Battlefield 2042 had a notoriously rocky launch, hemorrhaging consistent players throughout its first couple months, but the recent release of its first season, Zero Hour, has managed to bring some attention back to the game, which many felt was a lost cause. Season 1 marks the first new content added to Battlefield 2042 in the seven months since it came out. The additions are of a consistently high quality, making 2042 more enjoyable than it's ever been, but it may be too little and too late for the game to genuinely recover from its numerous pitfalls.
Zero Hour's new map, Exposure, is perhaps the best in the game. It was claimed that Battlefield 2042 will release smaller maps after the base game's were criticized for being too large and empty, but Exposure still has the scale to the series' multifaceted conflicts. Set in the Canadian Rockies where a landslide has unearthed a subterranean complex, Exposure accommodates all manner of play styles with an interesting variety of terrain and elevation. Conquest and Breakthrough, 2042's two main game modes, both flow well on Exposure, and the areas surrounding objectives provide plenty of cover.
Season 1's new Specialist, Lis, is similarly a welcome addition. Her G-84 TGM launches TV Guided missiles, giving players more options for taking down vehicles. They're especially handy when confronting Zero Hour's new stealth helicopters, which have a setting that prevents AA launchers and SOFLAMs from locking on. It took months for 2042 to get a real scoreboard, and even longer for new weapons to arrive with Season 1 - the BSV-M suppressed rifle and Ghostmaker R10 crossbow. The BSV-M has found plenty of use, but the Ghostmaker is a bit of a gimmick. Regardless, this new content has made Battlefield 2042 more exciting than it ever was, and with improved hit registration and much fewer bugs, it makes for an experience that is a reminder of how fun the series can be.
Battlefield 2042's Season 1 Content Is Good, But Not Enough
Unfortunately, it doesn't appear that Zero Hour will be the comeback Battlefield fans are hoping for. Exposure can offer so much variety in play style, with more dynamic gameplay than any of the other maps, but the novelty is sure to wear off with it being the only new location to fight. Only a handful of new content after seven months is not enough to overcome the foundational issues the game still suffers from. 2042's Season 1 was delayed for bug fixes, which is understandable considering the state of the game on release, but the quantity of post-launch content, regardless of its quality, is severely lacking compared to previous Battlefield titles.
Electronic Arts refuted claims by industry insider Battlefield franchise's worst release ever, knowing it will likely fade into obscurity again until another disappointing amount of content is ready to release. Despite a plethora of online shooters, there's nothing that quite compares to DICE's long-running series, and even though many aspects of Battlefield 2042 are ill-conceived, the slow and steady progress is still noticeable.
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