Battlefield

Battlefield has, as a series, devolved into mindless running and gunning since Bad Company. Yet, somehow, I still look forward to the next Battlefield game.

After reading this article on PCGamer, I felt the need to voice my opinion in the comments section. The comment got longer, and so I now have a post to blog. [Or is it a blog to post? Hm.]

We forgave Bad Company for doing this because it wasn't a "Battlefield" sequel title. BF3 came around and continued what made BC1/2 popular on consoles: brain-dead murder, not unlike the popular Call of Duty games at the time. That's the beginning of the downward spiral of the Battlefield series for me, where ignoring blue triangles and running towards red ones, and that +100 became all that people cared about.

No more was battlefield about communication and teamwork - squad leaders got underwhelming powers after a handful of titles - where until BF5 (I still refuse to replace the BFV moniker with this inferior garbage) they had nothing special whatsoever, not even a unique spawn point in the default mode, and could even be overruled by a squadmate asking for orders in BF4 - the commander got removed, then reprised as a tablet-friendly affair before dying completely, and textchat on PC got tacked on as an afterthought.

Gone are the days of squad waypointing and map objectives, and even great map design where a greedy veteran player would do all he could to capture that one flag across the map which spawned him his favourite vehicle (this may or may not be me, wanting my J10 or Viper).

Don't even get me started on the built-in highlight hacks that BF4 had in the form of thermal sights, well before any night maps were planned, let alone announced. I always wonder how well the game would play with stationary floodlights being a necessity to be manned in order to properly defend a point. But again, strategic gameplay is nonexistent in 2019 for anyone but the best of us playing a battle royale.

I have high hopes for the next return to the modern-era in the Battlefield series. Not because the last title or two have been good (by gods, they were possibly my most hated), but because I see a change in EA; they seem to be listening to the FPS community, and although they largely leave us disappointed, they still seem to be trying to do something about their plight; having been labelled as the most hateful gaming company this decade. I look forward to no more paid DLC, no lootboxes, no bullshit. Alas, it will probably be the first Battlefield title I am not going to preorder. I'm still allowed to have high hopes, though.