Battlefield
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About
Battlefield is a first-person shooter video game series published by Electronic Arts and developed by Digital Illusions CE. The series focuses on online multiplayer combined arms combat featuring infantry, aerial, naval and ground vehicles over large, open ended maps.
History
Early Series
Note: Entries in this series are powered by the Refractor Engine.
Battlefield 1942 was released on September 10, 2002, introducing the "Conquest" gameplay mode, in which players fight for "capture points" throughout a large map. The game was well known for being one of the first shooters to allow up to 64 players in one instance of gameplay, and also for its signature 6-string sting, which is now the ubiquitous theme for the series.
Battlefield Vietnam, released in 2004, moved the setting to the Vietnam War, and adds various gameplay improvements, such as the ability to fire personal weapons while seated in vehicles. It also marked the series' first use of licensed soundtracks, utilizing era-defining tracks such as The Trashmen's Surfin' Bird and Creedence Clearwater Revival's Fortunate Son .
Battlefield 2 , released in 2005 takes the series to the modern day for the first time, depicting a fictional war between the United States, China, and the fictional Middle Eastern Coalition. The game introduces many new features that become staples of the franchise: the CommoRose communication system, 5-man Squads, and the Commander Mode. It was a critical and commercial success, selling over 2-Million copies worldwide to near-universal praise. A version of the game called Battlefield 2: Modern Combat was also released for consoles, as well as the Free-To-Play title Battlefield Play4Free, which released in 2010.
Battlefield 2142 was released in 2006, taking place during a global ice age in the 22nd century, featuring science fiction weaponry, vehicles, and battles between two giant "Titan" airships in it's "Titan Assault" game mode. This was the first game in the series to reward players with the enemy's dogtags after a successful melee kill.
Modern Series
Note: Entries in this series are powered by the Frostbite Engine
Battlefield: Bad Company and Bad Company 2, released in 2008 and 2009 respectively, introducing a story driven, single-player experience to the series, which follows protagonist Preston Marlowe and a squad of misfit soldiers of the titular "B" Company in their search for mercenary gold. This spin-off series features modern day weapons and vehicles, and serves as a tech demo for the first iteration of the Frostbite engine developed for the next generation of games, featuring improvements in all aspects of development, including audio, animation, scripting, artificial intelligence, physics, rendering, and visual effects.
Battlefield 1943, a multiplayer only digital-download title, was released in 2009, returning the series to the theatres of World War II. It is a scaled down entry for Xbox Live Arcade and Playstation Network download, featuring 3 infantry classes, 3 Conquest maps and one map exclusive for the new game mode Air Superiority.
Battlefield 3 and 4 was released in 2011 and 2013 respectively, reintroducing several elements absent from the Bad Company games, including fighter jets, the prone position, Commander Mode, and 64-player battles on PC and Eighth generation consoles.
The games were developed with 2nd and 3rd iteration of the Frostbite engine, introducing improved destruction and "Levolution", set pieces placed in the map that allows players to drastically alter the environment, changing how players approach areas of the map.
Battlefield: Hardline was released in March 2015, and moves away from modern military warfare to law enforcement and organized crime combat, featuring heists, vehicle pursuits, and combat set in civil urban locations located in the Pacific West Coast. It also features a single-player campaign which was handled by EA Visceral, developers of the Dead Space series.
Battlefield 1 was released October 21, 2016, with the setting covering the theatres of World War 1 and the technology utilized, such as trench combat and chemical warfare; as well as additional gameplay and balance modifications to match the experience, including reworked infantry classes, vehicle-specific pilot classes, overhauled melee combat, and enhanced destruction.
Battlefield V , released on November 15, 2018, returns the series to the setting of World War II (a setting last visited in Battlefield 1943 in 2009), set in theatres of war not commonly seen in WWII titles, such as Norway and Northern France. This game introduces Firestorm, a 64-player Battle Royale game mode [22], in addition to many gameplay changes, such as bullet penetration, improved infantry and vehicle combat, and improved squad gameplay. The game also includes "The Company", a customization suite allowing players to modify their arsenal of weapons, vehicles, and soldiers.[15]
Battlefield 2042
Battlefield 2042, released November 19, 2021 (November 12 for Ultimate and EA Play Pro owners), returns to a modern setting, serving as a distant sequel to Battlefield 4. 2042 depicts a speculative, near-future global conflict based in extreme climate changes and critical geopolitical tension between the US and Russia, engaging in proxy conficts and resource wars, enlisting the assistance of the "No-Pats", civilians and mercenaries that claim no national allegiance due to the collapse of numerous countries and economies, with theatres of conflict set in Southeast Asia, The Middle East, and Antarctica.
