good spotters will give attackers an overwhelming advantage. While I had hoped this part of the map would be hotly contested, the warehouse at Echo, and the fuel tanks at Charlie tend to be the most fought-over points on the map; more often than not, I could capture Delta on my own without any resistance.

• Although defenders camped out here managed a few kills on me during one match, I ended up coming back in with some teammates, and we cleared them out successfully. As the days passed, it became much easier to find matches on Flashpoint, and over time, I became more familiar with how players moved around on this map. This made it a little more straightforward to complete the assignments; unlike Modern Warfare II, I’ve opted not to pick up the premium upgrade so I could unlock more rewards for moving through the Battle Pass, and I don’t believe I’m missing out on too much beyond cosmetics I’ve little interest in. This is actually why I’m presently sitting out Modern Warfare II‘s second season – there’s so much going on that buying the Battle Pass felt like a poor use of funds.

• While cosmetics in a given game don’t generally interest me, the weapons, gadgets and vehicles do, and fortunately, they’re available to all players. Beyond a new submachine gun, light machine gun, the Super-Shorty (Super 500) and assault rifle, the fourth season also provides players with a CAV-Brawler and the SPH Explosive Launcher. Having managed to unlock the SPH Explosive Launcher, I did end up having fun with it – here, I scored a very lucky double kill on two distant foes with it. The gadget fires two sticky grenades that will adhere to any surface and explode after a short delay, making it a great way to break down walls. The weapon has two more rounds in reserve, and beyond being one extra tool for destruction, the SPH Explosive Launcher can be used in another, amusing manner.

• Since the grenades adhere to any surface, one can use them to stick to enemy players, after which an explosion will occur, instantly killing them. While playing around with the SPH Explosive Launcher, I got several “from the grave” kills, where I would fire a round that was a direct hit. My foe would then gun me down, but the grenade would then detonate and score me a kill, as well. In this moment here, I managed to land a direct hit on an unsuspecting foe and scored a bonus for my trouble. The weapon has some utility, but it is ultimately a fun tool for messing around with others.

• The last moment I’ll share for this series of thoughts will be me using the C5 explosives to destroy a tank being driven by “Im_Neat-_-“, a low-level player who got a pair of lucky kills against me, but otherwise didn’t know how tanks worked. Luckily for me, squadmates nearby were still alive, and after I spawned back in, I immediately planted all of my C5 on the tank, then mashed the detonate button to score a revenge kill against Im_Neat-_-. At the time of writing, I’ve almost got the RPT-31 unlocked, and my plan is to play through Eleventh Hour until I have the RM68 unlocked. I expect that the next time I write about Battlefield 2042 will be season five come June, and I am hoping that season will be accompanied by the news of DICE continuing with support and content for the game for at least two more seasons. In the meantime, with this post in the books, it’s time to turn my attention to the other posts I’ve got lined up for the month.

Now that season four is launched, and Battlefield 2042 is finally delivering an experience that is decidedly Battlefield, the game has finally reached an excellent state. Players are returning (even if the numbers aren’t especially significant), and people remark that this is how Battlefield 2042 should have launched. Battlefield 2042 is a worthy game now, and while this should be encouraging, it also does feel as though these improvements come too little, too late. Battlefield V had suffered a similar fate, starting off on a poor footing and improved to the point where the game had become superbly enjoyable. However, right when Battlefield V had mounted a comeback, DICE cut support and rerouted all of their developer efforts into Battlefield 2042, creating the expectation that the new game would be polished and enjoyable. Now that Battlefield 2042 has reached a steady state, there is always the possibility that DICE could pull the plug and release a new game to try and entice new customers. This would be a mistake: if DICE were to focus on Battlefield 2042 instead, and continue to add new content for at least another two years, longtime fans would have more reason to put their faith in DICE’s ability to deliver. On the other hand, dropping support for Battlefield 2042 would very likely result in the next Battlefield title performing poorly at launch. At this point in time, then, I am very much hoping that DICE will continue to focus on Battlefield 2042, as opposed to releasing a new title. According to Battlefield news sources, the next season is set to include a re-imagining of an iconic Battlefield map, but beyond this, not much more is known. It will therefore be with the next season that Battlefield 2042‘s fate is decided, and while things have consistently been looking up since the seasons began running, history has shown that anything can happen. Consequently, my only objective in Battlefield 2042 at present is to enjoy the game for what it does – while the future is uncertain and the possibility of the plug being pulled is ever-present, being able to play the game while the player count remains reasonable translates to getting as complete of an experience as possible.

Battlefield 2042: Escalation and A Second Chance, Reflections on a Remarkable Comeback A Year Later

“Having a second chance makes you want to work even harder.” –Tia Mowry

A year ago, Battlefield 2042 had been counted as a debacle and failure: the game was blemished by performance issues and bugs, a significant deviation from what had made earlier Battlefield titles successful, and the noticeable absence of essential features (such as a scoreboard, server browser and player statistics view). The community’s dissatisfaction with the game was tangible, and in the year that followed, DICE had been hard at work, adding back basic functions, addressing serious bugs and retouching the game to ensure it delivered an experience consistent with what their players desire. The end result is nothing short of remarkable and in fact, is a classic Battlefield story. When Battlefield 4 launched, the game was nigh-unplayable. Hit registration rarely worked, and players found themselves crashing out of matches. A year later, Battlefield 4 was unrecognisable thanks to the effort DICE invested into the game, and in time, Battlefield 4 would be celebrated as one of the best Battlefield titles ever made owing to its ambitious design and simultaneously delivering a good quantity of quality content. The same courtesy can be extended to Battlefield 2042, which has had a rough year marked by an incremental, but consistent improvement to the game overall. The game runs very well, and I have no trouble connecting to (and staying on) matches. The weapon and movement mechanics are excellent, while essentials like scoreboards and player statistics are now present. While the absence of a server browser is noticeable, the matchmaking works sufficiently well that I can get into servers I enjoy playing on without issue. Now that the core of Battlefield 2042 is stable and functional, the biggest ask, both from myself and others, is the inclusion of new content to ensure that the game consistently feels engaging. However, the content delivery in Battlefield 2042 is significantly reduced from that of its predecessors. Whereas updates previously would offer four maps and up to eight primary weapons for players to enjoy, Battlefield 2042‘s content comes out at a comparative trickle; each season has given players only two primary weapons, a new sidearm and one map. DICE prima facie continues to drop the ball with Battlefield 2042, but now that the game is in a much better place than it had been a year ago (in fact, the studio is suggesting that today’s Battlefield 2042 is the product that they wanted to launch with), it becomes easier to understand the reasoning behind Battlefield 2042‘s approach to post-launch content.

Whereas previous Battlefield titles pitted thirty-two players against one another in sixty-four player matches, Battlefield 2042 was originally intended to push the envelope and allow 128 players to fight simultaneously on a map. The larger scale in Battlefield 2042 means that maps must be designed to handle larger players, creating both open spaces for longer-range vehicular combat, as well as choke points and interior spaces for close-quarters chaos. Looking back at the maps the game had launched with, along with existing plans to rework maps into more engaging, fairer experiences, it becomes clear that every map in Battlefield 2042 was supposed to facilitate close, medium and long-range firefights by incorporating a mixture of open areas for vehicles, long sightlines for snipers, cluttered objectives for objective-oriented players and confined indoor spaces for frenzies favouring submachine guns and shotguns. However, the original maps had been rushed out, and this created scenarios where vehicles and snipers would dominate. The post-launch maps, on the other hand, have been carefully designed so that every play-style is viable. When Zero Hour’s Exposure was released, the combination of tunnels and open areas meant in a given match, one could switch from picking off targets at range to equipping a fast-firing automatic for helping one’s team to dislodge a persistent foe from the capture points embedded inside the mountain. The cavernous interior of Stranded’s container ship is well-suited for players with speedy reflexes, but outside, a good counter-sniper might be able to help break the chokehold the enemy team holds on the container ship by picking off any snipers camped out on the deck and create an opening for teammates to push into the ship’s interior. Here in the latest map, Spearhead, the large mega-factories dominating the map require players to steel themselves for frantic firefights, but the moment one steps outside, their mindset must immediately take into account the fact that one can be picked off at anytime by someone with a Rorsch MK-4 railgun. Applying these back to the original maps, it becomes clear that every map was intended to provide areas to fit different playstyles, and so, more care needed to be put into designing the maps so that different parts of the map benefit specific styles, in turn prompting players to mix things up and use different loadouts to be successful. Designing larger maps to accommodate various play-styles is an intensive effort and demands experimentation and finesse. Unlike earlier titles, where maps were designed for certain play-styles over another (for instance, Caspian Border is all about long-range combat, whereas Ziba Tower is purely for infantry-only fighting) and could be produced more quickly, more time must be spent on tuning Battlefield 2042‘s maps so they capture a large-scale battle where one can focus on specific tasks suited to their aims, whether it be clearing out buildings or providing long-range support for teammates.

Screenshots and Commentary

• The Spearhead map is the most noticeable addition to Battlefield 2042, being set in the Lapland region of Sweden. The greenery and mountains of the map stand in stark contrast with the high-tech factory, and in fact, the map has a similar aesthetic as Battlefield V‘s Iwo Jima map. One of the biggest advantages about Battlefield 2042 is that, since the story is quite loose, the game is able to take players all over the world. I would love to see a map set in a rural town in Japan.

• Because these days, I can’t invest as much time into playing multiplayer games to the same extent that I did previously, my general strategy is to level up a given season until I have all of the weapons unlocked, and then switch my focus over to something else. However, while the last season was running, I did spend a bit of extra time running around trying to unlock the high-powered laser sights, which are unlocked by scoring hip-fire kills. The M5A3 was the first weapon I unlocked the new laser for, and it’s a blue beam that is much more visible in a bright environment.

• The mix of indoor and outdoor combat in Spearhead means that the worth of having a +-system becomes apparent. I typically have it so that by default, a weapon is kitted out so that it is performant for its intended range and purpose, and then the additional attachments can specialise a weapon for different ranges or use-cases. While the system had felt extraneous early on, it is invaluable here in Battlefield 2042 because players can rapidly adapt to different circumstances without returning to the spawn screen.

• The +-system and versatile map design complement one another; in fact, Battlefield 2042‘s design philosophy (irrespective of how successful the execution was) appears to take after some of Battlefield‘s best maps, which allow for a variety of play-styles to be successful. The best example of this is Battlefield 1‘s Nivelle Nights, which incorporated features that create a rock-paper-scissors balance between the different classes. In Nivelle Nights, players geared for close quarters were vulnerable to snipers, but snipers would themselves be weak against vehicles that could cross open areas with impunity. If vehicles were careless and roamed too close to the trenches, assault players could wreck them with dynamite or AT grenades.

• In this way, every class would have a role to play. Battlefield 2042 had originally done away with the class system, and with every specialist able to swap between a wide range of weapons and equipment, the game felt more chaotic. However, DICE is planning on constraining the specialist to classes: equipment is to become class-specific, and each class will have bonus proficiencies with certain weapon types, which make them more attractive for a given class. While these changes reduce the versatility of any individual player and bring back the emphasis on team play, the +-system would still allow one to adapt to situations.

• Having played Spearhead nearly exclusively since the third season started, I have noticed that adverse weather events have become significantly rarer, and in fact, I only encountered inclement weather once while playing on the map. While tornados and dust devils were marketted as a gimmick like Levolution and Behemoths, they end up being an irregular distraction with no meaningful contribution to gameplay. Conversely, the addition of changing weather and lighting conditions could potentially alter the way players move about the map. Things like heavy rainfall, sandstorms and blizzards would actually be a valuable addition, forcing players to change tactics.

• Using lighting and visibility would prompt the inclusion of thermal or IRNV optics, which had been present in earlier Battlefield titles and allowed players to handle adverse conditions accordingly. These attachments were balanced by the fact that under bright conditions, they rendered the sights useless, so one had to choose their loadout accordingly. Since Battlefield 2042 lets players to switch some attachments freely, the concern is that one could mitigate limitations of thermal and IRNV optics by switching them out. However, the game could balance this by disabling those optics by means of EMP and hacking, and forcing players to use the +-system to swap out (or endure a non-functional optic) would become a tactical decision.

