Battlefield 2042, tested the open beta of the multiplayer shooter from DICE and EA
Battlefield 2042
While you are reading these lines, the Battlefield 2042 open beta will finally be playable by a huge slice of players. As if it were a sort of very long weekend, those who have pre-ordered the next chapter of the EA signed shooter will be able to start playing this provisional version immediately, while everyone else will be able to take to the battlefield starting from Friday. On any platform. And for everyone the test session will go on until Sunday morning.We have already had the opportunity to get our hands on this open beta with just over 24 hours in advance, so that we can spend an intense afternoon in the company of the new chapter of the gigantic multiplayer FPS made by the guys at DICE. A series that has been missing on the market with a new episode for 3 years now.
Before going into the details of the contents of this beta and sharing our very first impressions on the gameplay, we take this opportunity to remind you that we have Battlefield 2042 already written a lot and, in particular, we have focused both on its main game mode, the All-Out Warfare, also protagonist of the beta, as well as we have revealed all the first details on Portal, an innovative feature that will allow players to create their own ideal mode.
And now let's talk about our test of the Battlefield 2042 open beta.
What's in Battlefield 2042 open beta
Orbital, the Battlefield 2042 open beta map, features some buildings suitable for vertical combat The focus of this open beta is on to the prince mode of Battlefield 2042, to that huge battle, no holds barred, abundant in numbers and features, which has always been the key strength and peculiarity of EA's multiplayer shooter. We are obviously talking about All-Out Warfare, an English term used by DICE to identify the large-scale war that has always been synonymous with the gameplay of this shooter.In particular, in the beta we will have access exclusively to the Conquest mode , also one of the most recognizable of the series, on a single medium-sized map, Orbital: here 2 teams of players will have to face each other with the sole objective of conquering specific areas in such a way as to bring down the counter of enemy resources. The more points of interest you have, the faster the opposing counter will drop. The first team that runs out of resources loses.
The dynamics are immediate and very easy to understand and turn into matches that well exceed 20 minutes in duration with a particularly fluctuating pace of play, which alternates phases of very excited shootings in more staid sections, almost pure exploration.
This happens through a level design stratagem set up by DICE, which determines a structure of the maps capable of creating "bottlenecks" in specific parts of the level, so as to make the concentration of the opponents in these areas natural and stimulate more intense clashes. Surrounding these areas we find instead more open spaces, where battles between vehicles tend to take place and a whole series of connecting points that unite these sections and where players tend to move in very small groups often acting undisturbed, or almost, while heading towards a sector or point of interest.
This way the 128 players who clash in Conquest (64 on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One) are always well distributed. Among other things, the subdivision into sectors of the maps has now been further broken down into different objectives that must all be conquered in order for the sector to be effectively controlled by a team. Thanks to this geography of spaces, the rhythm of the clashes appears well balanced, at least in the single map that we have been able to try, and in the 2 central areas of Orbital, the only ones with a double objective, there is a constant coming and going of players and fights, in the attempt to keep the constant changes in front at bay.
The launch platform of Orbital in Battlefield 2042 Speaking of Orbital, it is one of the most recognizable maps and most shown in the various announcement trailers. Set in Kourou, in French Guiana, the level is built around a huge missile launch zone and features many open spaces and some tunnels that serve as a link to a whole series of secondary structures scattered throughout the various sectors. There are wooded areas where you can stay sheltered as you move, interspersed with roads and large paved and cemented areas ideal for getting around in jeeps and tanks. There are also a couple of particularly tall buildings, including the launch tower, where players can indulge themselves to patrol the area with sniper rifles or continuously parachute themselves to attempt assaults from behind enemy lines.
But the real peculiarity of Orbital is clearly represented by the launch of the missile, the absolute protagonist of the level. It is a random event that respects a series of very precise timings: there is a phase in which the rocket is filled with fuel and, after a certain period of time that varies from match to match, the missile is ready for launch. real. In this situation, which lasts several minutes, the giant is vulnerable to fire and, if damaged in sufficient quantity, it will explode within seconds of starting the engines creating a huge wave of smoke and fire that disintegrates a good part of the map. destroying buildings and vehicles and significantly altering the war zone in the final minutes of the game.
As if that weren't enough, the weather also creates an additional element of random variety to the round. In Orbital the splendid sunny day with which the match usually opens can turn very quickly towards bad weather with rain and lightning that make the use of aircraft particularly complex and sometimes a tornado can be generated on the stretch of sea that surrounds the borders western and eastern level. The same well shown in one of the game trailers. The huge whirlwind seems to move in a completely erratic way and, in addition to sucking in vehicles and small shelters, it can get to impact the missile destroying it immediately, independently of the current launch phase.
We can safely say that DICE and EA were very smart to choose this map in this game mode since, in fact, it presents all those that are and will be the key elements of Battlefield 2042: dimensions, Levolution, variable weather conditions, dozens of vehicles and aircraft and a huge, healthy dose of no-holds-barred shooting.
