Breakthrough returns in 2042 as well and it doesn\u2019t see many changes from previous games. It puts your team on either attack or defense, but with the catch that each zone the attacking team captures can\u2019t be recaptured. That means the defending team is pushed back to the next point, becoming increasingly desperate to hold onto the last one until respawn tickets run out. Again, it\u2019s hard to execute any kind of real strategy this time around since your team is so big and there\u2019s no clear leader \u2013 but when all of the action is focused on a single target, it can still be a lot of fun to run through the middle of this war to defend or attack a zone with the utter chaos of explosions and rampaging vehicles all around you.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s hard to execute any kind of real strategy since your team is so big and there\u2019s no clear leader.<\/p>\n
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\u201c<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\nI\u2019ve actually really enjoyed my rounds of Breakthrough because of that desperate tension when trying to hold a point and keep it from falling under enemy control with no way to get it back. It adds an extra layer of motivation to fight for each point. However, in my matches so far I\u2019ve definitely noticed a problem with the balance favoring attackers. Because defenders can only spawn in the zone currently being attacked and can be easily surrounded by the attackers, I\u2019ve already seen way too many hectic spawns where my teammates and I get obliterated by a tank immediately after coming back onto the map.<\/p>\n
The All-Out Warfare modes may be returning versions of Battlefield mainstays, but Hazard Zone is a brand-new game type that currently ranks as my second favorite of Battlefield 2042\u2019s options. It\u2019s not quite a battle royale, but if you do get killed you won\u2019t be able to respawn unless a teammate is able to secure a respawn uplink to get you back.<\/p>\n
Hazard Zone is basically Dice\u2019s version of Escape from Tarkov.<\/p>\n
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\u201c<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\nEach match has 32 players (unless you\u2019re on last-gen consoles, in which case it\u2019s 24) group up in teams of four to scour the map for data points, taking out both small swarms of AI soldiers and each other as they go, before extracting from the map.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s not all about data points, though \u2013 throughout a match you can also loot Uplinks that allow you to call in Rangers (the robot dogs that are totally not inspired by Boston Dynamics own robots), a LATV4 Recon Vehicle, and Team Redeploys that allow you to bring back any dead teammates all at once. (I greatly prefer that to games where I have to revive them one at a time!) If you didn\u2019t bring these with you, Uplinks can be lifesavers and create exciting moments \u2013 if you\u2019re the last one standing on your team, a nearby Team Redeploy will be pinged on the map for you to run to and loot for a dramatic save.<\/p>\n
What\u2019s great about Hazard Zone\u2019s long-term appeal is the sense of progression: when loading into a match for the first time you can pick any Specialist (such as Falck the Healer and her healing syringe gun or Casper, the recon Specialist with his drone) but your loadout of weapons, gadgets, and tactical equipment is limited since you won\u2019t have enough credits to get anything other than the freebees. Play a few more matches, though, and maybe even successfully extract once or twice, and you\u2019ll earn enough credits to buy some sweet items for your next drop, such as any weapon of your choice that you can customize with attachments and increased data storage in your tactical slot, allowing you to carry and extract with more data points. My favorite weapon in Hazard Zone was the M5A3 assault rifle with two scope attachment options for a 1x close range option and 2x at slightly further range.<\/p>\n
The clever part about this is that the stakes keep rising higher as you go thanks to Extraction Streaks, where if you manage to extract two or more times in a row you\u2019ll unlock an extra Tactical Equipment slot for the next match. If you lose that streak, however, you revert back to only one slot, and having something to lose ratchets up the tension a couple of notches when you\u2019re wondering if you can take on that group of soldiers up ahead. Each streak is attached to the Specialist you used for the previous match as well, so if you switch from one Specialist to the other, you\u2019ll lose that extra Tactical Equipment slot for the newly selected Specialist and essentially start over. This didn\u2019t seem like a huge problem since the need to switch Specialists doesn\u2019t really come up too often in Hazard Zone, but establishing the Specialist you want to use throughout the mode early is probably best. I found that Casper and his OV-P Recon drone was pretty handy to have on your team, especially since he could scope out areas with Data points and see how many hostiles are around.<\/p>\n
The teamwork needed to survive and go from one data point to another is crucial, and since there are \u201conly\u201d 32 players in a match it felt slightly better paced and deliberate than All-Out Warfare\u2019s chaos. I found myself eager to queue in for another match of Hazard Zone even if I had been absolutely demolished at the beginning of a previous game because I wanted to rack up points to get my best loadout in the next round.<\/p>\n
The one thing that bugged me while playing these two different game types was that the time to kill has felt incredibly inconsistent.<\/p>\n
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\u201c<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\nI don\u2019t know if it was a bug or what, but no matter what weapon types and attachments I tried, it felt like I often had to continue shooting an enemy for a few bullets longer than I should\u2019ve needed to to down them. That got frustrating quickly, especially when some enemies seemed to be able to down me just about instantly while I was at full health. The TTK in the custom Portal modes I got to play felt fine since they worked off previous Battlefield games\u2019 TTK speeds, but it stood out enough elsewhere that I\u2019ll be testing it a lot more and getting other IGN editors\u2019 impressions before my final review.<\/p>\n
In All-Out Warfare, the long TTK didn\u2019t bother me too much since you respawn pretty quickly and can get back in the action, but in Hazard Zone it felt especially punishing since it\u2019s a squad-based game and you stay down until you can be revived. Unlike Apex Legends or Call of Duty: Warzone where you can potentially take on three enemies at once if your teammates are downed, it feels nearly impossible in Battlefield 2042. Being surrounded by even two enemies always felt like a death sentence.<\/p>\n
Another problem was an ongoing bug where I\u2019d occasionally run over to revive a downed teammate only to find that they\u2019d already chosen to die and spawn back in, yet their bodies remained on the ground like bait in a medic trap. Being downed seems to be buggy in general, because other times I\u2019d be waiting for a revive but my teammate wouldn\u2019t be able to get a revive icon on me, so I\u2019d just have to accept death and respawn. But on the whole, the technical issues I saw weren\u2019t too bad, especially when compared to the worrying bug bonanza we saw during the beta a few weeks back.<\/p>\n
The real treasure of Battlefield 2042 is Portal.<\/p>\n
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\u201c<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\nMore of a massive playground than a set mode, it lets all of us create our own experiences, game modes, or even just new game rules in general. It lets you tailor what kind of Battlefield you want to play, packing loads of the series\u2019 long history into one great big developer toolset.<\/p>\n
It includes three full classic Battlefield games that you can customize: the original Battlefield 1942, Battlefield Bad Company 2, and Battlefield 3. There are maps, weapons, classes, and equipment available from all these plus (naturally) 2042. There are a few preset, dev team-curated modes that you can jump into, including Battlefield 1942 Classic Conquest, Battlefield Bad Company 2 Classic Rush, and Battlefield 3 Classic Conquest. Playing Battlefield Bad Company 2\u2019s Classic Rush mode in a match with 64 players using that game\u2019s actual ruleset and maps felt so, so good, and it was a stark difference from how I felt about playing All-Out Warfare in Battlefield 2042\u2019s main game mode list. I\u2019ve only dabbled in 1942\u2019s Classic Conquest mode so far, but sniping there is fantastic. Playing these games in Portal reminded me of how fun Battlefield can be, especially with the classic modes where classes actually matter to team balance compared to 2042\u2019s new Specialists.<\/p>\n