• Of course, there is a great deal of content and possibility that could be added to Battlefield 2042 to deepen the gameplay and increase the skill ceiling. However, I’ve learnt that it’s probably better if expectations aren’t too high for Battlefield 2042 – Battlefield V had begun turning around in a big way a year after its launch, and following the Pacific Theatre update, it did feel as though Battlefield V could’ve turned into an engaging and successful title like its predecessors. Instead, support was dropped for the game six months later, and content like Normandy, Stalingrad and the Battle of Berlin never materialised.

• Battlefield 2042 is making a comeback at present, and while DICE has committed to at least two more seasons of content, the future of the game remains uncertain, since poor initial impressions have led Battlefield 2042 to underperform in terms of sales. In such a scenario, DICE’s best move is, rather than attempting to pivot and work on a new Battlefield title, continue to provide support for Battlefield 2042 by providing new content and fixes for at least two more years. This would allow the game to regain the players’ confidence and give DICE the feedback they need on what makes a Battlefield game successful.

• The new specialist, Zain, is a pleasant addition to the roster. His passive ability is immediate regeneration after every kill, and he gains access to the XM370A airburst grenade launcher. I’ve never been too successful with the XM25 in Battlefield 4, so here in Battlefield 2042, I’ve only used the XM370A only to complete one of the weekly assignments. However, the passive ability is immensely helpful and reminds me of one of the perks associated with the Hunter’s Fury gear-set in The Division 2: if one has at least three pieces equipped, every kill fully restores health and a fifth of one’s armour.

• For me, this ability makes Zain the most capable of the assault-class specialists, and looking back, it does feel as though the specialists in Battlefield 2042 are an extension of the archetypes that were proposed for Battlefield V. I had actually been excited about this, since it allowed a class to be more focused on a specific role. For instance, a field surgeon would have an affinity for revives, while the combat medic would be armed with close-range weapons and stick with teammates to rapidly heal them. This would allow players to tune a class to best fit their playstyle.

• Here, I help with the capture of the buildings at the capture point closest to the Russian deployment. For the most part, Spearhead is a symmetrical map, with the Russian’s closest capture point being inside a massive factory. The capture point closest to the American spawn, on the other hand, is out in the open. While on paper, this should create problems, in practise, the map is superbly balanced, and I’ve had no trouble performing as a member of either team. The cavernous interiors of the factories actually offer side passages, so rather than rushing in the entrances, one can rappel up to a small passage and sneak in to the main area without being seen.

• I have found people camping here before, and while I was surprised, I’ve had no trouble dealing with them. I can imagine that inside the warehouse’s walls, one might be waiting for their health to regenerate before pressing the attack; camping in here would be remarkably dull, since on the occasions I make my way into these areas, it’s usually quite quiet. Owing to the intensity of some matches, I did find it helpful to pick the SFAR-M GL and its drum magazine, allowing me to mow through opponents in chokepoints.

• The tops of the warehouses have sloped edges that make them difficult to keep one’s footing on, and the rooftops themselves have no other structures. Any snipers camping up here would be vulnerable to helicopters and jets. Altogether, this makes the rooftops a punishing place for a sniper who wishes to camp here for a whole match. However, if one’s aims are simply to score a few kills and then move on, being up here can confer an advantage. The key is knowing when to move on: after a few kills, other players will grow wise to one’s act, and a transport or attack helicopter can bring one’s killstreak to a quick close.

• The Rorsch MK-4 railgun is easily my favourite addition to Battlefield 2042: this utility weapon is an evolution of Battlefield 4‘s Rorsch MK-1 and fires projectiles at hypersonic velocities. Like its predecessor, it still needs to charge, but instead of a single, large slug, the weapon now has a twenty-round magazine firing smaller armour-piercing rounds. Although less damaging than the MK-1, the MK-4 compensates by allowing players to easily change out the capacitors, which allows the weapon to sustain automatic fire at expense to the damage each individual round does.

• In its base sniper configuration, the Rorsch MK-4 is a one-hit headshot kill, and coupled with the weapon’s ludicrous projectile velocity and relatively quick rate of fire, it is a superb makeshift sniper rifle, capable of picking off entire squads at range if one’s aim is sure. The weapon does have a charge time, so one must actively track their target, and while the default optics are less suitable for long-range engagements, one can unlock the 6x optics for the railgun, turning it into a weapon that can go toe-to-toe with the DRX-1.

• At close ranges, the Rorsch MK-4 is surprisingly effective, and initially, since I was having trouble with timing my shots, I decided to switch over to the automatic mode and use it as a close range weapon. This actually proved quite fun: while the need to charge the weapon means it’s not the best choice if one’s dealing with foes who know they’re coming, if one can catch their opponents off guard, a single magazine can allow for one to rapidly defeat two or three opponents before needing a reload. Besides a semi-automatic capacitor and automatic capacitor, the weapon also comes with a burst capacitor.

• Owing to its adaptability, the Rorsch MK-4 has rapidly become my favourite weapon in Battlefield 2042: while it’s not easy to use initially, once one becomes familiar with the weapon, it is a highly potent tool that gives one options at almost any range. One can trade with snipers and rapidly switch back over to automatic or burst fire to deal with threats at close range: the capacitor and magazines are independent attachments, so the quick-swap between different capacitors doesn’t require a reload, and this renders the weapon obscenely powerful.

• During one match, I spawned into a Bolte and used it to score a roadkill as I was driving between capture points. Vehicles go almost immediately in Battlefield 2042, and in most matches, I don’t have an opportunity to operate a tank or helicopter. However, where the chance arises, I do occasionally hop in to an active vehicle as a secondary gunner. Kills scored as a gunner still count towards progression, so this is a good way to both provide support for a driver, and pad one’s KDR in a given match. While I tend not to worry about KDR, my own KDR is slowly increasing over time, and I admit that it is a pleasant feeling to know that I am improving gradually in Battlefield 2042.

• The Rorsch MK-4 is so effective, one wonders if DICE will rebalance the weapon in a later update. The biggest benefits about the weapon in its current form is that it has a very short charge time and a large capacity. In conjunction with the absence of any projectile drop and a near-instantaneous projectile velocity, the weapon is extremely difficult to counter. One potential fix is to increase the charge time for the single fire mode: reducing the projectile velocity would go against the weapon’s function as a railgun. Beyond this, the weapon is reasonably well-balanced.

• Adding a railgun fundamentally changes the way Battlefield 2042 handles; besides being an effective tool for medium to long ranges, the Rorsch MK-4 is moderately effective against vehicles. While only dealing chip damage, the weapon can be used to interrupt repair cycles and giving teammates with dedicated anti-vehicle weapons or friendly vehicles a better chance of taking one out. Here, I will go on a brief tangent: the observant reader may have noticed that #TheJCS has not been discussed for some time, since my last showcase back in September.

• As it turns out, Jon’s Creator Showcase is being decommissioned – although it’s had a fantastic run and has allowed for various parts of the community to gain some well-deserved exposure, the combination of declining interest and the workload hosts take up has meant that the time had come to retire the initiative. I’ve certainly had fun hosting, since it’s given me a chance to see blogs of all sorts, as well as other creative pursuits amongst members of the community. However, I also can attest to how much effort these posts take to put together.

• Back in Battlefield 2042, I use the XM370A to score a lucky triple kill on three foes clustered together. While some Battlefield veterans had expressed concern that the XM370A and its airburst rounds could be abused, so far, I’ve found that most players don’t run with the gadget with any frequency. In fact, I’ve been felled by the Rorsch MK-4 with a greater frequency: although the XM370A is great for flushing targets from behind cover out, it takes a bit of skill to quickly get the weapon set up so it can be effective.

• While I had unlocked the Avancys LMG (modelled after the FN EVOLVYS) during the last season, I never had the chance to utilise it early on. This light machine gun is a fun weapon to wield, being easier to control than the PKP-BP, but slightly less accurate than the LCMG. At the onset, the Avancys was counted as being overpowered, handling more similarly to an assault rifle with a 100-round belt in place of a box magazine. By the time I got around to using it in a live match, the Avancys has been balanced by increasing its recoil slightly.

• In practise, the Avancys is a reliable weapon that feels more consistent than the PKP-BP. Throughout most of my experiences, I’ve chosen to stick with the base Battlefield 2042 era weapons: to help bolster the amount of content in the game, DICE had begun to import weapons from Battlefield: Portal over, and while these weapons bump the primary weapon count up, these weapons are also less suited for the gameplay style with Battlefield 2042‘s larger maps. They are unlocked by completing assignments, but once active, all of their attachments are already available to players for use.

• DICE’s efforts in the past year has meant that Battlefield 2042 has improved dramatically, to the point where it is a fun game to play. The main game is consistent now; between the new content and reworks to both maps and specialists, Battlefield 2042 is engaging. However, this has meant that Portal has been left behind. I had originally hoped that a few more maps would be added, along with a few more iconic weapons from Battlefield 3, Bad Company 2 and 1942. Similarly, Hazard Zone had been ditched: although it was meant to handle similarly to Modern Warfare II‘S DMZ mode, support for it was dropped after the community expressed disinterest in things.

• Dropping Hazard Zone and focusing on Battlefield 2042 appears to have paid off, and this game really feels like it’s found its footing now. Here, I use the Rorsch MK-4 to destroy a tank, scoring a double kill in the process. This railgun is capable of dealing some damage to vehicles, and thanks to a combination of a larger magazine size and relatively fast firing rate, a skilled player can utilise it to impede and trouble vehicles. Having utilised the Rorsch MK-4 to destroy several vehicles, I conclude that this weapon is significantly more effective than the NTW-50, both for general usage and against vehicles.

• Although I only have access to a 4x optic right now, I’ve managed to land headshots and kills from fair distances. During one match, I spawned on the roof of the factory at point Charlie and capitalised on the moment to pick off targets from afar. I had the spot to myself for over five minutes, and managed to score enough points to complete one of the weekly assignments (twelve kills in a round) with relative ease. However, after a teammate decided to do the same and occupied the corner slot, we came under fire since their sniper rifle’s glint gave us away. I ducked away, they were sniped, and I decided to revive them before leaving the rooftops.

• This past weekend, a double XP event has been going in conjunction with a free weekend for players. This coincides with another Friday off, giving me a bit of time to get in on the fun, and thanks to the accelerated progression rate, I was able to unlock both the throwing knives and the EMKV90-TOR, a new tank tank armed with a railgun. I’ve yet to try the new tank out in a live match, since armour always gets taken immediately, but on the other hand, the throwing knives have been remarkably entertaining. With the latest season, it is clear that DICE’s additions to Battlefield 2042 have made it a significantly more enjoyable game.

• To wrap this post off, I’ll conclude with me scoring my first kill with the throwing knives. In the frenzy of combat, I have found that the throwing knives can be used to score headshots, and while YouTube videos suggest this weapon is meant to be used for kicks, they are surprisingly effective. I managed to score a triple kill with them before dying on one occasion, and having now had a fair experience of the new content, I can say that a year since its launch, Battlefield 2042 does (against prevailing sentiment on Reddit and Twitter) deserve a second chance. We’re now into December, and this month, aside from the scheduled posts for Yama no Susume: Next Summit‘s remaining quarter, I have a few special topics posts in mind.

