DICE confused a number of folks when they went back in time, after Battlefield 4 and while both Battlefield 1 and Battlefield V were great games, people wanted more modern Battlefield and they have delivered, say hello to Battlefield 2042.

Presenting the game to myself and other invited folks were Oskar Gabrielson, the General Manager for DICE and Daniel Berlin, the Design Director for Battlefield 2042.

No single player campaign, but there is still a story

While DICE did confirm that there is no single player campaign, or even bite sized events like the more recent titles, there is still a tale to be told in the game. The world is on the brink like never before, energy is a scarce resource, but so too are food and clean water and if that was not bad enough, entire countries have collapsed. With all that, it is not surprising that there are refugees, folks without a country, or food, who have elected to do anything they can, to survive and find a new life for themselves, in this new world order. But it is not just soldiers that are now without a country, they are joined by farmers, doctors, engineers and more and together they are known by the rest of the world as the Non-Patriated, or as they call themselves, the No-Pats. With important resources like water and energy hard to come by, the two largest powers in the world, the USA and Russia have taken up arms against each other and are making use of soldiers without a country to fight for, in order to save their own countrymen’s lives. This is where the player comes in, they will be given the chance to play as one of a few specialists, each with unique skills and abilities, that will help them prove their worth, so when the fighting stops, they are left with a seat at the table.

Familiar and yet something fresh

Battlefield 2042 is taking players into a new setting, but it is keeping the true spirit of the series alive, with three modes of play, only one of which the team at DICE went into. All-Out Warfare will be where you will go for that classic Battlefield gameplay, with two modes confirmed as options within it, Conquest and Breakthrough. If those names sound familiar, that is because they are fan favourite offerings that offer some very unique gameplay options, for those willing to explore the sandboxes that they are set in. Conquest is the mode everyone will know, even if you don’t play Battlefield, here two teams compete to capture objective across the maps and the more you hold, the more chance you have of winning. But while the mode might be familiar in name, there are some changes going on with in the design department, as the team have coined the term ‘varied pacing’ that means there will be times when the battlefield will make use of everyone on it, or other times when the battles will shrink down to focus on squad v squad.

Breakthrough on the other hand is the mode that has two teams fight against each other, one defending their position, the other attempting to conquer them. If the team defending loses ground, the match changes, with everyone scaling back to the next front line, the attacking team chasing them forward. This is the mode for players that want a true war-like experience, because if you are on the attacking side, you will have to constantly push forward if you want a chance to secure victory for your team. But what if you are new to the series, or a returning vet, coming back for another fight, well the team thought of that as well. The game now allows for you to play out some games, with a bunch of AI soldiers, but this is not a training mode, to let you learn the ropes, no these are the same modes, Conquest and Breakthrough and you can opt to jump in on your own, or with a squad of friends and then let the AI fill the rest of your army and the enemies. All that sounds pretty good to me, but what about maps I hear you say, well they have some new ones to enjoy as well, and you can learn all about those here.

It has hazardous before, now there is a Hazard Zone to worry about

All-Out Warfare is just one of the game modes, the second one that we got to learn about is Hazard Zone, an all-new high stakes game type, that puts the focus on squad play, much more than in past games. This is not a rebrand of an existing mode from another game in the series, this is the first time they have done this, so no, it is not a Battle Royale mode, what exactly it is, well they wouldn’t tell us, they did promise that we would learn more about this new mode close to launch.

The third game mode being offered is unknown, as they are revealing whatever it is at EA Play this July, what we do know is that DICE LA are the ones building it and it is being hailed as a true love letter to fans of the series and something aimed at long time players of the series.

A Battlefield for every Season

Post launch support is going to be similar to what it was for Battlefield V, with content coming every few months, but now the series will pivot to the Battle Pass system, with both paid and free offerings.

Each pass will provide new content to enjoy at release, but also new content to earn in each season, giving you a reason to keep playing. Through the seasons, the narrative will also evolve, so while the missions you get day one will be interesting, they are not all that the team have to say. The first year of content will see four seasons, four additional Specialists – bringing the total to 14, along with new maps and more.

So that is Battlefield 2042, but I am sure, rather than reading about it, you will want to see it in action, well for that, you will need to tune into the Xbox+Bethesda Games Showcase on Monday June 14, because that is where it will be.

Battlefield 2042 is coming to PC, Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, Xbox One and PlayStation 4 on October 22nd, with early access happening on October 15.