Specialists, weapons and vehicles
Falck, the Battlefield 2042 medic As for the options for players to face each other , this open beta presents the 4 specialists already announced and shown for some time: Mackay, the classic soldier, the assailant, whose main skill is a grappling hook to make the most of the verticality of the structures and co openings scattered throughout the map; Boris, the engineer who can place a sentry turret on the ground which, in addition to generating covering fire, identifies opponents by showing their silhouette on the battlefield; Casper, the recon, or the classic sniper with the addition of a reconnaissance drone very useful for "spotting" enemies while you are safely lying somewhere; Falck, the support doctor equipped with a handy 12-shot syringe gun with which to instantly heal your companions.The choice of specialists determines only the main and secondary skills that we will have at our disposal, as well as to aesthetically identify our alter ego. Among other things in the beta there is no type of clothing and skin editor available, so on this front we will have to wait to better understand how DICE will try to avoid the particularly conspicuous photocopy effect during the fights.
instead concerns the weapons and the equipment, the configurability is total and completely separate from the selection of the specialist: we will have at our disposal a main rifle, whether it is a submachine gun, a pump or a sniper weapon, a secondary gun, usually a pistol, a type of grenade and a gadget that ranges from crates of ammunition and medicines, to two different types of rocket launchers for vehicles and aircraft, a mobile cover to put on the ground and so on. As we have already told previously, Battlefield 2042 does not present any type of limitation: we can take Falck, the doctor, and equip him fully to use him as a sniper or, on the contrary, select Casper and then equip him with a submachine gun and rocket launcher so as to use it as a soldier on the front line.
The availability of vehicles within the Orbital map is extremely abundant: helicopters, jets, means of transport for air and ground troops, jeeps, quads, tanks, really in every match to reign is the embarrassment of choice and under this front the new Battlefield fits perfectly into the tradition of the series: whether on the ground or in flight, the game seems to offer numerous ways to have fun and try the assault or the breakthrough .
Our impressions
Explosions are the order of the day in Battlefield 2042 In total we managed to spend about 4 hours with the open beta, certainly too much or a little to be able to express an in-depth judgment, but we still believe it is enough to throw down a handful of first impressions of this open beta of Battlefield 2042. The game immediately dragged us into its gameplay loop, we have to admit. The shootings are intense, the time to kill always leaves a bit of leeway to try to overthrow the fight and the use of vehicles is so well integrated into the gameplay as to stimulate a continuous in-and-out of most of the available means. even just to move from one point of interest just placed under our control to the next.The battle is always really engaging and in this respect it is evident how DICE's choice to devote himself exclusively to multiplayer, in a sort of throwback, has actually paid off: if this is the appetizer we are really curious to see the whole game, the variety of maps, all the specialists and the general progression that will be available to us once we get our hands on on the final game.
However, having to list a handful of elements that didn't fully convince us, we feel obliged to start with bugs. The build we tested, although provisional and not definitive, showed its side to a huge swarm of worms of all kinds: completely crazy ragdoll, appearance and disappearance of vehicles and models, extremely unnatural animations, interpenetrations with the scenario and, to put it mildly all, even some background instability on our test PC. Just to cite an example, we never managed to have a clean and working audio as it tended to disappear or distort all the time. that just recently the developer decided to take a few more weeks to bring to market a more refined and clean version of the title, so clearly we have some hope that all this dirt will be wiped out before the final release.
Helicopters, tanks, soldiers, there is everything in the open beta of Battlefield 2042.We were not particularly convinced of the management of the Plus system, the new feature that allows you to modify on the fly, through an overlay menu that does so much Crysis or Far Cry, the setup of the weapon on your arm by modifying muzzle brakes, sights, magazines and under the barrel while in the middle of the fight. We had a few unlocked elements, but all of the ones we mounted did not seem capable of causing substantial effects on the handling and accuracy of our weapon. This fact combined with a reset of all attachments as a consequence of each respawn, led us to quickly forget about this feature. Also in this case we will have to see in the long run how this mechanic will behave.
There is still a lot to wait since Battlefield 2042 will arrive on PC, PS5, PS4, Xbox One and Series X | S on November 19th.
We had a lot of fun with the Battlefield 2042 open beta in the few hours that marked our early test session. Did everything work perfectly? Absolutely not: the build we played, on PC, was literally stuffed with bugs, numerous and of every imaginable type, to highlight how DICE did very well to postpone the release of its shooter for a few weeks. Then we feel we have some doubts about the issue of balance, especially when all those variables not controlled by the player come into play, such as weather conditions and the consequences of the rocket explosion. But it is also true that we are at the beginning and probably only once we have played the entire beta will we be able to express ourselves in more in-depth and reasoned considerations.