Similarly, because the larger maps meant players would often go from a long-range scenario into a close-quarters scenario as the dynamic in a match changed, the weapons in Battlefield 2042 were designed to be more versatile from the start. The starting assault rifle, the M5A3, can be equipped with an M11 6x optic and high-powered rounds, turning it into a makeshift marksman rifle. If one suddenly finds themselves running into a building from an open field, that same M5A3 can now be reconfigured on the fly to become an impromptu personal defense weapon that hipfires almost as well as a submachine gun. This is most apparent with the Rorsch MK-4 railgun: a successor to the MK-1 from Battlefield 4, the Rorsch MK-4 initially comes with a capacitor for semi-automatic shots that are individually damaging. In a pinch, one can equip a capacity designed to fire the weapon automatically. The weapon and map design in Battlefield 2042 both speak to versatility, and in allowing players with more options at the individual level, the game has less content overall to ensure that different combinations work well without disrupting balance, since variability with the options players have to them also need to be considered. The Rorsch MK-4 railgun is an example of this: at present, it is capable of keeping one alive at close quarters, but at long ranges, the lack of projectile drop and a high muzzle velocity, coupled with a large magazine size and relatively fast fire rate, allows it to become a high-accuracy semi-automatic weapon that can destroy entire squads at range, whereas a bolt-action rifle’s long chambering time wouldn’t allow the same. This difference is what I imagine some players are citing as being a detriment to the game: while it is true we’re getting fewer maps, vehicles and weapons in terms of numbers, the content we are getting fulfils more roles than one. Because Battlefield 2042 is now in a stable state, and with improvements being made constantly, the reasoning behind the game’s design choices become clearer: Battlefield 2042 does represent a different way to play the game, and having now seen how far the game has come, as well as where it’s headed, I am of the mind that giving Battlefield 2042 a second chance is a fair ask.

Battlefield 2042: Celebrating 1500 Posts, Becoming A Master of Arms Through Adaptive Design Choices and Regaining My Proficiency As A Marksman

“If you so choose, even the unexpected setbacks can bring new and positive possibilities. If you so choose, you can find value and fulfillment in every circumstance.” –Ralph Marston

After a solid first season of content, DICE has appeared to have righted the ship – their new map has proven to be a hit in accommodating all play-styles, and the new weapons were fun. While content has come at a glacial pace, what has arrived has been enjoyable, and DICE’s has several updates announced. With plans for returning the specialists into class-based roles based on their gadget choices, along with to rework the existing maps so they have more extensive cover, Battlefield 2042 is slowly inching back to a state that players had been expecting since the game’s launch almost a year ago. While the hour is late for DICE, since Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II is releasing in October, the improvements made to the game so far and those that are on the horizon has meant that, together with the seasonal unlocks, Battlefield 2042 has offered players with the incentive of returning again. I had not expected to put any time into Battlefield 2042‘s multiplayer proper, but over the past few months, I’ve found myself returning; although my reflexes aren’t what they used to be, and my map and weapon knowledge nowhere near what it’d be if I play with the same frequency I did a few years earlier, I am finding that I am having fun in the matches I join. The latest map to join the Battlefield 2042 rotation is Stranded. Set in the Panama Canal, this map consists of plains and hilly ground surrounding a derelict cargo ship whose cavernous interior is open for exploration. The map’s design is such that there are areas to accommodate all play styles. Inside the container ship, the narrow quarters mean that submachine guns and shotguns dominate, whereas outside, sniper rifles and marksman rifles are effective. Vehicles and zip-lines allow players to traverse the map easily, and the variety of environments mean that combat is varied and ever-changing, demanding that players be familiar with both close quarters and long range tactics in order to be successful. The variety of combat options available to players on Stranded has proven to be remarkably entertaining, and like Exposure, provided hours of enjoyment. Overall, Battlefield 2042 is gradually returning to a state where it is fun again, and with the multiplayer enticing me to return to the game, I’ve now amassed about ninety-two hours of time in the game. I had not expected to partake in PvP again, but one element in Battlefield 2042 has made this experience significantly more enjoyable – the fact that I am able to unlock attachments for weapons in the solo mode.

While Battlefield 2042 may have altered the core mechanics behind its class system, suffered from performance issues and started players with poorly-designed maps, the one aspect that Battlefield 2042 has been a front-runner in is its solo mode. In this area, Battlefield 2042 has demonstrated exemplary innovation, providing a full-scale environment for one to test new weapons and attachments. Previously, Battlefield had only given players a firing range to test recoil patterns on weapons one had already unlocked, and so, when one decided to make the switch from their preferred weapons to try something new, they would always start with the base weapon and no attachments. This left one out of their element, and at a distinct disadvantage in a firefight, especially if one were going against players who were using weapons that were customised precisely to their liking. This makes it difficult to find the motivation to use newly unlocked weapons and get a feel for them. Conversely, here in Battlefield 2042, the fact that one can play full matches against AI bots on maps means having the chance to learn how a weapon handles in a practical situation against foes that offer a reasonable idea of how said weapons might perform against live foes in PvP. Moreover, because one can actually unlock attachments for their weapons in solo mode, it is possible to kit one’s weapon out and determine what attachments best suits one’s style well before one ever sets foot in a live match. In this way, I was able to unlock enough of a given weapon’s attachments and learn about them before ever going against human players. The end result of this was that, when I did end up returning to Battlefield 2042 for Exposure and Stranded, I already had a loadout I was comfortable with using. As such, when playing against people on a live server, I never once felt as though my loadout was putting me on the backfoot, and ultimately, irrespective of whether or not I won a match, I ended up having fun exploring the map and blasting foes with the tools available to me. This has contributed greatly to my enjoyment of Battlefield 2042, and looking ahead, I am of the mind that the solo mode in Battlefield 2042 should be a feature that future titles incorporate into things.

Screenshots and Commentary

• Before going any further, I will stop to mention here that this is my 1500th post, speaking to the amount of time I’ve been writing for. If memory serves, the last time I hit a milestone would’ve been when I hit 1000 posts back in October 2018. The last time I wrote about Battlefield 2042, it would’ve been late June. Back then, Season One was getting started, and I remember having a fantastic time on the map. The biggest reason I was able to suddenly jump into a PvP environment was because by then, I’d already had all the weapons unlocked, along with a sizeable collection of attachments.

• Prior to the first season, my older machine struggled to run Battlefield 2042, so I mostly spent my time on the solo servers. While experience here is capped, and ribbons can’t be earned, every kill still contribute to a weapon’s usage. Stranded allows for medium and long range combat outdoors, but inside the derelict cargo ship, narrow corridors and chokepoints make it an excellent place for folks running close quarters weapons. At this point in time, DICE still hasn’t applied any updates towards how specialists work yet, so for the time being, it’s still possible for players to customise their loadouts completely. I typically go with Angel because of his ability to drop loadout crates, which allow me to change roles at will.

• Updates in the future are supposed to constrain gadgets to specific specialists, although at present, I’ve not heard of any plans to constrain weapon types to certain specialists. While the current situation in Battlefield 2042 doesn’t affect my ability to contribute to my team, I have noticed that running Angel means I can operate fairly independently of other players, which defeats the purpose of teamwork. Similarly, if I can switch out my weapons at will, I’m much less reliant on teammates and therefore won’t rely on them as much. This has resulted in players opting to play the game without a thought for teamwork: revives, resupplies, repairs and heals are much rarer than they’d been in earlier titles.

• Limiting certain specialists to specific gadgets and weapon types is, on paper, all that’s needed to bring Battlefield 2042‘s class system back: specialists are simply a more evolved version of the archetypes Battlefield V introduced, and since every specialist has a dedicated ability, one could make the case that with gadget and weapon constraints, specialists would actually increase team play, since players now are limited to only one gadget that lets them to fulfil a team role, and therefore must depend on other players for support.

• Battlefield 2042‘s latest updates introduces statistics to the game, and while I’m a little disappointed that the more interesting measures, like longest headshot, no longer appear, the game does give some insight into how one is doing. At the time of writing, I’ve got a 53 percent win rate and a KDR of 0.76 – I’m certainly not a skillful player by any means, as I only play for fun. In Battlefield V and Battlefield 1, I put in a little more effort towards improving because I had significantly more time to play, but I also remember how things were more stressful in the earlier titles because time-limited unlocks could only be done in live multiplayer matches.

• Conversely, here in Battlefield 2042, I’m not particularly worried about staying alive long enough to complete my assignments because, if I should miss them, there will be a chance to re-attempt things in a solo server. In this way, I’m able to focus purely on having fun whenever I come online for a match of Battlefield 2042 and not worry too much about my individual performance in a game. KDR to me matters less than helping my teammates out, and I frequently top the scoreboards because I make liberal use the tools available to me beyond my primary weapon.

• Rather than focusing on kills alone, I do my best to ensure my teammates have enough health and ammo to survive firefights, know where their foes are and bring them back into a fight when safe to do so. This approach has helped my team to victory on several occasions and allowed me to complete assignments asking players to win a certain number of matches. However, I am able to hold my own in firefights where appropriate: playing solo mode has allowed me to learn all of the weapons well enough to choose what works best for me, in addition to providing access to enough attachments to make life easier.

• Now that I’ve got a GPU capable of real-time ray-tracing, I’ve elected to max all of my settings out and turn ray-tracing on for Battlefield 2042: serious players will set everything to low and disable all of the fancy features to get as many frames as possible, but for me, playing on full settings means getting the best immersion into the game. Here, I notice the reflection of the red cargo containers on my weapon: the K30 is the Kriss Vector, and it’s the fastest firing submachine gun in Battlefield 2042. It was fun to watch the reflections change in response to where I was on the map.

• As a submachine gun, the K30 excels in mowing down opponents at close range and in exchange, is ineffective at longer ranges. Of the submachine guns in Battlefield 2042, I’m most comfortable with the K30 and MP9: they’re reliable weapons for short-range battles and maintain high accuracy when hip-fired. The deck of the cargo container is an excellent place to use submachine guns, and in live matches, this is a hotly-contested location because the deck offers unparalleled vantage points of the entire map.

• The team that controls the Charlie capture point can actually get to the ship’s upper decks and gain a considerable advantage as a sniper. I’ve enjoyed control of this position on several occasions, enough to make use of the DXR-1 to pick off foes from the control points below. This is the best long-range rifle in the game bar none at the time of writing, and I’ve unlocked the 10x optic for it, allowing me to place my shots with confidence. Since Battlefield 2042‘s bolt-action rifles all have straight-pull bolts by default, it makes it easy to see how much I need to adjust my aim by if I miss my first shot.

• Making use of the proximity sensor by chucking one into a heavily populated area will automatically spot everyone, and any teammates will also be able to see them. If teammates then score a kill against a spotted foe, one will receive experience points equivalent to getting a kill. This is a trick I picked up off Battlefield YouTubers: while I’m ambivalent about streamers, there are a handful of people I greatly respect. MrProWestie, LevelCap, JackFrags and TheRadBrad are my favourite gaming personalities, offering a balance of useful and informative content that is simultaneously humourous.

• The main thing about these YouTubers is that their videos are genuinely helpful. Whether it’s the points of feedback MrProWestie provides for Battlefield, loadout suggestions from JackFrags, general news from LevelCap, or TheRadBrad’s approach for levels I may get stuck in, watching their videos aids me in improving my game. This is what I look for in online streamers; anyone who consistently provide useful information is worth my while. I don’t watch YouTubers or streamers for their personalities alone, but rather, how well they can deliver what I came for.

• While I typically don’t watch streamers, the reason why TheRadBrad, LevelCap, MrProWestie and JackFrags are engaging enough for me to make an exception because, after watching their videos, there’s an incentive to try out something they’ve suggested, and I’ve done several things during my time in Battlefield that were directly inspired by some of their videos. My favourite two include camping at the end of Hamada with dynamite and a panzerfaust from JackFrags’ “How to have fun in Battlefield 5” video, and LevelCap’s “I BOMBED a Bomber!” (also in Battlefield V).

• The relative lack of content in Battlefield 2042 means that my favourite YouTubers have gone on to play other games like Call of Duty: Warzone, and it is in part for this reason that I’m now following developments on Modern Warfare II – while I have no intention of playing Warzone II, Modern Warfare II itself looks exceptional, and I’m quite excited to see how this one unfolds. If the launch is solid, I do see myself picking up and playing Modern Warfare II shortly after. Hardware is no longer a challenge, so whether or not I’ll pull the trigger on Modern Warfare II is going to be dictated by how engaging the campaign looks, and how stable the game is.

• Back in Battlefield 2042, the benefit of throwing a proximity sensor and collecting assists is apparent to me, giving me a chance to contribute to my team’s efforts. When I first began the Master of Arms season, I was losing every match I played. I’ve never been a deft hand in getting kills, but my enjoyment of Battlefield 2042 comes from utilising every tool in the arsenal to score points. In many matches, I end up in the top quartile of players simply by reviving, resupplying, healing and spotting for teammates, and even if my KDR is negative for that match, I’ll have a good time anyways.

