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For those unaware, recently on Battlefield 2042, DICE has officially recognized a hardcore conquest mode that was created by a community member in Battlefield Portal. The original server in Portal is called "Afghan War Sim" and is filled with around 40 to 80 people out of 128 players on average. The unfortunate part about the original server is that it's only 2 maps, El Alamein and Arica Harbor. Bullets are lethal in this mode, one to three shots to the body at the max, the ticket count is over 8,000 per team and the match timer is set to an hour.
So DICE came in and tweaked the timer and tickets to 45 minute matches and 5,000 tickets as well as adding Orbital, Spearhead and Renewal to the map rotation. The official servers for this mode last until December 19th. The biggest issue with DICE's servers are for one, there are too many of them. Half of the time the servers for this mode aren't even full of players. A lot of the time it's around 10 players and the rest of the 128 players are bots until more people join. However, last night I did get into a full 128 player lobby on Arica Harbor and let me tell you, it's the most fun I've had playing Battlefield since BF4. The teamwork is incredible.
I even made a new reddit account just to write a post about it. Unfortunately I have to wait 7 days to post it in the Battlefield sub so I'm going to post it here for now.
Rapid Strike is the correct direction for the Battlefield Franchise
I just wanted to give some props to DICE for featuring this sort of gameplay in an official sense.
This is the correct direction that this franchise should be heading in. There is a large portion of the Battlefield player base that longs for a new game to take the best elements from Battlefield 1942, Battlefield 2 and Battlefield 3.
Elements such as large maps on an unprecedented scale but ones with focused gameplay and predictable elevation changes, i.e., El Alamein from Battlefield 1942.
Strategic movement, gunplay and squad cohesion i.e., Battlefield 2.
And authentic looking soldiers and best in class immersion, i.e., Battlefield 3.
This doesn't mean that we never want to see new types of gadgets. In my opinion, some gadgets from 2042 such as the grappling hook or the vehicle hacking wrist module aren't terrible ideas, especially if the game has a more futuristic theme. But things of that nature should be linked to classes, not to characters.
And the systems in place should work like Battlefield 3 or 4. Do you want to use the grappling hook to get on top of hard to reach places? Well if so, you have to replace your 40mm grenade launcher with it.
On the flip side, gadgets such as the wingsuit break the gameplay as players that use it can literally get anywhere on the map. Remember how much harder it was to get on a rooftop or on top of Lancang Dam in Battlefield 4? Yea, you had to either run there or take an obvious chopper flight, or bail from a jet and hope that no one else would saw you do it.
Here are somethings that Rapid Strike offers that would benefit the gameplay.
- Slower and more deliberate sprinting speed. Soldiers aren't as light as paper and shouldn't sprint as such. Feeling heavy adds to the immersion of an authentic war game and slower sprinting speed means that if you want to run across an open space, you either better make sure you're going to make it before getting shot or have a squad mate to lay suppressive fire with an LMG.
- Lethal bullet damage. Battlefield doesn't necessarily need a TTK as fast as this game mode. The best official TTK that they ever made in my opinion was the TTK in Battlefield 3. The original TTK in BFV also felt great. It needs to be approachable to new players, satisfying and lethal for veteran players, and authentic to the weaponry in hand. Bullets this lethal allow for the use of suppressive fire without the needs for fake suppression effects on the screen like Battlefield 3 had that distort you HUD and clarity of the game. Because of this, players will naturally become suppressed from incoming rounds because if they expose themselves into a wall of gun fire THEY WILL DIE.
- Large scale sandbox gameplay. Matches with an extended amount of tickets and long match timers allow for adventures with squamates and experimentation. Failed to push that hill 300m away? It was a great effort but we have to try again and that's possible because we still have 35-40 minutes left in the match. If we fail a second time, we'll flank with a chopper or assault with a Humvee.
There will always be people that come in here and attack more hardcore gameplay. I don't need the game to be full blown hardcore milsim. That's not what any of us want with Battlefield.
We want a strategic sandbox with satisfying weaponry that allows funny and silly things to happen while also looking like there is an authentic war going on around us.
The acknowledgement of this type of gameplay in an official sense is promising. I'm not going to get my hopes up but let's hope DICE, along with Vince Zampella at the helm of the Battlefield franchise, can deliver a brand new experience that bridges the gap between the core and hardcore player base.
