El Alamein, Arica Harbor, Noshahr Canals, and more maps with player-defined rules
Battlefield 2042has a new player-customizable mode, Portal, that’s helping to round out the multiplayer package (and further justify the game’s price in a world whereCall of Duty:Warzoneexists). Details about Portal leaked this morning slightly ahead of schedule, andRipple Effect Studios(formerly DICE LA) announced the mode during EA Play Live 2021.
Battlefield Portal is basically a custom game experience — you’re able to hop in and just play, or you canget in the weedsand fine-tune your own funky sandbox rules and logic.
Portal will launch with some “greatest hits” content — weapons, gadgets, vehicles, and maps — plucked from priorBattlefieldgames like1942andBad Company 2.
Beyond the seven maps debuting with2042, there’s also El Alamein and Battle of the Bulge fromBattlefield 1942, Arica Harbor and Valparaiso fromBattlefield Bad Company 2, and Caspian Border and Noshahr Canals fromBattlefield 3. The old maps were modernized for Portal, and I’m so here for Arica Harbor; finally, something forBad Companyfans.
The whole notion of pitting WWII soldiers against futuristic soldiers seems like it’ll burn out before too long, but the ability to put together something like an infection mode, or a really fine-tuned hardcore game type, seems great. “The options are pretty deep, and we’re committed to working with the community to build out this suite of tools and content as the game evolves,” said Ripple Effect general manager Christian Grass.
“We see the sandbox as a big part of the future ofBattlefield 2042.”
It’s also worth adding that player progression is “synchronized” across modes, including Portal. (Though we haven’t heard much about progression in general yet.)
So far, we know aboutAll-Out Warfare(the main multiplayer slice in2042) and now Portal, but there’s still Hazard Zone — a “high-stakes, squad-based” experience.