• With this in mind, I do get the occasional kill here and there: here, I pick off a foe shortly after my team’s captured the second sector during a round of Breakthrough. Of the two biggest modes in Battlefield 2042, Breakthrough is one I especially enjoy because of how it clusters players together into small areas. In the chaos, it can be a great place for reviving, healing and resupplying entire squads, as well as spotting groups of enemies. On the flipside, Conquest is better for vehicle-oriented goals and sandbox moments. I enjoy both modes, as both offer a different way to play.

• When it comes to sniping, being a defender on Breakthrough offers one of the most action-packed environments for sniping. By this point in time, I’ve unlocked the 10x scope for the DXR-1, and its reticule is among the cleanest of the high-magnification optics, making it easy to keep track of one’s target even as they’re moving. While I do have a holographic sight and an 8x scope as well, I’ve found that, at least for the sniper rifles, I rarely need to utilise the + system in order to change out the attachments because they’re so specialised that I’ll stay far away from the frontlines.

• Here, I’ve unlocked the AM40: this assault rifle is based off the Avtomat Malogabaritnyj Model 17, which was unveiled by Kalashnikov Concern in 2017 and is intended to replace the AKS-74U as a close-quarters rifle. Five years since its introduction, the AM-17 has seen limited use and isn’t quite ready for widespread service yet. Battlefields 2042‘s implementation of the AM-17 places the AM40 as a cross between an assault rifle and submachine gun, giving it a high rate of fire best suited for closer-range engagements.

• Initially, the base AM40 is is stymied by its small magazine size: players begin their journey with a twenty-one round high powered magazine, which allows the weapon to reach out a little further than if standard rounds were used. To gain a feel for the weapon, I ended up playing a few rounds in solo mode and became comfortable with using the AM40 to take on a small number of foes before ducking behind cover to reload. The iron sights on the AM40 are reasonably clear, but since the K8 holographic sight is unlocked after a mere five kills, I swapped over to that immediately.

• The AM40’s presence in Battlefield 2042 is in keeping with how the other weapons handle: the + system means that most assault rifles can be tuned for longer range or shorter range combat, and while the other rifles can be changed into a makeshift marksman rifle, the AM40 can be transformed into a makeshift submachine gun in a pinch. The idea of being able to change one’s roles on such short notice actually was probably meant to mirror how specialists can equip any gadget of their choosing and maximise versatility. While this is a great idea for single-player games, the whole point of multiplayer is to work as a team. As such, I would argue that making gadgets and weapons class-specific, but then retaining the + system would strike a balance between flexibility and encouraging specific roles for team play.

• One unusual behaviour I noticed since Master of Arms began was the fact that attachments would sometimes “freeze” for the AM40. For instance, if I reached 120 kills and unlocked the TV 2x optic, that optic would actually be unavailable for selection and still show as locked. It would then become unlocked after I left my current game and then hit the next unlock tier, after which all of the previously locked attachments would unlock. If this is a bug, one hopes that DICE would rectify this: it’s not a game-breaker, but it is a bit of a nuisance.

• While the NTW-50 is the last weapon unlocked in Battlefield 2042, it is highly situational and only really useful in certain scenarios. Originally, the weapon had been quite effective at damaging vehicles (three shots could destroy hovercrafts and the LATV4 Recon), but DICE quickly made a patch to reduce its power. Being an anti-materiel weapon, the NTW-50 remains somewhat effective at damaging vehicle parts and can one-shot soldiers at close range, but its slow rate of fire and low muzzle velocity makes it ill-suited for most combat encounters.

• Here, I rush capture point echo, located on the eastern edge of the map near the Russian deployment, with the PKP-BP. Until the Avancys was introduced, this was the only other light machine gun available to players besides the LCMG, and I’ve found the PKP-BP to be my preferred LMG of choice when locking down control points owing to its higher firing rate and starting capacity. This weapon is powerful enough so that a single player with one can lock down a choke point on their own, and its recoil is manageable, allowing it to be useful in a range of situations.

• I still recall how the K30 was the last unlock in Battlefield 2042‘s open beta, and here, I managed to get the jump on two players who were camping on the tower south of the ship. I had enough ammunition to deal with two of the three players, but the last player caught on, and as I fumbled with the revolver, said player sent me back to the spawn screen.

• Here, I defend capture point bravo in the final few moments of a losing match: an uncivilised and unskilled player on my team, Peskoly, spent the entire match spamming the text chats with complaints about how my team wasn’t doing enough to keep him alive while he flew. I therefore found it unsurprising that Peskoly didn’t even make it onto the scoreboard, whereas I ended up in the top ten by the time the match ended (despite joining later). When the match ended, the remainder of my teammates laid the blame on Peskoly for single-handedly costing everyone the match.

• It does feel strange that Battlefield 2042‘s team chat only allows one to communicate with their team, whereas in previous titles, one could also message players on the other team. While this does make sense from a team perspective, one of my strategies in older Battlefield titles was to call out anyone who had killed me via camping as cheater, and this always would rile that player up so much they’d abandon the objective and team play to go after me. In a given match, if I could do this to two or three of their players, it actually created enough of a distraction so my team could make a comeback. I consider camping the height of dishonour, and have never felt guilty about using such a tactic to even things out.

• With the text chat now limited to my team only, such a method is no longer viable. With this being said, Battlefield 2042 has been much better in that I’ve not encountered any cheats in the PvP matches I’ve played. Having said this, I retain an enjoyment of getting back at people who get lucky kills on me through camping, and here, I land a headshot on one ItsPandaMan within seconds of respawning after they’d gotten me earlier by camping: although “hackusations” are funny to sling around, there’s no substitute for headshotting a camper.

• During the course of Master of Arms, I became much more comfortable with operating the bolt action rifles, and during my time on Stranded, I became moderately proficient with the DXR-1 to the point where I was able to score a headshots from around 330 metres away here on one Amniesa. It is a shame that Battlefield 2042 doesn’t keep track of one’s best headshot distance: while I’m not a fantastic marksman by any stretch, it is fun to see if I can score long-distance shots in a given title. In Battlefield V, my record was 356 metres, and in Battlefield 1, I managed to get a headshot from 383 metres on Sinai Desert towards the end of my time there.

• A 330 metre headshot is not close to my old records, but this does show that I’m slowly getting used to the mechanics of Battlefield 2042. To estimate headshot distance, I used the spotting marker: I roughly know where my foes were located and where I placed my shot, so making the estimate wasn’t too tricky. By this point in time, I’ve become quite at home with using Battlefield 2042‘s bolt-action rifles and would hope that a few more are added to the game in the future, along with some FLIR optics so players can see through the smoke – since smoke grenades were added to the game, players have used them liberally to cover their position and make it difficult to aim, so adding a countermeasure for this would help with strategy.

• I’ll round this post off with a moment of me using the PF51, a machine-pistol modelled after the Kel-Tec P50 and is designed to use the same magazines as the FN P90. With a fifty round magazine, this weapon is the perfect secondary weapon for marksmen, as it provides an automatic option for situations where one gets into a close-quarters confrontation. At the time of writing, I’ve yet to unlock the Avancys, but three weeks into the second season, I’ve made reasonable progress and more importantly, I’m having fun in Battlefield 2042.

Battlefield 2042‘s implementation of solo modes and AI bots, as well as how the unlocks earned here carry over into the PvP modes, allow players to approach the game at their own pace. Unlocks are no longer dependent on spending a large amount of time in PvP, making this ideal for folks who don’t have a considerable amount of time to spend on keeping up-to-date with their gaming. Multiplayer games are typically designed for folks whose schedules do not include housework and other day-to-day tasks to tend to – they involve a nontrivial time commitment, making it trickier to keep up with weekly assignments and unlocks. For instance, last season, I ended up missing out on the Ghostmaker R10. However, Battlefield 2042‘s implementation of unlocks allows me to earn the crossbow by means of completing an assignment. Earning twenty-five headshots and three takedown kills is what this assignment entails. While takedown kills are rather difficult to perform, any takedowns carried out in solo mode do count towards the total. This means that I am able to earn the crossbow even though I’d missed the original window. This approach is excellent for people like myself, and while Battlefield 2042 may have noticeable shortcomings, its approach towards unlocks is exemplary. In fact, besides suggesting that future Battlefield games would benefit from such a system, I argue that Call of Duty would also find this approach viable. Call of Duty games have always excelled in providing AI bots, but here, all of the weapons are already unlocked for players to experiment with. Unlocks for use in PvP can only be earned in live matches, and this can make it tricky to rank up new weapons, especially if one is playing against skilled players. This is why feel little incentive to play Modern Warfare‘s multiplayer mode in PvP even though the AI bots have proven fun – I only have the starting weapons available to me, and the competitive atmosphere means playing against humans can be quite stressful. Conversely, if the upcoming Modern Warfare II allows players to rank up weapons families in both PvP modes and against AI bots, it would offer busier players with more flexibility in how they wish to play the game. Call of Duty presently has the upper hand over Battlefield, but Battlefield hasn’t struck out completely – while Battlefield 2042 may have its limitations, allowing progress to be shared between private matches and PvP is the one area where Activision would do well to take a leaf from DICE’s book.

Battlefield 2042: Zero Hour, My First Killtrocity On A Canadian Excursion and Considering the Future of Battlefield

“When things are a disappointment, try not to be so discouraged.” –Carol Burnett

Seven months after Battlefield 2042 launched, DICE has finally launched the first content update to their beleaguered title, which has suffered from instability and performance issues since it was released last November. The state of Battlefield 2042 was such that the game’s player-count had been in free-fall since launch, and while DICE attempted to right things with updates to improve things like hit detection, stability and consistency, skeptical players continued to leave the game for greener pastures. With over just a half-year having passed since this launch, DICE has managed to iron out most of Battlefield 2042‘s most glaring technical issues, allowing them to now focus on improving the game loop and turn their attention towards adding new content to the game. Traditionally, content has always been the appeal of a Battlefield game – new maps and weapons kept previous titles exciting and fresh, and earlier Battlefield games have always delivered consistently. New weapons allow players to explore new play-styles, while new maps challenge players to learn new routes and strategies to best take advantage of the map’s design to earn a win. Battlefield 2042, however, has done neither until now, and even with the Zero Hour update, only a single new map has been added, along with two new primary weapons, two new helicopters and one new gadget. In 2018, DICE’s Battlefield V introduced the Panzerstorm map within a few weeks of launching, and then consistently provided new content that culminated in the triumphant Pacific War update, which decisively showed that Battlefield V had everything in place to become an iconic and immersive shooter, a far cry from its initial marketing. Battlefield V‘s lifespan was shortened when DICE announced they were dropping everything for Battlefield 2042, and looking back now, one wonders why this decision was made: Battlefield V had just entered a state where it was highly enjoyable and was poised to revisit iconic World War Two theatres. In retrospect, the decision to end support for Battlefield V was foolish, especially considering that Battlefield 2042 was launched and handled with even less finesse than Battlefield V; while the constant adjustments to TTK were irritating, Battlefield V still delivered consistent gameplay and new content with regularity. Battlefield 2042 is in a very rough spot, a far sorrier state than Battlefield V had ever found itself in: late is the hour in which the Zero Hour update comes, and despite DICE’s claims that they are in a position to finally add content and improve the game per player feedback, faint rumours are suggesting that Battlefield 2042‘s fate will be similar to that of Battlefield V’s, with support ending after one year’s worth of content.

