From The Glory Days Of Bad Company 2, Where Did Battlefield Fall So Hard?

From the escalating conflict of a 64-player war to some beautifully written campaigns, the Battlefield franchise is one of the most influential pieces of media to ever make landfall in the gaming industry. With that said, there’s little that goes in the way of praising the Battlefield series’ current state, considering how it’s long lost its ways and come far from its former glory.

This beckons the question: What happened to Battlefield?

Competition drives speed, and speed undermines quality, and Battlefield fell into the pit of keeping up. In order to stay relevant, EA decided to push unnecessary titles to combat other AAA games from gaining the spotlight, this decision incited broken launches, terrible balancing, and a demeriting performance overall. Today, the franchise is a joke, for all the things players hate and for all the promises DICE failed to deliver.

When Battlefield Was The Actual Bomb

I’m just going to say it, Battlefield 1 is the greatest multiplayer experience in recent memory. And that’s ignoring its campaign which might have been even better because of how well-paced and unique all the different stories were based on characters and gameplay—truly the bomb.

Battlefield 1 and Battlefield 4 were easily some of the strongest recent titles in the franchise, and this isn’t including Bad Company 2, which is widely regarded as one of the best the franchise has to offer. One thing these specific entries have in common is that they’re all older variations of the franchise; the newer ones haven’t made nearly the same impact.

The Recent Developments Of The Franchise

The last two entries into the franchise were less than stellar. Battlefield V was supposed to bring back the War Stories that made the predecessor so successful. EA decided to try their luck again with reinvigorated gameplay, new class styles, a heartfelt campaign, and that ever-so-familiar war setting. But what its initial trailer promised, much less was observed on release.

The first mishap was the trailer. The reception was godawful, and the initial reveal ended up starting a huge flame inside the community. The title was released to extremely bad user reviews, scoring a measly 3.2 on Metacritic, some of the lowest the franchise has ever seen.

It’s safe to say, the downfall started from this point onwards, and things came crashing down heavily. 

After this game was done and dusted, DICE moved onto new beginnings and exercised a complete 180 with their next game. Battlefield 2042 was the futuristic revision the franchise was always in need of. Now, Advanced Warfare fell flat on its face trying to replicate Titanfall, but what DICE was trying to do here wasn’t even replication, this was a pitiful attempt for a blatant cash grab.

This entry is most widely regarded as one of the most broken games EA has ever released. Aside from obvious server issues and a plethora of game-breaking bugs, the gameplay was dull and boring.

And I thought walking was a core feature in Death Stranding until I played this game.”

The map sizes were huge, and the objectives were tiny, which forced players to walk for 2 minutes in a barren wasteland just to get sniped the second they got close to the objective. Not even close to the war experience DICE promised. 

2042 Reasons Why This Game Failed

Battlefield 2042 had a strong commercial launch, becoming the second-highest-grossing game in the entire series. However, it should be noted that the game has already sold in large numbers and the hype surrounding the game has been virtually non-existent since its release. A few months after release, the game was discounted by 35%.

2042 was just very boring. The experience, the weapons, the layouts, and the awful walking, I had experienced this way too many times, and it wasn’t any better here. Let’s say there are no bugs, no glitches, and the game works as intended, it still falls short of earlier titles just because of how gameplay is tailored.

Take the medic role for example, I feel as if it’s less powerful with each new entry, making it harder for players to get revived and to get players to pick the role, resulting in more, painful walking.

Just to be clear, the game has been significantly improved compared to its original state and is finally in a playable state. The funny thing is that the game has reached this milestone at the end of its life cycle, as EA announced that Season 7 will be the final major update.

After Season 7 concludes, we will continue to support the game with new in-game challenges, events, modes, and of course, ongoing maintenance, but we are moving away from delivering official seasons.”

The franchise has never been in a lower spot, and in order to climb back they don’t need to bring back a war setting or use futuristic plot points, all we need is a solid 128-player map with a proper objective system, good progressions, and bring back a squad system that actually makes sense. Do all of these, and then we have a great game on our hands.