Highlights

  • Battlefield's attempt at incorporating hero shooter elements in Battlefield 2042 fell flat with longtime fans.
  • The large lobby sizes in Battlefield make it difficult for a hero shooter formula to work properly, leading to confusion and chaos.
  • Battlefield should focus on returning to its roots and building on what has made the franchise successful in the past rather than trying to reinvent the multiplayer formula.

Battlefield, the long-running first-person shooter franchise from EA, has been one of the more prominent first-person shooter series in the genre, and the heart-stopping multiplayer matches within the game have kept the franchise alive and kicking through the years. As a major competitor to the Call of Duty games, Battlefield attracts many players with its exciting online matches, but one popular form of multiplayer would fail to be a good fit for the franchise.

The landscape of online multiplayer is always evolving, and one of the most popular forms of online multiplayer in recent years has been found in hero shooters. This specific form of multiplayer has been popular for a while, but the release of heavy hitters Overwatch and Apex Legends has made the genre skyrocket in popularity in the past few years. Although the Battlefield franchise's planned future is a mystery, the series needs to avoid steering the game toward a hero shooter play style.

Battlefield Should Stick to What It Does Best

Although there are no current plans known about whether Battlefield will dive deeper into hero shooter territory or not, Battlefield 2042 dabbled in this enough to make it clear the franchise should stay away from the sub-genre. The introduction of Specialists in Battlefield 2042 was the franchise's attempt at emulating the hero shooter formula, but it ultimately fell flat with many of Battlefield's longtime fans.

Hero Shooters Don't Work With Games of Battlefield's Size

When it comes down to it, matches in Battlefield are simply too big for a hero shooter formula to work properly. The lobby sizes of Battlefield games are too large for the mechanics of a hero shooter to feel natural, and this was definitely felt by many players when it came to Battlefield 2042's Specialists. The reason heroes in Overwatch work so well within the game is due to the small match sizes, but this method just muddies the experience in a Battlefield-sized lobby, making everything feel messy and confusing.

In Overwatch, a match is a small 5v5 battle, and this allows players to clearly identify their teammates and be aware of which player is an opponent. Having a match full of Specialists that all look similar in Battlefield 2042 made the game's matches incredibly confusing for many players who were in much larger lobbies. Also, when a match consists of only five players per team, like in Overwatch, it's much easier to balance out one's squad, so every player has a defined role within the match. In Battlefield, this just creates chaos. Battlefield is at its best when it focuses on what made the franchise so great in the first place.

Battlefield Doesn't Have to Reinvent the Wheel

Battlefield has consistently been a popular first-person shooter since its genesis in 2002, and sometimes it's just best to stick to what has proven to work in the past. Growth is great, but that evolution can be done with the game's settings and timelines changing instead of the multiplayer formula. There are rumors of Battlefield returning to its roots, and that is ultimately the best decision for the series. Future games in the series could possibly add a 5v5 mode to try and capitalize on the hero shooter hype, but that wouldn't feel like Battlefield at the end of the day.

Although Battlefield 2042's attempts at adding Specialists to the game were arguably a miss, all hope isn't lost for the franchise and its future. The next Battlefield is caught between a rock and a hard place, but if the franchise chooses to return to its fundamental basics and build around the features that made it so great to begin with, the long-running series could be able to bounce back.