These rumours, if they are true, will prove disastrous for DICE: with the Zero Hour update, it is plain that DICE’s map design team and developers can pull through. Although lacking the same volume of content as previous Battlefield games, the new map, Exposure, is every bit as immersive and engaging as some of Battlefield’s best maps. There are wide open spaces for vehicular gameplay, narrow corridors for intense close-quarters firefights, and vertical cliff sheers that force players to be mindful of attack from above or below. Exposure’s design allows snipers to be effective against careless infantry, vehicles to traverse vast expanses and duke it out while infantry-oriented players might take refuge in the corridors and tunnels of a secret mountain base to control its interiors. The presence of escape routes, zip-lines and extensive cover give infantry players a chance to make a tangible difference without exposing themselves to long-range fire from vehicles and snipers. Similarly, inquisitive players can make use of the map’s interiors to get off a strategic flank and surprise foes from unexpected directions, forcing defenders to stay on their toes. There is, in short, something for everyone on this map – this is what Battlefield’s best maps have traditionally offered, allowing a skilled player to be effective in any play-style on the map. The successful design in Exposure is a mixed-bag; on one hand, it is a highly engaging experience that shows DICE definitely can still put together maps that players can have fun with, but on the other, it raises the question of why DICE hadn’t been designing maps like Exposure, with a creative balance of cover and open spaces to accommodate all play-styles in the manner of Battlefield’s best maps. The entire Zero Hour update carries a similar melancholy about it; everything is plainly a step in the correct direction, being a return to form for DICE, but there is so little content, so late in the game, that one must wonder if DICE’s hearts are in Battlefield 2042 at all. Despite this sense of wistfulness, however, the Zero Hour update does bring with it the most fun I’ve had in Battlefield 2042 since launch.

Screenshots and Commentary

• Until Zero Hour, my time in Battlefield 2042 was spent exclusively in the single-player modes, where I fought bots extensively to unlock weapons and gear. Because DICE had implemented a limiter to prevent players from farming for experience and trivially unlocking everything, the reduced experience greatly extended the amount of time it took to reach level sixty – this is the point where one would have all weapons, vehicles and gadgets unlocked. Similarly, to prevent players from reaching Tier I for their badges, DICE limits players to reaching Mastery 12 with weapons, vehicles and gadgets, but at Master 12, one will have all attachments and options open to them. Here, I give the NTW-50 a go: this anti-material rifle is extremely powerful but cumbersome, handling similarly to Battlefield V‘s BOYS Anti-tank rifle.

• Early on, I hopped into a Condor and managed to land the front gunner’s seat. We had come under fire from a Super Hind, and my pilot had managed to position us behind it. With the 50 mm rounds, I destroyed the Super Hind, landing me my first-ever Killtrocity in Battlefield 2042 (in fact, this was one of my earliest kills against live opponents). The transport vehicles tend to be heavily utilised owing to how large maps are, and destroying a fully-occupied vehicle can yield a ludicrous amount of points. However, I chalk this moment to beginner’s luck, more than anything.

• Ribbons are disabled in the single-player modes, presumably to prevent abuses, and here, I score enough kills to earn a combat ribbon. I’ve missed ribbons: they were absent in Battlefield V, but Battlefield 1 had an excellent system where ribbons were based purely on player actions. To see this simpler system return in Battlefield 2042 was quite welcome, as ribbons reward players for playing a certain way. Unlike earlier Battlefield games, ribbons in Battlefield 2042 are tiered: one can earn ribbons three times in a match, with each tier granting more experience points as a result.

• Upon returning back to Battlefield 2042, I found myself performing about as well as I had towards the end of my time in Battlefield V: the reason for this is because when Exposure first launched, it was a new map, so players wouldn’t have time to learn every nook and cranny in the map for camping, ducking away from a firefight or laying an ambush. Similarly, playing against AI bots meant I had a very good sense of how my weapons handled, so I was joining the game with an arsenal I had a modicum of familiarity with. Initially, I tried the AK-24, a hard-hitting assault rifle with a longer range than the starting M5A3 and found moderate success with it.

• The M5A3, on the other hand, is an excellent assault rifle meant for closer-range engagements; it has a higher rate of fire, but with the right attachments, can be made into a makeshift marksman rifle for taking on more distant foes. Having now used the weapons out against live players, I’ve found the M5A3 remains my personal go-to for its high RPM and low recoil: like Battlefield V, the gunplay in Battlefield 2042 is consistent and enjoyable. Random bullet deviation isn’t quite as strong in Battlefield 2042 as it was in Battlefield 1, so for my part, firefights are solid.

• Whereas Battlefield 1 and V gave points for dealing damage to opponents based on amount, Battlefield 2042 will yield assist points equivalent to a kill if one was involved in any way. The scoring system in Battlefield 2042 is quite generous with points, and for me, just spotting enemies can lead to piles of assists coming in. I’ve found that no matter what I’m running, the proximity sensor is an indispensable asset, allowing me to swiftly locate nearby foes on the mini-map. 3D spotting is still absent, but the plethora of spotting options and improved soldier visibility means that camouflaged players are no longer the issue they were in Battlefield V.

• One curious trend resulting from my return to Battlefield 2042 was that I found myself using the FXM-33 AA Missile (basically, the FIM-92 Stinger) with a much higher frequency than I had in any previous Battlefield game. The trick to mastering this weapon is to fake out enemy pilots by locking onto them without firing. When locked on, some pilots will immediately deploy flares to break the lock. This also renders their air vehicle immune to being locked onto again for some time. However, the reload time for flares is longer than the delay in being able to lock onto them again.

• Thus, once I’ve made an enemy pilot waste their flares, I immediately lock onto them again, and fire. This trick allows me to consistently land successful strikes on enemy helicopters, blowing them out of the sky. Previously, in Battlefield 3 and 4, I’ve had no success with the Stinger because I would always fire as soon as I got a lock – if a pilot deploys flares after a missile is fire, the missile will lose its lock on the aircraft. Battlefield 1 and V did not have any effective man-portable anti-air weapons, allowing a skilled pilot to single-handedly control a match. Even I was able to get in on the fun in Battlefield 1: the while I’m a terrible pilot, I was able to get work done with the Ilya Muromets bomber.

• Conversely, Battlefield V offered assault players the Fliegerfaust, and prior to the weapon’s being nerfed, the weapon was obscenely powerful against planes, to the point where even I was able to enjoy the satisfaction of ruining a pilot’s day. The Fliegerfaust would eventually be weakened, requiring two full salvos in order to down an enemy plane. I’ve never felt that man-portable anti-air weapons were ever over-powered – a good pilot can effectively control an entire game, so giving players effective anti-air solutions balances the game out. Battlefield 3, 4 and 2042‘s implementation of anti-air weapons are fair.

• Exposure is an aesthetically pleasing map, more so than any of the other existing Battlefield 2042 maps. The southern edge of the map is dominated by a rockfall resulting from the landslide that exposed the hidden research facility, and the northern area is dominated by a massive lake. At first glance, the trees here are of a brilliant shade of yellow, suggesting that the map is set during the autumn. However, closer inspection finds that these are evergreens, which don’t yellow unless they’re afflicted with pests, or undergo extreme temperature change – this small detail could hint at how damaging changing weather patterns have been in the Battlefield 2042 world.

• The Battlefield 2042 story has been ill-explored in the game – while the marketting materials indicated that the game would explore the effects of adverse climate events through the maps and specialist’s backgrounds, the actual product never delivered on this aspect. A campaign would’ve been more appropriate, and probably would’ve given players one more aspect of the game to take on. Here, I land a headshot from afar with the DXR-1, which has quickly become my favourite long-range option in the game, reaching out further and having better accuracy than the starting SWS-10 .

• During the course of my first entry into Battlefield 2042‘s multiplayer, I also ended up utilising the game’s LMGs. Of the weapons in Battlefield 2042, LMGs received the short end of the stick – only two are available at the time of writing, and while both have noticeably different traits, earlier Battlefield titles had a more impressive selection of these high-capacity weapons, which are best suited for covering choke points. The LCMG is the default available, and while it lacks the firing rate and capacity the PKP-BP possesses, it is slightly more accurate.

• While farming for healing, I managed to reach rank eleven for the battle-pass, giving me access to the Hannibal, a new stealth helicopter. The stealth helicopters available to both Russian and American factions are excellent anti-infantry platforms with the options for equipping anti-ground or anti-air missiles. In stealth mode, the helicopters lose their direct attack arsenals but cannot be locked onto, and instead, pilots gain access to bombs that can clear out entire capture points. These helicopters are fun to fly, and while I’ve rarely been able to get to a vehicle in live matches, one can still unlock attachments for them in single player modes.

• Battlefield 2042‘s option for single player modes against AI bots may seem extraneous, but the biggest advantage about having these modes is that it provides one with a sandbox for trying new unlocks out and ranking up weapons and vehicles. These modes do have their merits, and in fact, I’ve found that compared to the firing ranges of earlier Battlefield titles, solo modes are a fantastic sandbox environment to get familiar with new weapons and even practise flying against targets that do shoot back.

• While landing headshots from long ranges is immensely satisfying, I miss the days of when Battlefield would give a bonus for the distance such a shot was landed from. The point system in Battlefield 2042 feels less sophisticated than its predecessors did, and I have heard reports that the reason behind DICE’s inconsistent performance of late stems from the fact that many of the original developers have left, and the new developers are unable to find the same passion and bring the same drive to the table as the previous developers have.

• In conjunction with the distractions brought on by the global health crisis, DICE’s current team is not collaborating and working together with the same cohesion as previous teams had, in conjunction with possessing less experience with Battlefield all around. This corresponds to why Battlefield 2042 has not, as a product, conveyed the same look-and-feel of what players have come to expect from a Battlefield title. While inexperience and poor teamwork might account for some of what players have seen, what strikes me as odd is the fact that DICE’s current developers already have precedence from the earlier team for what makes for a successful Battlefield title.

• To be honest, I’m not sure why DICE has a tendency to rework the networking code and physics wrappers every time a new Battlefield title is made: in software development, good developers will create modular libraries that can be reused. So long as the game engine itself isn’t changed dramatically, these libraries can be utilised to form the basis of the game, and then new assets can be built around a solid set of core frameworks. This is how I approach app development: I tend to write wrappers and helper classes around dependencies. Then, I can make calls to my own classes anywhere in the app that requires that functionality.

• In this way, if any changes happen to a library, rather than having to go through my entire app and make sweeping changes, I can just update my wrapper classes, and I’m set. Similarly, if I suddenly need to write a new app that requires similar base functionality, I can just import this wrapper, and out of the gates, I’m guaranteed something that works (said wrappers would already have passed testing previously). This is an example of the adaptor pattern, and for me, it makes it significantly easier to maintain a project. Applying this to Battlefield would mean that, unless a game were to use a new version of Frostbite, developers could (and should) draw from existing networking libraries and physics tools for the basis of their games.

• This would make it far easier to create new games, since every new game would already have a solid, proven set of fundamentals. For the end-user, it would mean things like rubber-banding, latency, connectivity issues and poor hit-registration would be a non-issue. If a previous Battlefield had good networking code, then reusing these libraries means the fundamentals shouldn’t be a concern. New Battlefield games would simply require designing new maps and assets, as well as writing new code for controlling game behaviour. This method is why Infinity Ward is able to push out new Call of Duty titles year after year, changing up only the stories, maps and other assets.

• If DICE had wanted to differentiate itself from Call of Duty, assuming that they adhere to good software engineering practises, they would then simply need to continuously support Battlefield titles by providing new, refreshing content for large-scale, sandbox environments over a few years, and only release new games when they wish to change out the era or settings. Everything I’ve mentioned here sounds like common sense – other Battlefield influencers have mentioned the same thing. My statements are backed by experience in software development, so I can ascertain that Battlefield influencers do have it right when they present their criticisms of Battlefield 2042.

• As a player, rather than a developer on the team, I’m not privy to all of the inner workings at DICE. There could be other forces at work, such as  executive meddling, so I can’t presume to judge the developers for their actions. While Battlefield 2042 is a symptom of larger problems with DICE, and players end up paying the price, I will note that it’s not all doom and gloom, either – when things connect in Battlefield 2042, I find myself having fun. Here, I use the anti-air missile to shoot down yet another helicopter, landing me a triple kill and earning me one of the assignments, to get a multi-kill using explosives.

• While I’m generally having fun with Exposure and a return to the multiplayer, I will note that this fun is probably a consequence of also having a superior CPU. When I attempted running Battlefield 2042 with my 9-year-old i5 3570k, the game would push my CPU usage to 100 percent. With an i5 12600k, CPU usage hovers around 10 percent and goes up to 15 percent when things get more chaotic. I’m running a GTX 1060, and while the frame rates are pretty consistent, I am currently running things on lowest settings to get the best performance possible. While my GTX 1060 is holding out, I am looking to upgrade my GPU once the Lovelace series is available.

