Hey all, just saw that battlefield 2042 is on sale on steam (down below $15).
I bought the game when it released, tried playing it for a couple of hours, saw how problematic it was and got it refunded. it's now 2 years on, what's the state of the game?
is there a server browser yet?
unforch not
dang, Do they still have the "feature" where when a match is over it puts you into a different server rather than continuing on in the same one?
@whitepuma: I find that annoying with many games.. you get in a lobby with good people on both sides and never see em again.
@whitepuma: Yup. I tend to use the server browser which only supports limited game types. I've used the join server button and after a minute of loading I join an empty server….
There is in portal mode
The server browser exists, but the offficial DICE servers cannot be seen in the server browser. It'll only show custom servers (created via Portal mode).
If you want to play on official servers and official modes (with full XP), then you need to use their matchmaking system.
You can also start a server yourself for free and tweak the game settings and have public players join in, but note that if you change certain settings that alter the gameplay significantly you will earn even less EXP.
what's the state of the game?
It is much more stable and is much better balanced when compared with the launch (and I actually played pre-launch).
- Have they resolved the major bugs?
A lot of the major bugs have been resolved, AFAIK. For example:
The revive wall bug is fixed. (This was the bug where you could not revive someone whose body was stuck in a wall.)
I think the bug where sometimes you could not aim down sights of any weapons or gadgets after being revived sometimes has been fixed.
However, rather amusingly, the patch that introduced the latest season has re-introduced a bug where some characters on the end screen will not appear at all, or only their hair is visible, or only their primary weapon is visible.
- Have they changed any game mechanics?
- Have they added in any features?
Yep.
The biggest change since the release version is that classes is back (Assault, Engineer, Support, Recon), with each class having three or four specialists. How this plays out is that all specialists can in a class can carry three gadgets:
Spotting is also back, so if you hit Q (or whatever the spot button is on console), you will spot an enemy, just like in BF3, BF4, BF1, etc.
All Classes can equip any primary weapon (just like before Classes was introduced), but each Class now has a preferred weapon class; for example, if you run Assault and equip an assault rifle as a primary weapon, you will get three extra magazines as a bonus.
The re-introduction of the Class system also saw gadgets and a number of throwables now limited to specific Classes. For example, if you want to run the Recoilless M5 rocket launcher, you will need to run Engineer (although you cannot run it with Lis, as her Specialty gadget is a TV missile).
As mentioned before, when compared to the launch game, there are more specialists, more weapons, more gadgets, more throwable and more vehicles. There are also more attachments you can unlock with each weapon and vehicle than compared to the launch game.
- Is there still an active player base in aus?
It looks like it, but it is hard to tell.
For example, I tried to join a server that only ran Conquest 64 on Redacted (the newest map released as part of Season 6) around 7pm AEDT last night a couple of times, but I ended up joining empty servers where I would need to wait for 16 people to join before the match would start. I have cross-play turned on, so I doubt that was the issue. I instead switched to Conquest 128 and was almost instantly matched into a server with about 80 players in it.
You cannot tell the location or ping of players in a server (unless they kill you, I think), so it is hard to gauge whether the players in a server are local or not.
There is a server browser (at least on PC), but those appear to only show you the servers run by people, rather than DICE-run servers. When you Quick Match from the Menu into a match, you will be matched into a DICE-run server. In the server browser, there usually is only a small number of Australian-based servers, which may hint at the community’s interest in player-run servers.
- Is it worth the $15?
That is debatable.
I enjoy playing it, but I am not sure whether these changes are enough to keep you interested after being away from the game for two years.
My best memories of BF were the smaller maps in BFBC and BF3. BF4 was fun and played it a lot. But I feel like later BF games kinda missed the point. You get fewer "BF" moments in 2042, even though the maps are bigger and in theory more stuff is going on. The older games you more often felt like you were in a scene from a war movie.
Probably best to get BattleBit. It seems better supported and more fun. I'm waiting for a sale.
I've played some of BF2042 and it still feels like I get killed instantly on many occasions. I recommended hopping into a bot server to level up and unlock gear/attachments.
Well if you guys want to sample it, it is FREE TO PLAY FOR 3 DAYS.
Personally I'm more amazed that its almost been 2 since its release. Time flies when you get covid I guess
Less buggy and there are some new maps, new weapons, new vehicles, and new gameplay modes.
There are still local players but the player base is not as large as it was at launch.