I've been calling Rapid Strike - "Battlefield 2012" because I just wish this was the full game. Even when playing on the 2042 maps, this mode feels like how I imagined 2042 would be. Simply soldiers in the future, USA vs Russia.
Here are a bunch of videos below showing the bullet damage, teamwork, funny Battlefield moments, etc.
So DICE came in and tweaked the timer and tickets to 45 minute matches and 5,000 tickets as well as adding Orbital, Spearhead and Renewal to the map rotation. The official servers for this mode last until December 19th. The biggest issue with DICE's servers are for one, there are too many of them. Half of the time the servers for this mode aren't even full of players. A lot of the time it's around 10 players and the rest of the 128 players are bots until more people join. However, last night I did get into a full 128 player lobby on Arica Harbor and let me tell you, it's the most fun I've had playing Battlefield since BF4. The teamwork is incredible.
I even made a new reddit account just to write a post about it. Unfortunately I have to wait 7 days to post it in the Battlefield sub so I'm going to post it here for now.
Rapid Strike is the correct direction for the Battlefield Franchise
I just wanted to give some props to DICE for featuring this sort of gameplay in an official sense.
This is the correct direction that this franchise should be heading in. There is a large portion of the Battlefield player base that longs for a new game to take the best elements from Battlefield 1942, Battlefield 2 and Battlefield 3.
Elements such as large maps on an unprecedented scale but ones with focused gameplay and predictable elevation changes, i.e., El Alamein from Battlefield 1942.
Strategic movement, gunplay and squad cohesion i.e., Battlefield 2.
And authentic looking soldiers and best in class immersion, i.e., Battlefield 3.
This doesn't mean that we never want to see new types of gadgets. In my opinion, some gadgets from 2042 such as the grappling hook or the vehicle hacking wrist module aren't terrible ideas, especially if the game has a more futuristic theme. But things of that nature should be linked to classes, not to characters.
And the systems in place should work like Battlefield 3 or 4. Do you want to use the grappling hook to get on top of hard to reach places? Well if so, you have to replace your 40mm grenade launcher with it.
On the flip side, gadgets such as the wingsuit break the gameplay as players that use it can literally get anywhere on the map. Remember how much harder it was to get on a rooftop or on top of Lancang Dam in Battlefield 4? Yea, you had to either run there or take an obvious chopper flight, or bail from a jet and hope that no one else would saw you do it.
Here are somethings that Rapid Strike offers that would benefit the gameplay.
- Slower and more deliberate sprinting speed. Soldiers aren't as light as paper and shouldn't sprint as such. Feeling heavy adds to the immersion of an authentic war game and slower sprinting speed means that if you want to run across an open space, you either better make sure you're going to make it before getting shot or have a squad mate to lay suppressive fire with an LMG.
- Lethal bullet damage. Battlefield doesn't necessarily need a TTK as fast as this game mode. The best official TTK that they ever made in my opinion was the TTK in Battlefield 3. The original TTK in BFV also felt great. It needs to be approachable to new players, satisfying and lethal for veteran players, and authentic to the weaponry in hand. Bullets this lethal allow for the use of suppressive fire without the needs for fake suppression effects on the screen like Battlefield 3 had that distort you HUD and clarity of the game. Because of this, players will naturally become suppressed from incoming rounds because if they expose themselves into a wall of gun fire THEY WILL DIE.
- Large scale sandbox gameplay. Matches with an extended amount of tickets and long match timers allow for adventures with squamates and experimentation. Failed to push that hill 300m away? It was a great effort but we have to try again and that's possible because we still have 35-40 minutes left in the match. If we fail a second time, we'll flank with a chopper or assault with a Humvee.
There will always be people that come in here and attack more hardcore gameplay. I don't need the game to be full blown hardcore milsim. That's not what any of us want with Battlefield.
We want a strategic sandbox with satisfying weaponry that allows funny and silly things to happen while also looking like there is an authentic war going on around us.
The acknowledgement of this type of gameplay in an official sense is promising. I'm not going to get my hopes up but let's hope DICE, along with Vince Zampella at the helm of the Battlefield franchise, can deliver a brand new experience that bridges the gap between the core and hardcore player base.
I've been calling Rapid Strike - "Battlefield 2012" because I just wish this was the full game. Even when playing on the 2042 maps, this mode feels like how I imagined 2042 would be. Simply soldiers in the future, USA vs Russia.
Here are a bunch of videos below showing the bullet damage, teamwork, funny Battlefield moments, etc.
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