A multiplayer first person shooter, Battlefield 2042 doesn’t have a single player story (unlike its predecessors), instead relying on multiplayer missions and storylines to advance the plot.
In the near future world of the game, humanity faces a series of hardships, encouraged by rising costs of living, climate change, broken political alliances, and international debt that causes crashes to the world’s stock markets.
Most prominently, the European Union collapses due to Germany’s financial downfall, leading to widespread terror, military regimes, and refugee crises spilling across Europe and much of the world.
This reaches a peak in 2040, when a series of satellites (around 70%) begin falling to Earth in something called a Kessler Syndrome Event, a theory devised by Donald J. Kessler in 1978 theorized that increases in space junk in low orbit could result in collisions.
This results in rising tensions between the United States and Russia, fuelled by blackouts and lack of power, and leading to all-out war between the two nations and their allies.
Characters
Players can choose from a number of specialists, who each have their own specific skills, abilities, and weapon sets for use in multiplayer combat.
Since the games release, the specialists available to players are:
Webster Mackay – a former Canadian soldier who uses agility and grappling hook skills to journey through the environment.
Maria Falck – a German medic equipped with healing darts to help comrades.
Wilkus “Casper” Van Daele – A South African sniper who camouflages himself using a ghillie suit (a suit adorned with netting and leaf effects to simulate the environment).
Pyotr “Boris” Guskovsky – A Russian engineer with skills in creating and installing sentry guns during campaigns.
Kimble “Irish” Graves – a fan favorite from the previous game Battlefield 4, who is a skilled former US marine who uses special energy shields.
Navin Rao – an Indian hacker who can be used to disable enemy communication networks.
Santiago “Dozer” Espinoza – a Mexican soldier who acts as the groups heavy, dealing heavy damage to enemies.
Emma “Sundance” Rosier– a French, wingsuit wearing soldier with explosives skills.
Ji-Soo Paik– a South Korean agent with expert spotting abilities.
Constantin “Angel” Anghel – a Romanian medic who can quickly heal his teammates.
Gameplay
As well as this, the game has three primary game modes: All-Out Warfare, Battlefield Portal, and Hazard Zone.
All-Out Warfare consists of two components, Breakthrough and Conquest, both of which were featured in the previous games.
Breakthrough involves an attack/defend scenario where one team must capture an enemy’s control zones.
Whilst Conquest requires players to each fight for control of all the control zones in the area, which means they then have full control over that particular sector.
Battlefield Portal lets players create customized multiplayer battles and scenarios, using a web-based scripting application to expertly modify aspects of storytelling and gameplay to make their own storylines and modes.
The third mode, Hazard Zone, is a cooperative multiplayer mode, where players must work together to salvage important data and equipment from a series of fallen satellites.
Fields Of View
Battlefield 2042 works with a vertical field of view. Whilst there isn’t a fundamental difference between the two, this simply means that the difference is measured across the vertical axis rather than the horizontal.
In a game world, a 90 degree field of view means that effectively, the camera shows the player one quarter of their surroundings (which would be 360 degrees around).
It is perhaps simpler to think of field of view in relation to the human eye. The normal human eye has a field of view of roughly 200 degrees, yet when we use binoculars, our FoV reduces to around 120 degrees.
First person shooters are perhaps the most heightened example, as it creates a need to be able to see as much as possible, differing greatly from third person gaming, that gives us an over the shoulder perspective, thus allowing us more range of vision.
The need to survive and be alerted to enemies is universal in gaming, and in Battlefield 2042, as with other first person shooter games, the field of view can be altered according to the needs of the player.
These consist of either a high FoV, or a low FoV, with both options providing pros and cons when it comes to gameplay.
When it comes to a high field of view, the main pro is that you have greater visibility, being able to see potential enemies and dangers much sooner than otherwise.
You get a greater overall picture of the world around you, meaning that you can act sooner and more accordingly with what the situation requires of you.
Whilst this is a useful setting to have, it can have the disadvantage of reducing accuracy, and the ability to target or properly aim during combat.
Similarly, when it comes to low fields of view, the player can have better accuracy when it comes to armed combat, but the gameplay (especially at the lowest settings) can feel claustrophobic, give the feel of tunnel vision, and make the experience disorientating, especially if done on a large screen.
You are also more open to being surprised by unseen enemies, or caught in booby traps, like tripwires and land mines, that might have been spotted if a higher field of view had been used.
Player Preferences
According to a survey taken following the games release, the most popular FoVs used within the survey group were 75, 80, and 90.
None from the group ventured lower down the fields of view than this, whilst only a handful opted for 100, which is more suited to those with quick reflexes or eyesight.
As the fish-eye lens effect of using large screen with a high field of view can prove distorting or disorientating to some.
The “Best” Settings For Battlefield 2042
Despite any data or information either way, the whole thing comes down to personal preference of the player in question.
Whilst it’s true that most prefer a higher field of view, so as to be aware of all oncoming dangers, traps, and obstacles, there will always be some players who think the opposite.
This could be from the perspective of increasing the game’s difficulty, or perhaps creating a more intense, suspenseful playing style – perhaps more akin to real-life conditions where you don’t have such foresight.
Within Battlefield 2042, the highest field of view attainable is 100 degrees. That being said, a recommended figure most players go for is in the upper end of the scale.
As they prefer the all-round experience of having more awareness of situations around them, whilst also having good adaptability and accuracy during firefights with enemies.
Calculating FoV
Many serious players like to incorporate field of view calculators to ascertain the best settings for their particular circumstances.
The internet is surprisingly rife with tools like this to help other players find the right settings, most likely due to the rise in online competitive gaming in the last two decades.
Wherein people make a sustainable living through gaming competitions, streaming events, or a combination of the two.
This would certainly make the need for the correct setup more important than ever. Gone are the days of casual gaming, at least as a blanket state of play for all.
That’s why these calculators have become increasingly important. Some of the more sophisticated and better rated ones, such as Sensitivity Converter.
Take into account diagonal and vertical resolution, diagonal field of view, and horizontal field of view to supposedly give a more precise result.
But even with this helpful tool, the fact of the matter is that it will always come down to preference, which makes the notion of trying to mathematically calculate the thing a futile task, as preference comes down to desires, not needs.
Final Thoughts
It’s quite clear that, when it comes to fields of view, personal preference will always come before mathematical equations or consumer information.
Whilst some may prefer to feel immersed in the action, feeling the jump scares and tension of combat, others will prefer an informed approach.
Wherever you stand, why not have a go yourself, and see which you prefer?
My name is Ashley Newby and I want to put integrity back into esports and get the hype surrounding them paramount once more. During my teenage years, I happened to stumble across a Street Fighter tournament online and I was hooked.
From that day, I have kept up with and watched many tournaments including Valorant, Super Smash Bros, and League of Legends. I even got to compete in my first one earlier this year!
