Battlefield 2042 officially launches today after having been available in early access for the past week. However, it seems as though the early access period has soured the game for many players, reflected in the Mostly Negative review score it currently has on Steam.
At the time of writing, there are 2,427 reviews on Battlefield 2042’s Steam page, 1,353 of which rate the game negatively. Most of these reviews call the game unfinished or state that developer DICE invested all of its time in the weather effects instead of meaningful gameplay improvements. Overall, it’s not an excellent start for what was set to be the triumphant return of the Battlefield franchise.
Bugs and glitches such as severe stuttering, crashes, and general performance issues have plagued the game during its early access period. A patch came out yesterday that addressed the most egregious issues, but many persist and won’t be fixed for a while yet.
Many fans take issue with the fact that Battlefield 2042 feels more sterile than past entries. There’s no campaign mode to speak of; only a range of multiplayer modes across new and old maps. An Operative system similar to other FPS titles has also been implemented, but fans don’t understand why they aren’t given more backstory or even a definitive side in the fictional war the game’s introduction speaks of.
Since today is the game’s official launch day, more fans will likely pick it up and play over the weekend. Time will tell if the reviews shift away from Mostly Negative or stick firmly where they are with more negative reviews piling up over the next 48 hours.
