You guys buried the lede here. They’re basically leaving Hazard Zone mode to die with no further content development. That’s a gigantic L for the game.
One final piece of news for you to take away from today’s video - we’re winding down future development on Hazard Zone. All of us on the team had great ambition and high hopes for this new Battlefield experience throughout our development, but we’re the first to hold our hands up and acknowledge that it hasn’t found the right home in Battlefield 2042 and that we’ll benefit greatly from letting our focus and energy stay on the modes we see you engaging most with.
Hazard Zone will stay as part of the experience, we’re not switching it off, but beyond addressing critical errors and odd behaviors that may appear in the future, we’re no longer actively developing new experiences or content for the mode, and you’ll find that maps that we release across our seasons will not be supported in Hazard Zone.
I will freely concede that I’ve only recently fallen off the turnip truck when it comes to battle royale modes, but what’s an example of this kind of gameplay that you like, @lordkosc? I ask because I really enjoyed our time in Hazard Zone, which makes me think I would really enjoy even more a similar mode in a more gracefully designed game. Would that be Activision’s Call of Duty Warzone? PUBG? Some other game?
Where should an erstwhile Hazard Zone fan go next? Or is it just that you’re more partial to conquest and rush?
Assuming you prefer the milsim aesthetic, PUBG is probably the “purest” battle royale, in that it has straightforward gunplay and no gimmick (and when I say gimmick, I don’t mean it pejoratively - every battle royale since has had some twist to differentiate it). Warzone is also solid and very popular, and it has in-game missions to mix things up.
Veering away from realism, Apex Legends is set in the Titanfall universe and has Overwatch-esque heroes with abilities. Fortnite is cartoony and off the wall with (now optional) structure building.
Those are probably the big ones, but there are lots of smaller games with their own twists on the formula.
I was in on a few of those rounds and had a great time as well. I will admit though, not certain if it was simply the magic of multiplayer w friends, or the actual format.
It is a decent mode with a unique cadence that is less Battle Royale and more about the retrieval of the data drives. It was a nice change of pace, but the inventory biz built around the missions wasn’t great.
I think Vigor (console only) does lightweight Tarkov way better than Hazard Zone does it. It has progression that sorta matters outside the missions and the missions themselves are way more tense and the maps just way better designed. Also, everyone is always on foot and the guns are lethal and nasty. Vigor should be tried by anyone that likes Hazard Zone.
Rumor has it CoD is coming with something similar in Warzone 2 or MW II. They tend to get this stuff really right so we’ll see.
As for Battle Royale, Warzone, Apex and Fortnite still rule the roost. They are all awesome. It just depends what pace of play you are in the mood for as well as the setting you prefer.
Me, if I didn’t have the EA pass thing already… Helicopters are my jam in this game. I spend half my gaming time in them. Plus new map, new specialist, etc. It’s hitting all the right spots for new content; vehicles, weapons, gadgets, map and specialist. More would be better but seems pretty solid if you like the game.
