Battlefield Could Work Wonders With a Feature Call of Duty Has Sidelined

Posted by By our-little-miss-is-home December 21, 2024 2 Views 6 Min Read
Battlefield Could Work Wonders With a Feature Call of Duty Has Sidelined

The past few years have been home to many ups and downs for the Battlefield franchise, with post-launch support recently ending for 2042 and attention finally starting to turn towards the next project for the longstanding FPS series. Current reports suggest that 2025 will see a brand-new release for the IP, and DICE has learned many lessons that can inform the development of this new title, both from the life-cycle of 2042 and the pitfalls of its largest competitor, Call of Duty.

Both Battlefield and Call of Duty have been able to coexist in the crowded industry of first-person shooter games thanks to the distinct identities and core gameplay experiences that they both possess, although both franchises have definitely inspired each other with certain game mechanics and features over the years. One of the most successful past game mechanics of Call of Duty‘s multiplayer experiences was Theater Mode, for example, although this huge quality of life feature somehow has not remained as a consistent element of CoD despite its past success. With Battlefield multiplayer being known for its explosive moments, the next BF project would do well to adopt a Theater Mode system of its own.

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A Theater Mode Could Flourish with Battlefield’s Chaotic Gameplay

Theater Mode was first introduced to Call of Duty with 2010’s Black Ops, adding a massive community-friendly dynamic to the game’s multiplayer that was very well received by fans. Theater Mode allowed players to re-watch their recent multiplayer matches from the perspective of any player, with the ability to seamlessly rewind, slow down, and pause footage while exploring a replay from any camera angle.

Crucially, Theater Mode enabled the player to track thrown objects and projectiles like Tomahawks and Grenade Launcher cartridges. Cross-map kills and trickshots got a fantastic level of further detail and style with the use of Theater Mode. This feature would go on to appear in CoD titles like 2011’s Modern Warfare 3 and every subsequent Black Ops title, but it is still far from being a guaranteed element of the franchise’s overwhelming annual release schedule.

While the utility of Theater Mode has diminished since its first appearance (thanks to the growing presence of built-in DVR capabilities on most modern hardware), the cinematic angles and fresh perspectives that the feature offers are still massively important. Theater Mode has appeared in the recently released Black Ops 6, but Treyarch is seemingly still struggling to make it an obvious and commonly-used component of modern CoD. In contrast, the current landscape of Battlefield might be much better suited to Theater Mode’s capabilities.

The larger multiplayer experiences of Battlefield, as well its inclusion of land, sea, and air vehicles, has made the franchise a catalyst for some explosive and unforgettable gameplay moments over the years. Famous community clips have become iconic and defining elements of Battlefield‘s identity over the years, with “only in Battlefield” moments often being shared by fans across the franchise’s many games.

DICE could easily lean into this pre-existing element of the Battlefield community by implementing an official Theater Mode feature into the IP’s next game, which is reported to release in 2025. The wider range of gameplay opportunities that Battlefield‘s multiplayer boasts over CoD‘s smaller-scale experiences are perfect for chaotic moments worthy of cinematic replays. The next BF title could really capitalize on an underutilized CoD feature with a Theater Mode of its own.

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