Battlefield: Listen To The Past

There are a ton of video games out there that are some sort of a military shooter. You’ve got games like Call of Duty, Medal of Honor, Battlefield, Arma, Insurgency, Sniper Elite, the list goes on. A ton of these games, if not most, still follow with what made them great in the first place. Some games continue on, some die off. There seems to be a franchise in general though that is always in flux, and that’s Battlefield. There is a massive and long-time fanbase for the series, and there is a good reason for that. Unfortunately, most of that fan base does not play the game anymore. Battlefield really has ridden a roller coaster throughout its years. Hopefully, soon it will be back on track to what it should be.

Battlefield 3 Aftermath Wallpaper

Battlefield vies for realism in its combat, putting most others to shame in regards to how combat ends up being played out. The ability to actually level buildings, create craters in the ground from explosives, bombard the enemy position by bombing from an airplane, the list goes on for what Battlefield excels in. What’s truly remarkable is that DICE was on a great path to having Battlefield truly standout among its competitors.

When Battlefield: Hardline was created though, it was a telling sign that the game was going to head in a different direction. The episodic story was a nice change of pace but ultimately fell a little flat. The story felt like I was watching some sort of detective show, which is great! To a certain extent.. but the multiplayer was great, it focused on the “Cops and Robbers” type of mentality and stepping away from the familiar “Military shooter” style. Growing up with a police officer as a father, and having many generations in the police and military, Hardline really piqued my interest. Always remembered playing Cops and Robbers as a kid, and Hardline was good at replicating that.

Battlefield: Hardline didn’t really bring anything entirely too new to the game, and felt like it was just a transition to the direction they wanted to go in. This was also the last Battlefield title that Visceral games worked on (creators of Dead Space). It was great to race around in cars racking up points, storming an expensive beach house, or just simply vying for control in Conquest. Battlefield has always provided an enjoyable multiplayer experience to its players, but why were so many turned away from the franchise?

Personally, it was fairly exciting to see DICE and EA turn Battlefield towards an older military style. The next two releases after Hardline focused on WWI and WWI, Battlefield 1 being WWI, and Battlefield V being WWII. This is where DICE seemed to falter a bit on their focus for the game. They completely turned away from the regular singleplayer experience and replaced it with ‘War Stories”. A small variety of short stories focused on multiple characters and different situations during the world wars. Most of them, unfortunately, felt like mini-multiplayer maps and modes. Assault three camps, escape, repeat next mission.

Thankfully Battlefield has always had a good multiplayer to offset a potentially not so great singleplayer experience. That’s never really been an issue though until recently because both modes have done so well together. The future of Battlefield needs to learn from both the past and present if it wants to continue to live on. There is just too large of a fanbase to ignore, and a relook at the game is definitely needed. Here are some of the better aspects from both past titles and current titles that DICE should look at and take into consideration. Improving on what worked is crucial.

Heavy Story-Driven Campaign: There are multiples titles in the franchise that excel in having a truly fun singleplayer experience. Bad Company, Bad Company 2, Battlefield 3, Battlefield 4, all of them had that defining experience. This needs to come back to future titles. It is very important for fan who don’t normally enjoy the multiplayer find some sort of attachment to the game. 

Better Map Flow: Multiplayer is the bread and butter for Battlefield. Too often there are maps, especially with certain game modes that tend to bend towards the favor of one team. Breakthrough in Battlefield V is a good example of this. Only a handful of times have I actually seen an even battle. It either goes to one extreme or the other.

Modern-Day Setting: Playing in historical wars are always fun, but Battlefield fits best with a modern combat setting. Running down an urban street in the city center, hoping a tank doesn’t come rolling out the parking garage, numerous reasons why it is time to revisit a modern setting.

Dynamic Map Changes: I really miss when you could change the landscape of the map by doing one giant demolition of a certain building or object. This was a really cool and unique feature that for season odd reason was not carried forward. This should be reimplemented, but with multiple points on a map.

There are also other aspects that could use some focus and tweaks such as TTK (Time to Kill) and map variety. Hopefully, one-day Battlefield can find its roots again and come back in a blaze of glory. To reiterate, there is just too large of a fanbase that wants to come back to a Battlefield that they will truly enjoy. If DICE is to truly bring back the fans, listen to them. The community is very vocal and passionate about the game, and their feedback is easily the most important aspect out of everything they could do for the game. Maybe one day, people can experience an incredible game that delivers in all aspects, and not just go “halfway”.

About the Author – “My name is Jared and I’m a passionate Canadian gamer that loves playing all platforms and delving in tech”