• Zero Hour introduces a new operator, Liz: her passive ability is being able to spot vehicles, and her custom gadget is a camera-operated missile launcher which, when fired, allows one to guide the missile to its target, ignoring any countermeasures like stealth mode or flares. While these missiles are slightly weaker, they are remarkably enjoyable to use. Liz can only carry two missiles at once, and they recharge slowly once depleted, preventing them from becoming overpowered. The concept of a TV-guided missile is not new: 2003’s 007 Nightfire featured the AT-420 Sentinel, which operated on the same principles, and during the second mission, the Sentinel is how Bond must defeat the Hind attacking them when he’s escaping Drake’s castle.

• For most of my time, I chose to run with Angel; in single-player modes, his ability to revive allies with bonus armour isn’t particularly noticeable, but with human allies, bringing players back to life with extra armour can be helpful. I ultimately found the loadout crate to be immensely versatile, allowing me to rapidly switch loadouts as the situation demands. Angel is the most versatile operator in this regard, specialising in nothing, but being capable of adapting as circumstances change. I have seen plenty of players running Sundance: her wingsuit is a remarkable asset for quickly traversing large distances quickly.

• Thanks to duking it out with AI bots, I was able to unlock everything for both my American and Russian MBTs – while one can pick different shells and secondary armaments, I find that the starting options (MPAT shells and a light co-axial machine gun) are sufficiently versatile for handling most situations. In reality, Multi-Purpose Anti-Tank shells are less effective than dedicated APFSDS rounds against armour, but Battlefield 2042 treats them as the de facto option for combating tanks. Curiously enough, the HEAT rounds (High-Explosive Anti-Tank) are marked as being better against infantry and lighter vehicles where in reality, beehive and HE rounds would respectively fulfil those roles.

• Besides getting new maps, the other aspect of Battlefield updates I would most look forward to were new weapons. Zero Hour adds two primary weapons and one gadget, which is underwhelming compared to previous Battlefield games, but on the flipside, the BSV-M Marksman Rifle introduced presents players with a novel way of playing. In its base form, it’s a suppressed marksman rifle with reasonable accuracy, making it useful for picking off foes at medium ranges. However, with the right modifications (an extended magazine), it becomes a submachine gun.

• Switching between a semi-automatic rifle and a submachine gun allows the BSV-M to excel both indoors and outdoors – if one can time their attachment switching appropriately, one can effortlessly transition between exchanging fire with enemy marksmen and helping their team push for an objective. One aspect Battlefield 2042 has really tried to accentuate, and one that the community (even the more notable influencers) miss, is the fact that the weapons are quite versatile. Adaptability seems to be a recurring theme in the weapons, and the + system allows players to mix things up with a much higher degree of flexibility than before.

• At the time of writing, I’ve made some progress in getting the assignments done: I’m only a stone’s throw away from unlocking the crossbow, which looks like a fun, if impractical weapon. However, I have no plans to reach the maximum tier; summer’s underway now, and after a rainy few weeks leading into the summer solstice, this past weekend’s seen some gorgeous weather that’s seen me spend a bit of time outdoors. Yesterday, I ended up taking a twelve kilometre walk to visit a side of town I’ve not seen since my university days, and today, I dropped by the neighbourhood bookstore. It was an immensely relaxing day, and since there’s a Starbucks adjacent to the bookstore, I found myself thinking it would be quite nice to buy an iced coffee and spend an hour there just taking in the atmosphere.

• This week, I’ve only got three workdays, having opted to extend my Canada Day long weekend by one day. In retrospect, I might’ve not taken the day had I known I would be permitted to start a major upgrade and refactoring project, but on the other hand, a day off to enjoy the summer isn’t unreasonable, considering I’ve been going full throttle since December. Back in Battlefield 2042, I managed to shoot down a helicopter using Liz’s guided missiles, earning myself another triple kill. I’ve noticed that unlike the other missions, which have adverse weather events, Exposure is consistently sunny and pleasant, allowing players to focus on the game itself.

• I’ll wrap this post up with my earning a proximity sensor badge: this gadget has been most helpful, and being able to utilise it has allowed me to contribute greatly to the matches I’ve played. I imagine that a difficult road lies ahead for DICE, and while it is plain that the DICE of today is no longer the DICE I remember from the Battlefield 3 to Battlefield 1 days, it still remains fun to hop into a game from time to time and mess around. Having said this, I will likely return to write about new developments in Battlefield 2042 as they appear: DICE has indicated they will continue making improvements to the base game’s maps, and further to this, with at least three more seasons on the horizon, I am hoping to see at least some new content in the upcoming months.

I had initially stayed off multiplayer servers since Battlefield 2042 launched because I struggled to connect to servers and load visual assets properly (on the rare occasions I could connect, my player model did not load with the gun visible, and I found that both allied and enemy players were completely invisible to me, rendering the game unplayable). Instead, I spent most of my time playing single-player AI bot matches to rapidly unlock weapon attachments and new gear. In addition, I also played Battlefield Portal extensively to relive my old memories of Battlefield 3 and Bad Company 2. Although it was immensely fun, I similarly felt a hint of melancholy: the best days of DICE had appeared behind them, and the countless hours I dumped into Noshahr Canals were little more than a mere memory. However, with Zero Hour and its seasonal progression system, I found new incentive to play Battlefield 2042‘s multiplayer. This time around, I found a game that was smoother and more consistent than I had known previously. For the first time since launch, there was motivation to enter a multiplayer server, join a squad and have fun in capturing objectives, reviving teammates and landing headshots against human opponents. Admittedly, a part of me had wanted to stay away from multiplayer servers, knowing that I’d now be going up against players half my age with double my reflexes. However, when I joined my first match, I was shocked to learn I could still hold up. Where other players may have superior response times and better aim than myself, I compensate with a veteran player’s sense of patience and awareness. I retreat behind cover and move in ways to make myself scarce, utilise every tool available to me in order to spot my foes, and never rush into a situation without ascertaining what I’m up against. In this way, to my surprise, I found myself having the same kind of fun I did in the earlier Battlefield titles, to the tune of making some progress through the seasonal content and unlocking the BSV-M Marksman Rifle, a remarkably versatile weapon that can be changed from a long-range semi-automatic rifle into a submachine gun on the fly. Despite a disappointing showing thus far, Battlefield 2042 still has its moments, and more than once, I found myself wishing that DICE would commit to this title. With the attention and focus the community deserves, Battlefield 2042 may yet redeem itself and, like Battlefield 4, become a title that is worth playing.

Invalidating the Mother of Japanese Tanks, Daigensui: Examining What Battlefield Portal Requires To Model What Happens When Ideology Meets Reality

“平時就牙刷刷, 依家出埋清都攪唔掂條𡃁仔, 抵佢死!” –九叔, 半斤八兩

With a muzzle velocity of 1575 m/s, a single 120 mm M829 APFSDS round slices through the air and slams into its mark, a Tiger I tank, from a distance of two kilometres. In a single shot, Sumeragi is unceremoniously removed from the fight as the M829’s stopping power kicks the Tiger I back like a child’s toy, flipping it onto its side. Had this APFSDS round been live, it would have torn through the Tiger I’s 120 mm frontal armour as though it were cardboard, turned the Tiger’s interior into a hell on earth as the penetrator vapourised metal and created molten shards that instantly perforated the crew. However, this is a friendly Panzerfahren match; on impact from a shell, a microprocessor in the Tiger I’s armour quickly determines that this round far exceeds anything the Tiger I can handle, and instead, Sumeragi’s Tiger I is simply rendered impotent, immobile. A white flag pops up to signify that this tank has been taken out of the fight. Six seconds later, the report of a distant Rheinmetall Rh-120 gun can be heard. Sumeragi had been leading the Panzerkiel formation in keeping with the Nishizumi Style, and the remaining eight Mädchen und Panzer Tiger Is reform their line, intent on maintaining formation as they travel through an open field until they reach their foe, a lone M1A2 Abrams designated “Icarus”. However, a second shot from Icarus punches into Leo Xiao’s Tiger I. The platoon’s commander, Tak, orders smoke to be launched as the surviving Tiger Is retreat into a forest and disperse to escape the enemy fire. Two kilometres away, Icarus’ commander calmly orders for the FLIR camera’s polarity to be changed from White-Hot to Black-Hot. The Tiger Is, hidden away behind a cloud of white smoke, suddenly become visible, as clear as day. Icarus’ gunner takes aim and fires again, disabling Hooves’ tank. With the Tiger I formation now behind cover, Icarus begins moving: while the Abrams enjoys seventy years of advancement over the Tiger I, including NGAP composite armour that gives the equivalent of an estimated protection of 900 mm Rolled Homogenous Armour equivalent (RHAe) against armour piercing rounds and 1320 mm of RHAe against HEAT rounds from the front, all it would take is one lucky shot to the Abram’s engine block to bring about a mobility kill. Sitting still is the one surefire way that a lone M1A2 could lose to six Tiger Is, but this is provided that the Abrams is daft enough to allow for this: with its Honeywell AGT1500 gas turbine engine, an M1A2 is capable of a maximum off-road speed of 40 km/h, giving it enough mobility to run rings around the slower Tiger I, which plods along at a paltry 25 km/h on a good day whilst off-roading. Minutes later, Icarus’ commander spots two of the remaining six Mädchen und Panzer Tiger Is that have exited the forest, in a not-so-subtle attempt to launch a pincer attack. The Tiger Is fire, but their 88 mm shells travel wide of their mark. Icarus responds in kind: its stabliser allows the gun to track moving targets and hit them reliably even when the Abrams is on the move, and in this way, RRW is taken out of the fight. Ascaloth’s Tiger I attempts to back up and flee, but its heavy tracks get stuck in the mud. Ascaloth too is immobilised from a single round to its front. The four Mädchen und Panzer tanks left belong to willx, Myssa Rei, Kimidori and Tak, and predictably, they’ve attempted to flank Icarus: Myssa Rei and Willx come from the rear, while Kimidori and Tak are approaching from the side. Icarus’ driver hits the gas and accelerates into a turn so the Abrams can face its foes: the four Tiger Is that are now coming in head-on. With a lurch, the Rh-120 sends its sixth M892 shell down range. Capable of penetrating an estimated 540 mm RHAe at two kilometers, this round hits Kimidori squarely on the turret, and its immobilised flag pops up: the Tiger’s armour is simply inconsequential. During the exchange of fire, a stray 88 mm round from Myssa Rei’s Tiger I glances off the Abram’s front turret, scratching the paint and marking the first time Mädchen und Panzer had hit anything during this match. Moments later, Icarus’ gunner lands yet another kill with grim accuracy. This time, platoon commander Tak is taken out; only Myssa Rei and willx remain. The gunner trains Icarus’ turret on willx’s Tiger I, pulls the trigger, and after the smoke clears, willx is downed. Seeing this, Myssa Rei orders her driver to stop, and closes her eyes while allowing the inevitable to happen: one Tiger tank is no match for an M1A2. Within the space of ten minutes, all nine Tiger Is are immobilised, and the only sign that the M1A2 had gone through combat is several superficial scratches on the turret’s front armour. The match is over; Icarus’ commander climbs out of the cupola and surveys the carnage, reflecting on how seven decades’ worth of technological advancements meant today, this was no victory – this is bullying.

