The Battlefield franchise has certainly had its ups and downs for the better part of the last decade. While Battlefield has had its share of successes, the most recent entries have seen diminishing results for the venerable first-person shooter franchise. Nowhere was this more evident than in the franchise’s most recent entry, 2021’s Battlefield 2042, taking a live-service approach but proving to be too big for its britches.
One notable topic of conversation around Battlefield 2042 was its complete lack of a single-player campaign, a major departure from every previous title in the Battlefield franchise. With big changes at the game’s developer DICE, the next title in the series will no doubt make some huge overhauls and will have to answer the question of how it wants to approach a single-player campaign. DICE will have to acknowledge that Battlefield has jumped between styles on the single-player front before Battlefield 2042 and will need to decide on what it wants to do with its next entry.
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Battlefield Will Need To Decide How It Wants A Single-Player Campaign to Look
Battlefield Has Had Two Distinct Single-Player Styles
For the longest time, single-player Battlefield campaigns played out as one would expect a first-person shooter campaign to play: as a singular gameplay experience. Gamers controlled one character the whole time across a long overarching story that spanned the entire campaign, without jumping quickly between different characters. It was a simple approach that DICE utilized for the better part of the Battlefield franchise’s life.
Starting with 2016’s Battlefield 1 and continuing into 2018’s Battlefield V, though, DICE re-imagined the single-player campaign format in the form of War Stories. Through War Stories, players controlled a variety of different concepts from the war being focused on, exploring different areas of the world along the way. This gave the game a bit of variation, offering players the opportunity to learn more about sectors of the war and the soldiers that fought in them.
Battlefield Will Have To Decide Between Its Two Campaign Styles
As DICE continues to build the next Battlefield game, it will need to decide whether a potential single-player campaign should return to the franchise’s traditional roots, or stick with the War Stories style of the recent entries. These are two distinctly different styles and structures for a single-player game, so much so that DICE will not be able to combine the two together. Essentially, the developer has to pick an approach and stick to it.
If the studio decides to go with a traditional campaign, it could mean the franchise could return to the roots of titles like the Battlefield: Bad Company duology. If the War Stories direction remains in the next entry, the team could build more truncated, character-driven stories without worrying about fluff or artificially lengthening the campaign. Both approaches have their pros and cons, as a traditional format could feel bland, while War Stories may lack the same impact by focusing on a fictional modern war instead of paying tribute to real-world events. For the series to return to form with a consistent vision, though, it’s about time for DICE to decide which format works better and stick with it.
As DICE continues to build the next
Battlefield
game, it will need to decide whether a potential single-player campaign should return to the franchise’s traditional roots, or stick with the War Stories style of the recent entries.
Battlefield 2042 is a first-person shooter that marks the return to the iconic all-out warfare of the franchise. With the help of a cutting-edge arsenal, engage in intense, immersive multiplayer battles.
Lead your team to victory in both large all-out warfare and close-quarters combat on maps from the world of 2042 and classic Battlefield titles. Find your playstyle in class-based gameplay and take on several experiences comprising elevated versions of Conquest and Breakthrough. Explore Battlefield Portal, a platform where players can discover, create, and share unexpected battles from Battlefield’s past and present.
This game includes optional in-game purchases of virtual currency that can be used to acquire virtual in-game items.
- Released
- November 19, 2021
- Publisher(s)
- Electronic Arts