Thoughts on the Game So Far

So I've played this game A LOT since launch, so I thought I would share my thoughts (This will be a loooong post).

Overall, I love this game. It is easily my favourite FPS to be released in years - it very much reminds of all the good things I loved about BF3 and BF4. It has it's issues too, but I'll list what I specifically like and what I think could be improved.

Things I like:

• I love Escalation. I'm not keen on Conquest but taking the core concept of conquest and shrinking the map as the game reaches its conclusion creates meaningful gun fights and tense gameplay at the objectives late in the game and it is super fun to play.

• I really like some of the map design, specifically Siege of Cairo, New Sobek City, and Liberation Peak. The different environments really make you think about your loadouts and game play style. However, the designs are not without their issues which I will elaborate on in the negatives.

• The guns feel largely good and the attachments feel consequential. I also really like the idea of limiting the amount of customisation you can apply. It forces you to think about how you want the gun to behave, while making tough decisions around which attachments you need and which you can live without. This really helps mitigate the emergence of "meta" loadouts (though there are definitely guns and attachments that are better than others).

• The smaller game modes are a lot more fun than I thought they would be. I much prefer the larger modes but domination and king of the hill are more fun than I thought they would be (but there is an annoying issue that plagues these smaller modes that I will mention below).

• This one will be unpopular, but I like the open weapons. I liked it in 2042, because it allows the classes identity to be tied to the gadgets and perks rather than the specific gun. For anyone who complains about the medics not reviving, this issue was way worse in BF3 and BF4, as a lot of "medics" would only play that class for the gun archetype tied to it and would not care at all for the actual class purpose. Open weapons solves this issue nicely and allows other classes like Recon to be played in a more interesting way.

• I also like the challenges in this game. They very much remind of the challenges from BF3 and BF4, where earlier challenges are easy 'tickboxes' and the later challenges are exactly that - challenges. Challenges should be difficult by definition.

Things I don't like:

• While like the map design for the most part, the map design for certain game modes does not work well at all. Attacking in Breakthrough on Mirak Valley is brutal. Furthermore, the vertical elements of maps like Siege of Cairo, New Sobek City, and Manhattan Bridge have been exploited using to create meat grinders that are simply not fun to play. You could solve this, but making the upper parts of the map as "out of bounds" or introduce ways for the attackers to access these areas in a way that isn't going to see them ripped apart.

• The spawns in the smaller games modes are absolutely brutal at times. The amount of times I've been running to an objective and been jumped by a spawn wave is ridiculous. I have benefitted from these spawns and picked up a several multi-kills as a result, but this should not happen. It creates a very boring feel to these modes when it happens repeatedly in a match.

• I think bullet flinching needs to be increased. If you land a shot of someone, they should have aim flinch. Anyone who has fired at snipers lining you up in this game knows that there is clearly not enough bullet flinch at the minute.

There are other things I like and dislike about this game that I haven't mentioned - distribution of certain grenade types across the classes, map sizes in relation to aerial vehicles, etc. But these are the main points that jump out as far as gameplay goes.