Approaching its open beta phase scheduled for this month, Battlefield 2042 continues to arouse enthusiasm, this time by highlighting four of its "specialists".
This is one of the key changes for DICE's successful FPS franchise. The traditional classes will be replaced by "specialists", each with their own skills and gadgets.
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A choice justified by the narration
A choice that will inevitably have surprised the purists of the old titles of the Battlefield franchise. This had indeed accustomed us to different classes of soldiers responding to different roles on the battlefield. In the most recent episodes, we had the choice between Assault, Medic, Support and Sniper. A distinction that is slightly blurred with Battlefield 2042, introducing not anonymous soldiers, but specialists with a well-established history.
A direction that is justified by the lore of this new opus. If it will be exclusively a multiplayer title, DICE has not neglected the narrative aspect. As a reminder, Battlefield 2042 depicts a world on the verge of extinction, with many strategic resources dried up and plagued by terrible climatic disasters. Major factions like the United States and Russia are fiercely fighting over the last crumbs there. In this all-out war, mercenaries working for the highest bidder, nicknamed "No-Pats", aim to maintain the status quo in order to continue to enrich themselves or serve their own ideals.
The specialists that we can choose to embody on the vast battlefields of Battlefield 2042 are therefore these famous “No-Pats”. In a brand new gameplay trailer, Electronic Arts presents four of them.
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The "No-Pats" in the exercise of their functions
This new trailer first introduces us to Webster Mackay, a Canadian soldier akin to a variant of the old Assault class. Equipped with a grappling hook, he is a particularly agile specialist capable of moving faster than his comrades, even while aiming or using a zipline.
Next we have Maria Falck, a German combat surgeon equipped with a syringe gun to heal her teammates from a distance or herself. Like the old Medic class, it has a defibrillator that allows it to revive fallen comrades who are still conscious.
Third specialist featured: Pyotr “Boris” Guskovsky, a Russian soldier who carries a deployable turret with him everywhere that will automatically target nearby enemies. Pyotr can stand near it to enhance its effectiveness. It is therefore a mix between the Engineer and Support archetypes from the old games.
Finally, the trailer introduces us to Wikus "Casper" Van Daele, a South African sniper with a drone that can confuse nearby adversaries with electromagnetic pulses, or designate targets for weapons that require locking. Like the old Sniper class, notably in Bad Company 2, Wikus also comes equipped with a motion sensor alerting it to nearby opponents.
According to the page dedicated to specialists on the official Battlefield 2042 site, there are still five to discover before its release set for October 22 on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S. A new specialist will join the ranks of the "No-Pats" with each new season thereafter.