2042 also includes Battlefield Portal, a Game Logic customization suite in which players can create, edit and upload custom game modes and scenarios with custom mutators, loadouts and conditions utilizing new and remastered maps, factions and weapons from Battlefield 3 , 1942 and Bad Company 2 .
Online Presence
The series has spawned many works from the community and fanbase across the web, including stunt videos, machinima, fan films and parodies, in part due to the quality of the visuals as well as numerous glitches and exploitable game mechanics. One of the earliest examples is the video "Mine!!!" by Snoken and Sudden[3] , a Battlefield 2 machinima uploaded on October 23, 2006, which has currently received 1.3 million views and over 13,000 likes.
Gameplay Montages
Gameplay Montages are popular videos focused around highly skilled players and feats, incorporating kill-streaks, skill shots, stunts, trolling and other feats of prowess. Montages tend to yield millions of views on YouTube, with one of the most popular being "Battlefield 3 – RendeZook"[4] video submitted on December 8, 2011 by Youtuber Stun_gravy, which gained over 11-million views and over 35,000 comments. the impressive feat has also gained fame within the community, with many reproductions circulating on the internet.
Battlefield Friends
Battlefield Friends is a web animation series created by YouTube channel HankandJed[5] , which features comedy and parodies based on the many elements and features of the series, as well as acknowledging issues, glitches and easter eggs of the Battlefield series. The series was met with positive reception, Gaining 3 million views from it's premiere episode and spawning numerous dubs.
The series' popularity has also spawned in-game easter eggs, such as the "C100", an unlockable knife which has a bipod attached, and popularized multiple terms, such as "shitbucket"[6], a name attributed to highly skilled players that invest many hours in the game, and "jeep stuff"[7], a shorthand term for the C4 Explosive unlockable and it's common utilization for makeshift vehicle bombs. The channel also produces the spin-off series Battleloggers and secondary gaming channel Neebs Gaming, which focuses on in-game escapades of the series' characters and actors as they demonstrate alternative and off-kilter methods of gameplay.
RUSH: Inspired by Battlefield
RUSH is a live-action online miniseries produced by Corridor Digital and Studio71 which premiered September 20, 2016 on go90. The series follows protagonist Zack Miller and the remaining units of a scattered US Black Ops unit deployed in Cherna as they cooperate with contracted mercenaries to locate and destroy financial assets used for terrorist operations.
Battlefield 2042: Exodus
Exodus is an animated short film which premiered on August 12, 2021 on YouTube, serving as a prologue for the events of Battlefield 2042. Exodus follows Kimble "Irish" Graves, former USMC Sergeant of Tombstone Squad in Battlefield 4, now serving as commander of the Exodus, a naval vessel owned by the No-Pats, soldiers and refugees that discarded their national allegiances due to environmental and societal collapse.
Contracted by enigmatic figure "Oz" to retrieve critical intel that could cause a global conflict if leaked, Irish reunites with Tombstone squadmate Clayton "Pac" Pakowski who informs him on Oz's malicious objective.
Once wise to this plot, Irish sparks a skirmish with Oz's troops within troubled waters in an effort to prevent the start of a world war.
Controversies
#JustWWIThings
In late October 2016, the official @Battlefield Twitter feed posted several promotional tweets for the game Battlefield 1, including one featuring an animated GIF of a World War I soldier character being burned with a flamethrower and the caption that reads "when you're too hot for the club" (shown below). The tweets were accompanied by #JustWWIThings,[9] a parody of the popular Tumblr hashtag #JustLittleThings.
