One year after the launch of Battlefield 2042, EA has announced some great updates ahead of the release of season 3 of this battle royale shooter.
The most exciting feature is coming Battlefield 2042 classes will be back. Covering the Medic, Scout, Support, and Assault roles, each provides different weapons and abilities to help your team forge a winning strategy – but that’s not all the changes they have in store for us as the game takes the free-to-play route.
call me back
With the prospect of adding a new map in Season 3, we’ll also be getting reworks of two existing maps: Manifest and Escape. In Manifest, redundant playspace will be removed and HQ flags will be closer to the action – an update similar to what we saw on the Kaleidoscope, Renewal, and Orbital maps. The biggest change to Escape will be moving the oil rig closer to the action.
With these updates in season 3, the game will become free to play, a new specialist will be added, a brand new battle pass, event, gear and constant updates to the quality of the game. It looks like this will be a big step forward for Battlefield 2042. If you want to read about all the new features, check out the latest Battlefield 2042 patch notes.
One of the most controversial original changes in Battlefield 2042 was the removal of classes. DICE’s decision to remove gadget specificity made choosing between classes like Scout or Assault almost pointless. If you could choose any primary weapon, regardless of class, what made the class unique? I can only think of a synergy between specialized gadgets and additional gadgets that doesn’t have a huge impact.
The dice have been cast
While some thought it gave the player more autonomy, others wondered why DICE decided to remove a feature that wasn’t broken. Like most shooters, Battlefield 2042 seemed to be experiencing an identity crisis.
It was a minor mistake that many studios were desperately trying to emulate the popularity of new games like Fortnite and Apex Legendsand thus changed the nature of the game towards these blockbuster games.
DICE seemed to borrow elements from Call of Duty and Apex Legends, with one of the biggest similarities between Battlefield 2042 and Apex Legends being the skills of some specialists; looking at you, MacKay.
In trying to mix up the Battlefield 2042 formula, DICE may have forgotten why so many players loved the series. People don’t play Battlefield because it reminds them of Apex Legends; they play it because they love what makes Battlefield unique. While it’s important to grow and adapt to the current situation, it’s nice to see DICE go back to basics with classes.
Back to basics
Battlefield 2042 multiplayer didn’t have the easiest start in life. Shortly after its release, it was review bombed with over 30,000 negative reviews on Steam, making it 74% of all reviews are negative. Unfortunately, those stats haven’t improved, with a whopping 117,593 negative reviews on Steam.
The crux of the matter was that many players found Battlefield 2042 unplayable. Whether it was server crashes or traffic stutters, many felt let down by DICE and EA. However, with this new update, it looks like DICE is finally paying attention to the needs of its player base.
“We heard from you,” says DICE in the video explaining the update, “your feedback has been instrumental in how we were able to develop and improve the game.” The return of classes is likely due to an attempt to rekindle interest in Battlefield 2042 and expand the player base.
We don’t know if these changes will appease disgruntled fans a year after the game’s release, but if games like Cyberpunk 2077 can come back from the brink with great updates and user engagement, then there’s no reason to keep Battlefield 2042 counting down.