Battlefield 2042: Season One - Zero Hour

4-minute read
gaming

I have been a fan of the Battlefield series of games since Battlefield Bad Company 2 – where my brothers (Team 409) and I played for hours on end. We continued on playing together through Battlefield 3 and 4. I am more a fan of modern combat, so I did not play much of Battlefield 1 or Battlefield V.

The Battlefield series is a playground for combat and gives so many opportunities to create “Battlefield Moments” where crazy moments can play out, leaving smiles on players faces.

I pre-ordered Battlefield 2042 and was sorely disappointed – much like a lot of people. The initial release seemed premature and suffered from a whole slew of issues – including issues where I could get into a game and then be stuck staring at the map and unable to join the battle. There were issues of trying to play together with a group of friends and not being able to get into the same game at the same time. The initial release also lacked basic game niceties like in-game voice and scoreboards.

I had stopped playing the game in December and checked in from time to time, but the launch maps are rather bland and they did not make for much fun playing.

While EA and Dice have been fixing things and adding features, the current state of the game is still lacking. I think Battlefield 2042 could have used another year in the oven before being shipped.

Having said that, the release of the much delayed first season titled Zero Hour has brought some life back to the game. I have played a bunch so far and it is fun – the content is a bit sparse:

  • A new map named Exposure.
  • A new specialist named Ewena Lis.
    • She has one a guide rocket launcher which is very fun to use.
  • Two new weapons:
    • Ghostmaker R10 Crossbow
    • BSV-M Marksman Rifle (basically an AS-VAL)
  • Two new vehicles (which are basically skins of one vehicle):
    • RAH-068 Huron
    • YG-99 Hannibal Gunship

I haven’t played with the new weapons or vehicles, but have been playing a lot of the new specialist and on the new map. Both are fantastic.

Exposure has a lot of verticality that is split over three levels with each level providing a different gameplay style. The middle section is the part that I like the most – it is set inside of a series of tunnels and rooms. It makes for some fun and tense close combat situations. The top level is also very fun because it has buildings and towers. The bottom most level I don’t spend much time in because it is rather open and I keep dying. There are a large assortment of ziplines to bring people quickly between levels (and even between the same level) which makes the map easily traversable without feeling like a running simulator. Exposure feels and plays like a true Battlefield map – which can’t be said about any of the launch maps.

The new specialist Lis has a rocket launcher that shoots guided rockets with a limited amount of fuel. Used correctly, this thing is a bunch of fun to play with. It is not enough to take down healthy vehicles with one or even two hits. But, Lis can “see” damaged vehicles and when the rockets are used against those, it is an impressive launcher. It’s also very satisfying to hit a sniper with rocket too.

While the content drop was minimal, it was enough to bring a shot of life back into Battlefield 2042. With the game much more stable and with this new content, I am hoping that EA and Dice can now get to work on putting out more content quicker.

Is it worth revisiting Battlefield 2042 if you were like me and had given up on the game in December or earlier this year? Yes.