Battlefield 2042 is a radical return to the series' roots

It's being touted, naturally, as the most ambitious Battlefield yet, and perhaps the biggest generational leap the series has seen to date with dynamic 128-player matches (on new-gen and PC at least - last-gen players will have to make do with 64 players) and a near future canvas that's brimming with all sorts of exciting tech.

Really, though, what could make this Battlefield stand apart isn't so much how it's moving forwards and more about how it's going back to what DICE does best and doubling down on it. There's no single-player campaign. There will be no battle royale. What there is, at first glimpse, is all the chaos, unpredictability and unprecedented scale that's at the heart of the series' appeal, dialled up to a new degree of intensity.

The set-up is hokey, if unnervingly close to home at its foundation - climate crisis and the second great depression in 2032 leads to the rise of stateless soldiers with no allegiance, and when a global blackout takes out all satellites and cripples intelligence systems the world reverts to type and sees the United States and Russia engage in all-out war, with the no-pat soldiers taking up arms for both sides.

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