Over the next 24 hours, many Twitter users slammed the promotional tweets as offensive and insensitive (shown below, left). On October 31st, the Battlefield account removed the #justWWItweets and posted a public apology, saying they did not intend to "show any lack of respect to the WW1 era" (shown below, right).[8]
#NotMyBattleField
On May 23rd, 2018, DICE unveiled the first official reveal trailer for its forthcoming title Battlefield V during a livestream event hosted by The Daily Show host Trevor Noah. Within the first 48 hours of the event, the trailer garnered more than 8 million views in aggregate.
The trailer was met with mixed reception, with the reveal trailer recieving over 230,000 likes and over 215,000 dislikes on YouTube, similar to the poor reception of Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare in 2016[21]. This was a sharp contrast to the reception of Battlefield 1, which accumulated 2.2 Million likes and 42,000 dislikes.
On Twitter[17], YouTube and Reddit, many critics of the trailer raised issue with the introduction of a co-ed combat outfit into a title based on the events of World War II, which quickly spun off into critiques and heated debates on the representation of political correctness and historical accuracy in the game under the hashtag #NotMyBattlefield.
BFV Pre-order Sales
On August 14th, 2018, journalist Sarah Needleman tweeted that the chief design officer at EA had left the company just two months prior to the launch of Battlefield V, noting the departure comes amid reports that pre-order sales for Battlefield V were "weak" according to the financial services firm Cowen.[23] On August 16th, YouTuber TheQuartering uploaded a video titled "EA Suffers Hilarious Battlefield 5 Backfire Get Woke Go Broke!" (shown below, left). On August 18th, YouTuber AngryJoeShow posted a video mocking those who claimed the pre-orders sales were low due to backlash toward "SJW's" (shown below, right).
Battlefield 2042 Launch Reception
Battlefield 2042 released worldwide on November 19, 2021, receiving mixed-to-negative reception, citing poor gameplay performance, mediocre map design and visuals, the removal of legacy and core features, and several divisive gameplay compromises, with the Specialist characters being at the forefront.
2042 averages a Critic score of 73 and User score of 2.3 / 10 on Metacritic[24] , and has been placed as one of the lowest rated games available on Steam.[25]
Search Interest
External References
[1] Joystiq – " Battlefield series celebrates 7 year anniversary: over 50 million served
[2] EA – Battlefield 3 -- More than 60 Awards From Worldwide Press
[3] YouTube – battlefield 2 Mine!!!! by Snoken and Sudden
[4] YouTube – Battlefield 3 RendeZook
[5] YouTube – Battlefield Friends by Hank and Jed
[6] Urban Dictionary – Shitbucket Definition
[7] YouTube – Jeep Stuff – Official Music Video
[8] Twitter – @Battlefield
[9] Twitter – #justww1things
[10] Polygon – EA turns horrors of WWI into tone-deaf Battlefield 1 memes, quickly deletes them
[11] YouTube – Battlefield V Reveal Trailer
[12] Forbes – It's absolutely stunning. Graphically it's one of the most gorgeous looking games I've ever seen.
[13] USGamer – EA Is Tuning Battlefield 5's Multiplayer To Be A More Survival, Team-Focused Experience
[14] Polygon – Battlefield 5 Ditches The Premium Pass
[15] Polygon – Six ways Battlefield 5 will change the series’ traditional gameplay
[16] Wikipedia – Battlefield V
[17] Twitter – Photos for #NotMyBattlefield
[18] The Verge – Battlefield V fans who failed history are mad that the game has women in it
[19] Kotaku – Oh No, There Are Women In Battlefield V
[20] One Angry Gamer – BATTLEFIELD V HAS GONE FULL SJW AND GAMERS HATE IT, SPAWNING #NOTMYBATTLEFIELD
[21] Forbes – This year it's Battlefield fighting Youtube trailer dislikes for a change
[22] Polygon – Battlefield 5 is getting battle royale mode, DICE confirms
[23] Twitter – @saraheneedleman
[24] Metacritic – Battlefield 2042 for PC
[25] Imgur – Battlefield 2042, 8th Most negatively Game Reviewed on Steam!
Top Comments
Penis Miller
May 25, 2018 at 07:58PM EDT
Lizard_Drainer
Nov 01, 2016 at 09:16PM EDT