A NEW WAY TO PLAY

Battlefield 2042

Battlefield 2042 was announced on June 9th during a live stream reveal trailer. The official gameplay trailer premiered a few days later on the 13th, along with an ingame look at vehicles, the “Plus” system, and the extreme weather teased in the reveal trailer. On July 22nd, “Portal” was announced, a mode of 2042 wherein players can modify how the game works and use elements of previous Battlefield games. Finally, on August 12th, the short film “Exodus” premiered, showing us the events leading up to the war in 2042, with the appearance of “Irish,” a character in Battlefield 4.

Focusing on gameplay first, a number of mechanics have been shown in trailers and Beta, such as airdropping vehicles on a requested location and a system called “Plus” which allows players to customize weapons on the spot, allowing one weapon to fit multiple situations. The playable characters are called “Specialists,” which fall under the normal battlefield classes of Assault, Engineer, Medic, and Recon, and are differentiated by special abilities and gadgets they can equip. One major feature is extreme weather patterns, such as tornados, that can fling players around and pull around objects and sandstorms that can effectively blind players to anything more than a couple feet away.

As for game modes, Breakthrough and Conquest return, seeing a team try to capture a point controlled by another team, and two teams fighting for control of multiple different locations (respectively). Hazard Zone is shown on the EA website, and while not much is known about it, it could be a battle royale-type mode. But the most interesting is probably Battlefield Portal, a mode inside Battlefield 2042 that allows players to create custom gamemodes, modifying stats and using assets from multiple previous Battlefield games in a web-based editor. Aerial dogfights between a WWII Spitfire against a modern Su-57 fighter jet? Sure. Melee-only battles between No-Pats and Germans? Absolutely. The possibilities are endless.

But wait, why are there such extreme weather patterns? This is explained in the story of Battlefield 2042, primarily found on the EA website as of now. As there is no single-player story-driven campaign, the story will likely be told by in-game events and films like “Exodus” once the game releases. The world of 2042 takes place in a near-future setting, where a string of worldwide events (most notably climate change) has led to in-game story elements such as extreme weather and a group called the “No-Pats” (Refugees forming a somewhat coordinated faction).

Some of the world-changing events included in the game's story are the dissolution of the European Union and a worldwide blackout caused by the destruction of 90% of satellites by an unknown entity. A war between Russia and America breaks out, both sides fielding No-Pats as forces. This conflict makes up the in-game plotline.

Currently, there is a scheduled release date of October 22nd 2021, though that may be subject to change.

Gameplay-wise, Vanguard will continue with the familiar Call of Duty gameplay formula, but will allow users to change this with the “Combat Pacing” systems, which fall into Tactical, Standard and Blitz. Tactical will most likely be similar to Hardcore, where the player has less health and takes and deals more damage. Standard will likely follow the standard CoD gameplay, while Blitz pushes the fast gameplay even further, forcing players into cramped environments, as has been described as chaos and fun.

Gunsmith, a popular feature that allows players to customize their weapons progressively as they level up, returns in Vanguard. Gunsmith allows players to specialize their weapons to certain roles, fine tuning them to their playstyle. Gunsmith will also come with two new features, ammo and ballistics, though what exactly these do hasn’t yet been confirmed. Destructible terrain is coming as well, with the ability to shoot through doors, planks, and other materials, giving the ability to create new sightlines and find new areas. Semi-related to this is the ability to blindfire over cover, as shown in the gameplay trailer.

Gameplay modes seem to be divided into two categories: 6x6 modes and Champion Hill. 6x6 modes are likely to be similar to previous staple Call of Duty modes, pitting a team of six players against another team in modes like Deathmatch. Champion Hill has been described as a combination of Gunfight and Battle Royale, with multiple maps designed specifically for it.

The studio developing Call of Duty: Vanguard is Sledgehammer Games. Why bring this up? Because Treyarch Studios is developing Call of Duty: Vanguard Zombies, bringing a zombies-based gamemode to Vanguard, with its storyline acting as a prequel to the Black Aether storyline playing out in Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War. For those who don't know, Sledgehammer Games and Treyarch Studios typically take turns every year developing the current Call of Duty game, so the fact that they're collaborating on the same game this year is significant.

Like Black Ops Cold War before it, Vanguard will feature integration with Call of Duty: Warzone, bringing guns, a new map, mechanics, and cross-game progression in game.

Wait, what about that single-player campaign? Vanguard’s campaign takes place in WWII, with missions taking place on every front of the war. Players take the mantles of various soldiers based off of real-life war heroes from Britain, the USA, Australia, and the Soviet Union. These four heroes are sent as a special forces group to Berlin to identify the German project Phoenix.

Vanguard has a planned release date of November 5th, but like any other video game, its date can be subject to change.

But that isn't exactly right, is it? It isn’t the Sinnoh region, it's the Hisui region. Why? Arceus takes place in the old, feudal version of the region, and follows the player trying to create the first pokedex for the region by catching pokemon using steam-powered pokeballs. The styling of the towns also follows a feudal Japanese look.

As stated, the game takes place in an open 3D world, where the player can see pokemon and avoid them, or, as in one clip shown from a trailer, dodge their attacks by running around. The player can also sneak around by crawling or hiding inside of grass, perhaps catching the pokemon with a sneaky throw of a pokeball. If one notices you, you enter a more standard pokemon battle.

As implied by the title, it seems the pokemon Arceus will be a major component of this game- perhaps not in gameplay, but likely in story. Exploring a feudal version of an otherwise well-known region allows some interesting lore and story to be told in Arceus.

As of now, there is a set release date of the 28th of January, 2022.