Battlefield 2042

Developer DICE

Publisher Electronic Arts

Format PC, PS4, PS5 (tested), Xbox One, Xbox Series

Release Out now

There’s a rite of passage that occurs every time a new Battlefield player gets hold of a large transport vehicle. It begins pleasantly enough – the plane’s cockpit granting enviable views over unchoreographed skirmishes playing out below, as the hold quickly fills up with new spawns. The problem comes when they attempt to land. Overcome by more degrees of freedom than they know what to do with, the pilot twists the Condor on its head, killing everyone on board in a fiery explosion.

This, if the user reviews are to be believed, is the scale of ’s launch disaster. Game Pass owners in particular suffered during their week-long head start, tortured by rubber-banding and crash-causing data errors that rendered matches unplayable. By full release, the game was primed for a public kicking. With the benefit of a later deadline, however, we can report that our ride with has been much’s design – and from that perspective, the studio’s landing is, if anything, a little too smooth and practised.