Such a scenario has lingered in my mind for the past nine years, ever since Girls und Panzer had finished airing: I’d finished writing about a post on Battlefield 3‘s seventh mission, Thunder Run, and AnimeSuki’s Wild Goose had stopped by to read about my impressions of Thunder Run, one of Battlefield 3‘s most impressive missions. After I destroyed a group of T-72s and commented on how this would be the result were I to solo Mädchen und Panzer “on skill alone”, Wild Goose remarked that using an M1A2 to beat on World War Two era tanks would be cruel and unnecessary to the point where the mere suggestion would earn me a Vlad Tepes award. My original assertion had been that if given an era-appropriate tank, such as the Sherman Firefly or Centurion MBT, my patience and strategies would have allowed me to overcome Mädchen und Panzer, an AnimeSuki World of Tanks clan that had prided itself on using the Nishizumi Style. The me of nine years earlier was plainly less learned with clarity, and I had mistakenly given the impression that I wanted to solo Mädchen und Panzer with a modern MBT. However, the thought of trivially mopping floor with Mädchen und Panzer (and proving the weaknesses of the Nishizumi Style as I’d known it then) remained. Over the years, I’ve had the chance to become more familiar with simulated armoured warfare through an option superior to World of Tanks, and this is how I come to greatly enjoy how the Battlefield franchise handled armoured warfare. Nine years after completing Thunder Run for the first time, Battlefield Portal has arrived, and while both Battlefield 2042 and Battlefield Portal have seen considerable difficulties following launch, the latter has come the closest to allowing me to experience something that had, until now, only been possible as a thought experiment. Battlefield Portal allows for custom matches to be created, where different factions and eras can go against one another, and the revelation that the Wehrmacht could be made to fight the modern US Army had been intriguing. So far, Battlefield Portal allows one to effortlessly pit the two factions against one another in a match of conquest, and with a bit of tweaking to vehicle rules, tanks can be made to reflect the vast disparities in their performance, in turn allowing me to definitively answer the question of whether or not a number of Tiger Is could, in conjunction with the Nishizumi Style, defeat a single M1A2. The outcome shouldn’t surprise anyone: it’s “not a chance in hell”. Battlefield Portal plainly offers the base for satisfying a nearly-decade old question, but with the flexibility and versatility DICE had advertised, the question inevitably becomes, is it possible to re-create Panzerfahren with Battlefield Portal in order to create a more thrilling, fail and tactical experience? Unfortunately, the answer for now remains a resounding no – game modes and the logic editor remain quite limited in functionality. Similarly, the small number of factions and maps means that iconic Girls und Panzer Panzerfahren matches cannot be easily remade. However, the elements are all here for Panzerfahren modes to be created: Battlefield 3 had introduced the idea of Air Superiority, in which players would spawn into jets and fly around the map to capture points. In this mode, players could only spawn into jets, and could not bail under any circumstances. With this in mind, opening Battlefield Portal‘s mode editor to accommodate this behaviour for tanks, and generally increasing the number of tanks one could spawn onto a map at any given time would be the first steps. Subsequently, to facilitate the two Panzerfahren modes (elimination/annihilation, and VIP/Flag Tank), the rules editor would need to be extended. Elimination matches are the simpler of the two to create, requiring that one set the match up such that downed players cannot respawn in, and then, when a team has no more players, the match ends. VIP matches would require randomly assigning a single player the role of “flag tank”, and on this player’s defeat, the match ends. Cosmetics, such as a visible flag or unique tank camouflage, can be utilised to denote a flag tank. To provide win/loss logic, one would need to set things up such that score is counted only if the flag tank is killed. It becomes clear that a more versatile logic editor and larger option set would easily accommodate for Panzerfahren matches to be conducted purely from within Battlefield Portal, which in turn would highlight just how powerful Battlefield Portal and the Frostbite Engine are.

Screenshots and Commentary

• The idea behind pitting a single M1A2 against World War Two tanks came about when Wild Goose first mentioned that, when confronted with a Panzer VIII Maus, the M1A2 would be his preferred weapon of choice – in Girls und Panzer‘s penultimate episode, Black Forest brought a Maus to the fight, and its armour was so heavy that not even the Tiger I’s KwK 36 had a chance of punching through its front. Moreover, the Maus rocked a Pak 44, which could defeat any armour any World War Two era tank had (even the T28 Super Heavy tank the Americans had built). However, the Maus’ biggest shortcoming was its slow speed: thanks to its sheer bulk, it was only capable of reaching a top speed of 20 km/h. This is something Miho exploits during Girls und Panzer‘s final match, but in its first appearance, it was a terrifying foe. For the average Abrams crew, however, a Maus would be a joke at all ranges: modern ammunition can burn through 540 mm RHAe at two kilometres, and between a computer-assisted fire control system, plus gun stablisation technology, and a superior engine, an M1A2 would simply out-drive a Maus and disable it before the Maus even had time to blink.

• Furthermore, even if the Maus could hit the M1A2, the composite armour would allow the tank to survive and keep fighting. In short, the Maus stands no chance at all against the M1A2. This hypothetical match-up remains unlikely, and in reality, had the Maus been deployed, the Allies would’ve likely targetted it with artillery strikes or bombs rather than waste any tanks on it, using combined arms approaches instead of attempting to take the tank head-on. Combined arms is a doctrine in which multiple disciplines are used to strike an enemy in a way as to be complementary, such that if an enemy were to defend against one measure, they would be rendered vulnerable to another. For instance, if an enemy were to defend against attack by tanks and places an emphasis on armour, they would leave themselves open to attack from the air. Today, air support is a vital part of warfare: ground forces designate targets for air and artillery assets. Had Panzerfahren included combined arms, the entire sport would disintegrate, since all one would need to win was to send out spotter helicopters like the Kiowa, and then Hellfire missiles can be launched from a distance. In this way, an entire column of tanks could be rendered ineffectual in a matter of minutes.

• However, since Panzerfahren only allows for tanks, Wild Goose had wondered what it would be like, and I myself began wondering if a single M1A2 or modern equivalent would be able to solo Black Forest. After doing some reading, I found the answer to be a decisive yes, to no surprise. Battlefield Portal allowed me to, after a minor bit of modification to the game rules, re-create this experience. By default, all tanks are balanced against one another so that it takes three solid hits to take one another out, but this actually creates a jarring situation where it takes the M1A2 three or more shots to take a Tiger I out, whereas the Tiger, which would have no way of harming an M1A2 besides hitting it in the back, could also take an M1A2 out with three good shots.

• Once things were fully configured, I would describe the match ups as “boring”. Even assuming a fully competent foe that utilised everything in their environment and arsenal to its fullest, the disparity between a modern tank and a World War Two tank means in effect, the latter has no solutions against the former save overwhelming numbers. In Battlefield Portal, after everything is set up, every engagement with a Tiger I or Panzer IV entailed lining up the sights, pulling the trigger and watching as the tank exploded. There was absolutely no skill involved in this, and the conclusion here is simple: had I actually been given a chance to take on AnimeSuki’s Mädchen und Panzer in a “M1A2 vs Nishizumi Style” showdown, the results would have been indisputable.

• As a bit of background, Mädchen und Panzer is a World of Tanks clan for AnimeSuki’s players. Founded in late November of 2012, the group was intended to allow AnimeSuki members to live out their Girls und Panzer fantasies – clan members created a tightly knit clique and spoke of their exploits fondly at the height of their activity, swapped advice and compared their experiences to what was seen in Girls und Panzer. Although Mädchen und Panzer generally maintained a low profile, things changed when Akeiko “Daigensui” Sumeragi temporarily joined their tanks and used his premium perks to help them to a few wins here and there. These premium perks supposedly came as remuneration for Sumeragi helping Wargaming.net to research Japanese tanks. For the Record, a World of Tanks fan blog, translated an interview Sumeragi had with the Korean World of Tanks community regarding his contributions to the game’s Japanese tank line. This post painted Sumeragi as “the mother of Japanese tanks” because Sumeragi considers tanks as his “daughters”, a strange term of endearment, and here, Sumeragi alleged that he had access to original Imperial Japanese Army documents through family contacts, and was exposed to military hardware from a young age for similar reasons. While I am skeptical that Sumeragi has connections of this level, it is plausible that Sumeragi could have simply been a shade more skillful than the average person at finding information pertaining to World War Two Japanese tanks.

• This interview also gives insight into how Sumeragi reached the conclusion that he did pertaining the Nishizumi Style: when the interview had asked Sumeragi what he thought the main appeal of World War Two era tanks were. Although Sumeragi did not elaborate further, his respect for the older weapons of war appears to come from the fact that without technology to guide and manage things, everything people did boiled down to their own skill:

If we look at the tanks of [World of Tanks], they are from an era before computers started fighting wars. These tanks are what humans, men, would control and fight with. A man controling [sic] directly the large metal, a man directly aiming and firing the gun, a man directly looking for the enemy…in a way the tanks of [World of Tanks] from an era where the last romances of war still lingered. It’s similar to how [Girls und Panzer]’s Hana felt the thrill of firing the gun. The vibrations passing onto your hand, the vibrations of a live engine…it’s a feeling only people who worked with such machines can feel. That is what I think of as the appeal of a tank.

• Aiming and firing the main gun accurately came down to knowing the marks on the sights and using one’s experience to estimate distance to determine how much one should compensate for gravity. Smoke and poor sight lines forced commanders to position themselves smartly. Thus, from a certain point of view, tankers of old did have to cultivate a large number of skills in order to be effective in their roles. However, this, in no way, shows that modern tank crews are inferior to World War Two crews in any way: modern crews simply train for different modes of combat and under different conditions than crews from the Second World War.

• It should be evident that, given how wide the gap is between modern tanks and World War Two tanks, Mädchen und Panzer would not have likely accepted the match against a single M1A2, no matter how strongly members agreed with what Sumeragi had said about traditional values and the romance of fighting with older ways. The march of technology would’ve resulted in what netizens colloquially call a “roflstomp”. Whereas I have no moral qualms about reducing Sumeragi’s “daughters” into scrap metal with a single well-placed 120 mm round, I cannot imagine that I would have accepted this match, either. This wouldn’t be on ethical grounds, but simply because, if Battlefield Portal is anything to go by, it would’ve been so one-sided that there’d be no fun in things.

• In a hypothetical match with Mädchen und Panzer using Panzerfahren-sanctioned tanks (which would make things more interesting), I would likely go with a Sherman Firefly if engaging any clan member in a one-on-one: the 17-pounder would give me enough firepower to deal with heavy tanks, while the fact that the M4 is a medium tank would afford me with additional mobility, which I’d use to evade shots rather than attempt to absorb damage. Conversely, if soloing Mädchen und Panzer, the Centurion would be my pick: the 1945 Centurion also has a 17-pounder, while at the same time, possessing armour traits rivalling that of a heavy tank despite maintaining the handling traits of a medium tank, making it suited for me to appear, hit my foes and move to a better spot before retaliation can be dealt. One other factor affecting my confidence is Mädchen und Panzer’s average win rate, which is around 51.23 percent. Of its members, RRW has the best performance at 54.08 percent, while Sumeragi holds a win rate of 52.02 percent, and willx’s win rate is 51.10 percent.

• On virtue of skill alone, my odds against Mädchen und Panzer should be quite good; to put things in perspective, my win rate is 61.3 percent in Battlefield V, so I am reasonably confident that when push comes to shove, I could hold my own against Sumeragi and the remainder of Mädchen und Panzer to an extent as to set them straight. This comes about because I adapt to the situation and do what I can for my team, whether it be playing the objective or supporting teammates, rather than worry about playing in a specific way. The numbers alone indicate that contrary to talking a big game, Sumeragi could be proven wrong where skill is concerned – this is what lends itself to the post title and page quote. The latter is a line taken from Sam Hui’s 1976 comedy, The Private Eyes: when one of the minor crooks get stomped by Lee Kwok-kit, Uncle Nine remarks that the guy normally swaggers around, but gets beat by some random kid here even though he’s got a knife, and that this serves him right for being so arrogant half the time. Although Sumeragi’s poor World of Tanks performance is amusing, my dislike of Sumeragi stems from the fact that, despite being wrong more often than not, he still had a large number of people supporting him.

• Longtime readers may be familiar with my long-standing grievances surrounding this individual: Sumeragi would put on an act as the mature onee-sama, doling out advice to people and acted as the kawaii “reliable older sister” figure with those in his good graces. However, whenever Sumeragi was challenged, even in face of overwhelming evidence, he would become a foul-mouthed, vehement and unyielding individual who would defend untenable positions vociferously. Whereas some praised Sumeragi for these attitudes as being “sharp-tongued, quick-witted, and knowledgeable, and impatient with the ignorant”, my dealings with Sumeragi found an individual who was not only unknowledgeable, but outright unqualified to discuss matters ranging from what the essence of martial art is, to romantic relationships. Frustrated with Sumeragi’s refusal to respond to my counterarguments regarding topics like Girls und Panzer, I dug a little further and learnt that Sumeragi was actually someone from Vancouver, British Columbia, going by the name Kang Seung Jae.

