Almost two years since its turbulent launch, Battlefield 2042 is still chugging along with updates from DICE and other EA studios. While there was a small scare for fans earlier this year when it seemed like Season 5 would be the final update for the game, development has continued. The full reveal of Season Six: Dark Creations landed yesterday, giving us a look at the new map, weapons, and vehicle incoming with the update.
Ahead of its October 10 release, EA invited me to a closed online preview session to give some of the new content a try, so here are my thoughts on what I played on PC.
Fans of Operation Locker and Metro from previous Battlefield entries will be happy to know that the new map Redacted (yes, that's the name) is inspired directly from those action-packed explosive fests. Set entirely indoors and featuring only infantry, the small, slim, but surprisingly flexible map promises to be a non-stop action fiesta.
Despite being underground, DICE has made two of the objectives have a 'fake' sky and even sunlight, which are achieved via hexagonal displays covering the domed roof. These areas reminded me a lot of Titanfall 2's map Complex, while the faux forests covering the grounds as well as the futuristic science facilities gave me a Crysis vibe.
Despite bots occupying most of the slots during the play test I attended, I have a good feeling about the number of flanking options that were available, which should keep the frontline of the battle moving dynamically even with the amount of extreme chaos that's expected.
Like 'Operation' maps of the past, the objective flags are placed in a line, with each compact arena around the flags having three main entrances on each side for teams to stream through from their spawns. This time DICE has also added a separate fourth entrance to each section: zip-line-bolstered tunnels.
These emergency light-flashing atmospheric pathways run across the side of the whole map, offering one last method of sneaky back caps. Tunnels don't offer much cover in those long stretches, however, meaning they can easily become ambush spots for taking down entire squads if planned correctly.
"The tunnel is your 'When all else fails' type option," says DICE, explaining the addition. "Think of it as a bypass valve, where if the pressure gets too much in the main paths and flags, we expect people to start using it"
Each section of the map tells a different story about what's been happening in this secret facility, from sci-fi laboratories with gore marks to field-testing areas complete with cardboard cutouts of opponents being present. While the two outer flags and surrounding locations are much more industrial or medical facility-inspired, those "outdoor-themed" domed arenas I mentioned were my favorite locations to fight in during my time with the map.
Being fully indoors, however, means Angel's parachuting loadout crate is disabled from being called in Redacted. Other than him, I have a feeling that a few specialists, like Lis and Casper, will be left behind in the map's meta due to not having enough useful abilities to help with holding the line or flanking or spamming explosives.
In standard rotation, Redacted will support 64 players across Conquest, TDM, Rush, and Breakthrough. Of course, the map will be available for editing in Battlefield 2042's Portal mode as well, letting players up that number to 128 for maximum chaos, and change almost every other rule for a fully customizable retro or modern experience.
Moving over to the new weaponry, my time with the new VHX D3 assault rifle was quite pleasant. I was easily taking down foes in mid-range combat situations thanks to its predictable recoil and steady fire-rate, while also coming out on top in most of the close-quarter engagements. Both aspects are very useful for this kind of map with tight corners.
The variety of attachments it has available also makes it a good choice for customizability. Going from a large mag with attachments focused on reduced recoil paired with a medium scope for ranged crowd control, to a silenced beast for hipfiring with subsonic rounds and a simple Holo sight made it feel like a completely different gun, but still easily controllable and exceptionally reliable.
I didn't get to spend a lot of time with the L9CZ semi-automatic sidearm, but its high fire rate, as I spammed it onto enemy heads, and great accuracy saved my hind from a few tough situations while reloading the main weapon. The new G428 DMR may not be the best choice for a close-quarters map like this, but a skilled player could easily take down entire squads with its high damage output (two-shot kills) and reasonably fast fire rate.
DICE also let loose the new pouches that support specialists are receiving, a returning feature from previous entries. Arriving as alternatives to crates, the ammo and health pouches offer quick boosts that can be thrown to individual players or yourself. When asked about the reasoning behind their additions at this point, DICE said:
"While these will not replace crates, they will help improve mobility and pacing for those squad members that want to keep pushing beyond the frontlines and allow for 'quick refills'. This will keep up the intensity and allow for people to push around corners/corridors rather than being stuck in place waiting on crates. The intent for crates have not changed, and will produce more replenishment than pouches, so if a chokepoint does form - crates are the way."
One of the most exciting pieces of new content I wanted to try but didn't get the opportunity to do so due to this being an infantry-only map, was the new YUV-2 air vehicle. Looking like a mash-up between a quad bike and a drone, it was described as being a fast, two-person transport vehicle that can be called in to zip around the battlefield.
It can't go as high up as a helicopter, per the developer, with its main purpose being to quickly get around objectives, hopefully with some roadkills on the way. The pilot doesn't have any weapons to use, but the passenger has access to their standard soldier kit while traveling. As for countering it, if shooting YUV-2s passengers out of the sky via normal means isn't working out, anti-air weaponry will also lock on for easily dispatching any annoying flyers.
Overall, the quality of the latest content is wonderful, with the new map filling in one of the main ingredients the game has been missing since launch: a purely chaos-centric map. Redacted's beautifully designed interiors, and thoughtful pathways with a focus on reducing bottlenecks could easily make this one of the most popular maps of the game.
Still, to be blunt, the season is not a massive injection of new stuff, something that's been a common occurrence with Battlefield 2042 unfortunately. The main draw of the season being one map, one vehicle, and three weapons, probably won't be enough to entice many shooter fans to reinstall and jump back into the live-service experience.
Once again, I am not sure if this will be the final season of content EA and DICE have planned for Battlefield 2042. With possibly more than one sequel and side projects now in development for the franchise under Vince Zampella, I feel like there must be a countdown happening somewhere internally at EA to pull the remaining developers for another game.
Battlefield 2042 – Season 6: Dark Creations launches on PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 4, and PlayStation 5 on October 10 as a free update for owners of the game. EA Play, Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, and PC Game Pass subscribers are also gaining access to the content on the same date.
The gameplay impressions and screenshots in this article were gathered during a digital closed preview session of the upcoming content provided by EA and DICE.
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