Though talking aboutBattlefield 2042’s shortcomings is like beating a dead horse at this point, it is important to know why the game was and is in the state that it’s in.The half-baked Specialist systemmixed with the tried-and-true Class system, the implementation of battle passes, and the numerous bugs and glitches are but a few factors that must be looked into for both the current title and the franchise to learn from its mistakes. But by far the biggest contributing factor to the game’s failure is its maps.
WhileBattlefieldtitles have character classes of their own, it is the maps that truly make each game unique. Franchise veterans remember past games based on the maps they include.Battlefield 3has players jumping off the iconic Damavand Peak, whileBattlefield 2features the cramped, close-quarter buildings of Strike at Karkand.Battlefield 2042maps, on the other hand, are far less memorable due to their overall design. DICE has been doing its best to rework all the base maps, with the most problematic one being slated for the game’s upcoming fifth season.
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A City In The Desert
Hourglass is a coreBattlefield 2042mapset in the city of Doha, Qatar. Taking place in a fictional near-future, the city has been ravaged by climate change and is prone to numerous sandstorms. With most of the city submerged in sand, the citizens have abandoned Doha in favor of more habitable areas.
The sands and desert nature of Hourglass contribute highly to why it is unsuitable as aBattlefieldmap. Players must move through long stretches of desert to get to objectives, with these in-between spaces being mostly devoid of cover. Since not everyone can hop into a vehicle inBattlefield 2042(especially in theimmensely-populated 128-player Conquest modes), infantry units are prone to get shot down by snipers, military vehicles, and other players. Should players find themselves hoofing it to objectives, the best they can do is move with other allied players and hope they don’t get picked off from the herd.
Another point of contention isHourglass’s unique weather event: sandstorms. When on the battlefield, sandstorms periodically kick up reddish-brown dust which obscures the vision of infantry and vehicles alike. A large sand tornado also forms on the map, carrying whatever it passes through into the sky. While sandstorms and tornadoes can provide cover for players, it can be extremely hard to navigate and shoot enemies. The weather event also lasts far too long, driving a wedge into the gameplay and making players feel like the weather is a gimmick they want to avoid rather than use to their advantage.
Hourglass Has Poor Objective Placement
When players aren’t running to objectives in Hourglass, they are capturing them. Hourglass hassome of the most unique objectives in aBattlefieldgame. The stadium in the northwest area has 3 point A capture areas in Conquest: one outside the stadium and two located on opposite wings inside the stadium itself. There is also a skyscraper with a point E objective atop it; making it a perfect camping spot for snipers looking to defend the point from above.
Unfortunately, the most unique objectives are found in the least populated areas of the map. The aforementioned stadium is backed into a corner near one team’s base, making firefights less common between the two teams. In contrast, the empty desert that serves as the point B objective is where many fights can happen. It goes without saying that the desert area has very little cover and is not a very interesting place to explore or fight in. The same can be said about the point D objective, which is filled with multiple single-story buildings set beside each other. Not only are the buildings placed in lines, but the objective itself is set in an open area in the middle of everything. The open spaces coupled with poor objective placement are why many players are calling Hourglassone of the worstBattlefield 2042mapsin theBattlefieldfranchise.
DICE has confirmed that Hourglass will be drastically reworked comeBattlefield 2042’s next season. There will undoubtedly be more cover for infantry units and vehicles to play around with and better placed objectives that hopefully won’t draw to the map’s desert nature. Considering howthe reworks of other maps like Kaleidoscope and Exposurehave made them feel more fun to play on, this particular smudge on the game’s reputation might finally be cleaned out.
Battlefield 2042is currently available on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