• Kang Seung Jae had claimed to be a very intelligent, overachieving individual who graduated from both Tokyo and Yonsei Universities, worked at a Fortune 500 company his parents owned, possessed a net worth exceeding ten million dollars and was distantly related to the Japanese royal family. The reality was very different: I’ve long known that Kang was an ordinary citizen, albeit one with a history of self-aggrandisement and holding contrarian perspectives of history that would lead to his getting banned from virtually all online communities of note. It was ultimately by fabricating a new identity in Sumeragi, that Kang was able to continue propagating such perspectives – Kang found that his Sumeragi identity allowed him to accrue credibility. However, even then, as Sumeragi, Kang crossed numerous lines, eventually becoming banned from both AnimeSuki and most recently, from Sufficient Velocity. This was because Kang espoused highly revisionist claims regarding the second Sino-Japanese war, in particular, suggesting that Imperial Japan won a decisive victory over the Chinese and operated under the (incorrect) belief that Kwantung Army were a paragon of combat excellence.

• In reality, China lost their early battles and opted to retreat inland, giving up port cities in the coastal region in preparation for a war of attrition. In doing so, Imperial Japan was drawn into a protracted war they could not win, and even in areas they captured, they were frustrated by resistance efforts to the point of committing atrocities: their actions meant that the Kwantung Army stands among one of the most barbaric and ruthless armies to have ever existed. Even without American intervention, and despite the lack of capacity to mount as counterattack on the Japanese home islands, over time, the Chinese forces would have bled dry the “crack” Kwantung Army and forced a ceasefire. A Chinese victory was not possible, but it was also not possible for Imperial Japan to win out, either. Kang’s ignorance and arrogance meant he understood none of this, and the technique that he used to persuade people of his harmful beliefs were, in fact, are the precursor to the sorts of behaviours that dominate social media today, especially where politics is concerned, and is informally referred to as the nekama phenomenon (i.e. males assuming a female persona online).

• This approach has gained popularity in recent years, with many people utilising this as a means of garnering approval (especially regarding political opinions) in social media. Psychologists agree that a desire for approval and validation is precisely why the nekama phenomenon exists, and for me, learning about this actually ends up invalidating everything Sumeragi/Kang Seung Jae stood for, lending this post its title. While most of AnimeSuki’s user-base have gone inactive, a few of the remaining users did end up learning the truth – one user indicated that any apparent reverence and respect the AnimeSuki community had for Kang was strictly role-play, which is telling, being akin to a total disavowal of any association the community may have previously had with this individual: Kang himself was kicked from Mädchen und Panzer shortly after Girls und Panzer ended. While I am unlikely to see how Kang’s most ardent supporters, like willx and Leo Xiao, respond to this news, it gives me some closure that at the very least, the sorts of perspectives that Kang held were not accepted at AnimeSuki.

• The fact that Kang was ejected from Mädchen und Panzer means that the beatdown I describe here will permanently remain within the realm of the hypothetical. With this, I will not make further mention of the name Akeiko “Daigensui” Sumeragi here in the future, as I believe that I’ve now said everything that needs to be said of the matter: a quick search for some combination of “Sumeragi”, “Daigenui”, “World of Tanks” and “Girls und Panzer” finds this blog at the top of the results, with the implications that no one will be reading about, or agreeing with, whatever Sumeragi had to say. This leaves me with the reassurance that my arguments alone will be what people find. While the technology has long accommodated for Panzerfahren-style matches since the Battlefield V days, and Battlefield Portal, with a bit of elbow grease and care, could also prove to be a good Panzerfahren venue, even if I were to play on their terms, I doubt that Mädchen und Panzer’s members would switch over to Battlefield owing to the price tag and system requirements.

• In the nine years since I’ve entertained thoughts of soloing Mädchen und Panzer, both with period-appropriate hardware and something like the M1A2, Battlefield‘s system requirements have increased to the point where, if one were still running a PC from 2010 that had been geared for World of Tanks, they’d almost certainly need an all-new new system to keep up. On the topic of newer hardware, circumstances have led me to move up my plans to put a machine together, and earlier today, I ended up going in and placing the order for my parts. While my current machine is just holding together, I’ve caught wind that hardware prices could spike in the near future owing to current events: SSD prices are expected to jump 10 percent in April, and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company announced a similar increase in price owing to rising manufacturing costs. In conjunction with the fact that the conflict between Ukraine and Russia puts neon gas and palladium exports in jeopardy, building a computer could become even more challenging.

• As such, while the local retailers still have microprocessors and SSDs on discount, the time seemed prudent to expedite things and pull the trigger sooner, rather than later. I’ve been saving for a new build since this time year, and while the ongoing GPU shortage meant I was unable to pick up a current-generation video card, the remainder of my build is solid. With a new computer, I should be able to handle things like Battlefield 2042 and DOOM Eternal without worrying about the CPU approaching its TJunction under load. Conversely, no matter how powerful my hardware becomes, I adamantly refuse to set foot in World of Tanks. The reason why I never got into World of Tanks was precisely because the game was very beginner-unfriendly: there are no respawns, so if one is destroyed in battle, that’s it for the match. Moreover, destroyed tanks require a certain amount of in-game currency to repair, but if I’m being destroyed in battle often enough, I wouldn’t be accruing the funds to repair my tanks, leaving the game quite unplayable unless I were to go the Premium Account route (which is what Mädchen und Panzer ended up doing). I’ve always found that the best games out there punish players for making a bad decision and then encourage them to learn from said mistakes by giving them opportunity to try again.

• This is precisely why Battlefield has always been something that appealed to me: if I made a mistake and died, I would be allowed to respawn and try a different approach. Dying costs my team tickets and impacts my KDR, but I have as many attempts as I need to get things right, so over time, I’m able to improve my movement and strategies to help my team out. Conversely, if I were allowed to just drop money on a Premium Account and get perks that offset my lack of skill, I’d never improve in the game. My reasons for staying away from World of Tanks are, in short, about as strongly-held as Mädchen und Panzer’s refusal to play on fairer terms (i.e. within Battlefield, where there is no Premium ammunition), and for this reason, my facing off against Mädchen und Panzer remains quite unlikely even though the technology now exists to do so.

• While many will disagree, I have found that Battlefield 2042 and Battlefield Portal, despite dropping the ball in key areas, remains a superior game to World of Tanks because the game’s paid content is purely cosmetic. All of the skill-based components in Battlefield are available to players, and those who buy cosmetics are not conferred a performance advantage over others. Similarly, while playing Battlefield allows for one to unlock customisations for their weapons and vehicles, and some customisations favour certain play-styles more than others, the stock configurations that weapons and vehicles come with are quite viable. This ensures that experienced players can customise their vehicles and weapons to fit a specific play-style, but even in the beginning, the stock setup is sufficient for even a moderately skilled player to hold their own while learning how things work. Moreover, Battlefield Portal overcomes this barrier outright: all weapons, vehicles, attachments and customisations are available to players right out of the gates.

• Altogether, I’ve found that the foundation for Battlefield Portal is solid, and as such, what’s really needed is additional content. However, for the present, it is difficult to ascertain where Battlefield 2042 and Battlefield Portal will end up. This is a shame, given that Battlefield Portal had, when it was first announced, sounded like it was exactly what the series needed: it was intended to give players the ability to tailor Battlefield experiences to their liking, and the potential for this was immense. In fact, had Battlefield 2042 just released with Portal, but at least eighty percent of the maps, weapons and vehicles to each of Battlefield 3, Bad Company 2 and 1942, it would’ve proven massively successful for bringing back everything that players had come to love about the series. While I’ve been able to partially recreate the scenario in which I solo Mädchen und Panzer in a single M1A2 using Battlefield Portal, the mode creates the tantalising potential of allowing me to recreate Panzerfahren matches. I’m not confident that such a possibility will ever be realised, but as it turns out, a few more additions to the logic editor, and the addition of new content is all that it would take.

• Playing proper Panzerfahren in Battlefield Portal would be considerably more fun that curb-stomping World War Two tanks with modern hardware, and despite the doubt surrounding Battlefield 2042, it is of some consolation to me that, nine years after Girls und Panzer finished airing, we’re the closest we’ve ever been to both recreating iconic Girls und Panzer experiences and messing around with outlandish scenarios like seeing if Mädchen und Panzer could indeed live up to their claims that Sumeragi’s interpretation of the Nishizumi Style is a match for decades of technological advancement. I’ve long held that operator skill trumps hardware performance, but I accept the reality that, when two competent operators are separated by hardware differences, the superior machine will win out. I’ve been running my current desktop for nine years, and while this machine has performed very admirably during its run, its twilight is also here. This desktop saw me through graduate studies and everything else for the past nine years, so I will be sad to see it go, but at the same time, I also recognise the need for an improved desktop that will continuing assisting me over the next several years.

Assuming that the logic editor and options provide freedom of modification to this level, DICE would then need to greatly extend the factions available and vehicle customisation choices in Battlefield Portal. At minimum, the Soviet Union and United Kingdom would need to be added, along with their corresponding tanks (T-70, T-34, IS-2 and KV-2 for the Soviets, Crusaders, Matildas, Churchills and Valentine Archer for the British), and additional tanks for both German and American factions are required, as well. Bringing such as the 38(t), StuG III and Panther to the German faction, and the M3 Lee, plus the M26 Pershing and M18 Hellcat, would provide enough variety for players to kit out their tanks in an authentic manner. Since Battlefield V already had assets for Japanese armour, it would be nice to bring tanks like the Type 89, Type 97 and Type 3, into the game, too. Once the appropriate factions and their corresponding tanks are present, a deeper customisation system would need to be added for each tank. Currently, tanks offer limited modifications to their primary and secondary weapons, as well as two slots for equipment. Allowing players to switch out the Panzer IV’s KwK 37 L/24 for a KwK 40 L/48 would increase firepower and accuracy at the expense of blast radius, or adding a turret skirt would increase damage resistance at the expense of top speed, could offer meaningful ways of altering the way one’s tank handles. To provide aesthetic customisations, limited cosmetics should be available, altering one’s tank cameos, hull logos or accessories like flags. Battlefield V had actually done a fantastic job of armoured warfare, introducing limited turret traversal rates, and simulated deflections through its ricochet mechanic: if players hit an enemy tank from a shallow angle, the shell would simply bounce off armour and head in a different direction, dealing minimal damage to the first target hit. With its variety of vehicles and a relatively involved upgrade tree, plus deeper tank mechanics, armoured warfare in Battlefield V was the best it’d felt in any Battlefield game. The variety of what was seen in Battlefield V, in conjunction with an expanded version of what Battlefield Portal allows, show that it is very much possible to, with a little creativity, re-create Panzerfahren in the Frostbite Engine and do something that Bandai Namco Entertainment continues to lack the courage to do: Girls und Panzer: Dream Tank Match has been out since 2018, and to this day, only is available for PlayStation 4. DICE has the perfect opportunity to demonstrate that the Frostbite Engine can step in and fill this void by providing players the power to create their own Panzerfahren matches. At present, the fundamentals are all in place – a little bit of elbow grease and creativity could very well allow DICE to do something that Bandai Namco Entertainment refuses to, and a Panzerfahren mode in Battlefield Portal would confer one the ability to experience Girls und Panzer in a novel way. In the meantime, having spent a few matches trivially blowing Tiger Is and Panzer IVs away with the M1A2 in Battlefield Portal, the word that best describes this experience isn’t so much cruel, as it is unnecessary, from my end – as formidable as the Tiger I is, and as revered as certain interpretations of the Nishizumi Style is, there comes a point where reputation alone cannot carry a battle; one must learn to adapt and embrace change as Miho has, or risk being rendered irrelevant by the times.