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The storms in Battlefield 2042 are actually game changing, trust meNot just a gimmick
Not just a gimmick
I’m pleased to announce thatBattlefield 2042is indeed a Battlefield game. I went hands-on with theupcoming betafor a couple of hours earlier this week, and yes: there was a very big fight on a very big battlefield. At its core, Battlefield 2042 doesn’t surprise at all. But on the surface it’s a totally different story.
EA and Dice made a big deal of the game’s weather and I was like, “Yeah, it rains all the time here too, heh”, but you know what? The way these battlefields chop and change when storms roll in really do make a huge difference when you’re there with your boots on the ground.
Battlefield 2042 | Open Beta TrailerWatch on YouTube
Battlefield 2042 | Open Beta Trailer
In my hands-on I played Conquest, a mode where you’ve got to capture various zones around the map. Said map was called Orbital, home to a whopping 128 players, a space shuttle, a skyscraper, and lots of trees. Nestled in and around these trees? Facilities (for military things, I suspect).
As with all Battlefield games, there’s this initial dizziness as you plop yourself into the map. You’re a little mite with a gun; go forth and fight! But how am I to do that? Eventually, though, you sink into the rhythm of spawning on your allies, seeking out the explosions, and rattling off some bullets yourself. Once the world stops spinning, it’s a glorious experience.
And just as a quick aside, I’ve got to mention the guns. You know me, I love a gun. This game gets them right, thankfully. They are punchy and make heavy noises. The light machine gun was my go-to, mainly because it hit like a train and seemed like it could do so at all manner of ranges.
But just when you think you’ve settled into the rhythm of Battlefield 2042, the weather can suddenly change. I’m not talking a shower, I’m talking about a monstrous storm. There I was, lighting up some bogies in the balmy sunshine with the wails of my fallen enemies wafting in the breeze, when all of a sudden it’s lashing down with rain and trees are bending and the wind is deafening and I can’t really see a whole lot.
The Met Office didnotwarn me about this.
I’m not even kidding when I say that swaying trees also made a difference. During the storm, I’d rappelled up onto this building, in the hope of performing an ambush of my own. And thanks to the trees moving to and fro, I could make out enemy shapes between the gaps in the leaves and let rip. If it had been still and sunny, I doubt I would’ve been able to track their movements so easily.
Looks cool, at the very least.
I should mention that the space shuttle did take off during my hands-on. You’d have thought I’d mention that earlier, but apart from creating a huge spectacle and a large dust cloud for a bit, it didn’t really affect the battlefield as much as I’d hoped. Sadly,those tornadoes Brendy got caught upin didn’t roll in for me, either.
