First impressions are almost always the most important thing in every encounter— whether you’re meeting a new person, going for an interview, or playing a new game, it’s that first impression that will determine whether or not the following relationship will be smooth sailing or a pothole-filled gravel road. The latter, unfortunately, was the resulting impression I initially felt when playing the Battlefield 2042 open-beta during its early access period on Wednesday evening. Upon loading in (and for the rest of the evening) I was met with some of the worst framerate drops I’ve experienced in quite some time, while foliage and lighting effects would flicker as if part of an unseen rave, and connectivity had me checking I wasn’t on AOL dial-up again. It was hideous, and I ended up having to leave the game and recover from the ordeal with a good night’s sleep. But I’m not one for being defeated, so I decided to hop back in today to see if things had gotten better… turns out they have.I was pleasantly surprised to see that the majority of technical issues I’d experienced on Thursday had all but disappeared. This, of course, is a beta, and by the very nature of being a beta, some technical issues are to be expected. It’s worth noting now that I play on Xbox Series X, so I will be discussing the 128-player matchmaking — which could possibly be the initial reason for the technical issues. Right now, it’s early access time for the Battlefield 2042 open beta, but everyone will have a chance to join in between October 8th and October 10th.Battlefield 2042 is being shown off on the new “Orbital” map, alongside the ultimate Battlefield game mode, Conquest, and it’s safe to say that the series looks to have returned to its former glory. Everything about Battlefield 2042 plays just like the glory days of Battlefield 3 and 4 — world design, objective area design, and combat had me reminiscing about the series at its best. This time around, though, everything is turned up to eleven by fitting in 128 players, and the matches feel more chaotic because of it… which is awesome. I knew the series was back from the moment I shot a player out of a helicopter, and subsequently watched it pirouette into a ball of flame as the machine smashed into the ground. One problem that recent Battlefield releases have suffered from is having the map design too large, spreading the 64 players across a huge area and leaving most of it feeling empty. The gameplay in Battlefield 2024 feels more condensed but open — and I feel it might just be the same even when playing in the 64-player Xbox One version. One thing that has changed is the removal of classes in favour of Specialists, which focus on offering you certain abilities and buffs, while still falling under the four base roles of Recon, Support, Engineer, and Assault. Each Specialist is unique and comes with equipment that others can’t access, from Grappling Hooks and Recon Drones to movement buffs and sensor suits. These bonuses can’t be customised, but you can use any weapons and gadgets with any Specialist by customising the Packages. These packages are split between the four main roles and allow you to easily create load-outs for each style of play, without any restrictions on what you can use. If you enjoy playing as an engineer but want to use a sniper rifle with it, you can do that with the use of Packages. You can customise them and change things around even when in a match, so playing as you like can be switched around on the fly. Speaking of “on the fly” customisation… attachment switching in-match is one of the greatest implementations to hit the FPS genre, like, ever. Being a mid-ranged marksman player myself, the ability to switch from an ACOG to a Red Dot sight simply by holding LB and selecting it is an absolute dream to use. On the other hand, having to select a throwable from the D-Pad isn’t dreamy, at all; in fact, it’s a trait that we’re seeing too often. Having to select a grenade instead of pressing RB is an abomination… yeah, I said it. Combat feels as fluid and hectic as the great battles of old, except this time around kills reward you with a beautiful sound that can only be described as a symphony of death. The 128-player matches offer non-stop action sequences involving soldiers, helicopters, tanks, jeeps, and environmental hazards such as coolant spraying from building vents, everything combusting from intense gunfire, and more. It really is an awesome experience, and one I feel I may have judged too quickly upon first entering the game, but that’s not to say that some things don’t need looking at quickly.Battlefield certainly seems to be back in top form, and I can see the game launching to great success if some of the technical hiccups can be stamped out. Even now, using the gunner seat on a tank drops you into framerate purgatory and at other points, random parts of the map will flash for no good reason. Gameplaywise, many of the tooltips are too small to notice when you approach them, like ladders and zip-lines, and the menu can get itself in a muddle at times and not show you items. I’m aware that this is a beta test, and I’m sure the team will have it all sorted for the game’s release in six weeks’ time.Don’t sleep on the beta, though, because Battlefield 2042 offers the most impressive gameplay the series has seen in recent years. I’ll be looking forward to seeing the full release on November 19th.
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