This doesn't feel like a [i]Battlefield[/i] game. It feels like it's trying to copy far worse games rather than stay true to the franchise's identity and unique selling points.
[h1]The movement feels too fast[/h1]
Everything feels very hyper-active, like [i]Call of Duty[/i].
It contributes to making map geography seem inconsequential, because positioning and terrain are just things you zip past in a fast sprint before sliding around on your knees, etc.
A lot of core [i]Battlefield[/i] gameplay used to be around using and developing cover and positional advantage, but all of that's gone if it's just a lame run-and-gun PvP free-for-all.
[h1]The squad spawning system destroys strategic gameplay[/h1]
If you look at the early days of the franchise, mobile spawn points used to be *crucial* assets that massively changed how maps were played.
This becomes meaningless if you can pretty much spawn on any single player in a squad by default all the time any time.
It also destroys any sort of map coherence or consistency. Positional play becomes immaterial if any random player can just instantly become three or four in a location they have no business being at.
Territorial control just goes out the window, and vehicle transport becomes low value, if people can just spawn wherever immediately anyway.
[h1]The game's UI is an ugly, loud, confusing mess[/h1]
It's very hard to get a sense of what's actually going on, because it's constantly spamming you with arbitrary elements of content and notifications, etc rather than just giving you a concise way to queue up for a game you want with a load-out you want to use.
Useful functionality is hidden away in sub menus; stuff like queueing for a specific game mode is opaque, and buried amongst a load of other arbitrary game modes that I have zero interest in trying.
Customising your load-out is an awkward pain.
It feels like the UI's been designed by some kid who's only really familiar with console games, and thus has no idea how to set up a proper PC GUI in a way that is streamlined and efficient.
This extends to the game which is constantly bombarding you with CoD-style obnoxious notifications for XP gains and so on. It's like someone's vomiting on your screen, and like who ever designed the game doesn't understand just how low-value and totally childish and redundant all of these things are.
And this puts a ton of pressure on you to go into the options and fiddle with a *ton* of settings trying to tone down the user-unfriendly elements of the experience.
[h1]The game doesn't seem to understand its identity of what it's trying to do[/h1]
The [i]Battlefield[/i] franchise, for me, has always been about jumping into a large, complex, varied, sandbox and the emergent gameplay you create by learning to use those unique tools effectively.
The maps don't seem to work well in this respect: Most feel claustrophobic; the control points all close by and on top of each other. It feels like the larger format battles are an after-thought game-mode rather than the whole purpose of the franchise.
The CoD-style health regeneration is an understandable modern concession to the genre, but it feels far less tactical than actually having health boxes deployed or teammates patching you up, and it makes strategic play around resources feel unnecessary.
My enjoyment of the experience has always gone down as tools become more dumbed-down, easy-to-use, and sterile.
It feels like there's no point in doing anything in this game apart from grabbing a spammy gun and going ham running around, maybe firing some rockets off if there's vehicles in a map.
I'm looking at this game and going "actually, I'd rather be playing something as old and dated as BF1942 and having fun using an artillery piece to blow stuff up halfway across the map, or fly a Junkers bomber.
I'd rather play Desert Combat mod, and circle a target in a gunship while teammates rain hell down on a spawn point.
I'd rather player BF:V and be setting up tunnel network exits to allow team to spawn in surprising places, or laying bouncing betties, or setting up a mortar point.
I'd rather play BF:2 and be valiantly defending a control point, knowing that if I take out the assaulting players they won't all just respawn directly on top of me over-and-over and then free-cap it.
I'd rather play BF:3 and using TV missiles on my chopper to take down enemy helicopters; or setting up a key ambush point with my squad to intercept enemy armour with javelins; or setting up a respawn beacon because that actually matters.
In fact, I'd rather be playing [i]Isonzo[/i] or [i]Rising Storm[/i] or any of the other more tactical, more immersive titles that have picked up the BF legacy, and decided to concentrate on the elements of the franchise that made it unique and worth playing, even if they're far less polished than this game is.
