There is a sequence in the reveal trailer for Battlefield Portal where an army equipped only with medical defibrillators faces off against a battalion brandishing tiny utility knives. They clash at a control point, beating each other down with their limited munitions, probably cursing whatever commanding officer sent them to the frontlines with such a limited arsenal. It is obscene, it is absurd, and it is absolutely hilarious. Battlefield, as a franchise, has always thrived in moments of deranged chaotic overkill; who among us has not nosedived our fighter jets directly into an enemy tank? But Portal, which is one of the three marquee modes launching with Battlefield 2042, is the first time DICE has leaned into the wondrous farce all the way.
At its core, Battlefield Portal is a level editor. DICE has grabbed six classic maps from across Battlefield 1942, Battlefield 3, and Battlefield Bad Company 2, and reupholstered them to fit alongside the many scintillating landscapes found in 2042. (So, for 1942, El Alamein and The Battle of Bulge will be presented in glorious 4K.) The vehicles, weaponry, and classes from those games have also been preserved, and DICE is proudly handing the toolkit off to its community for them to wreak as much chaos as they'd like. The whole Battlefield expanse is at your fingertips. Do you want to import 2042's supersoldiers into vintage World War II clashes? Go for it. What about a shotguns vs. snipers throwdown in your favorite Bad Company 2 crucible? Make it happen. Maybe a version of Battlefield 3 that removes all the weapons but the rocket launchers? We're not here to judge. Shall we learn once and for all if Panzer tanks could hold their against modern engineering? Can the Tommy Gun beat back the M16? Portal has your back.
[widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="slug=battlefield-portal-screenshots&captions=true"]
All of this level editing doesn't actually happen within the Battlefield 2042 client. Instead, players will log onto a website that opens up all the variables, which they can then upload to the servers. That might seem counterintuitive at first, but after watching DICE show off the nuts and bolts, it immediately made sense why Portal's logistics wouldn't adapt well to the game's UI. The amount of detail poured into Battlefield Portal is immense, to the point of resembling, like, RPG Maker or something. You can, for instance, adjust the damage multipliers applied to headshots or body shots independently of each team — which opens the hilarious possibility of creating a snipers-only ruleset with no extra headshot damage. Downright sisyphean! You can turn off the HUDs and black out mini maps for the uber-tactical Battlefield experience you were waiting for. You can be a real bastard, and make it so one faction can't go prone. You can even adjust certain spawn conditions or perks. In the example I watched, a DICE developer set a condition where players restored to max health whenever they scored a kill, which itself was a mechanic in an overarching set of functions that essentially created a makeshift Gun Game a la Counter-Strike or Call of Duty. It's a truly bold endeavor. Few video games have ever shipped comprehensive mod tools within a retail package.
[poilib element="quoteBox" parameters="excerpt=Few%20video%20games%20have%20ever%20shipped%20comprehensive%20mod%20tools%20within%20a%20retail%20package."]
That said, there seems to be a distinct learning curve with Portal. On screen, all of the integers and commands look a lot like coding prompts. This is not Super Mario Maker — you won't be winsomely dragging power stars with a stylus across El Alamein. Instead, I imagine Portal's creation tools appealing to a very specific type of player, and the rest of us will reap the rewards of their genius. That is how classic multiplayer modding has always worked, of course. Halo's beloved Zombies mode was initially a fan-based creation, (as was the original DOTA for that matter,) and personally I can't wait to see what fascinating new Battlefield interpretations will surface in the newfound meritocracy. It should be said that DICE is offering some scaled-down, arena-type maps for Portal, which means that not everything needs to be a 128-player slobberknocker. Finally, DICE is offering the means to 1v1 our enemies.
[ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2021/06/13/battlefield-2042-desert-storm-gameplay-trailer"]
Portal creations can be private and played among friends, or you can take them to the universe through an old-school server browser. That's right, in 2021 you'll once again be selecting Battlefield matchups like it's 2004. DICE will also be hosting some of its own in-house rulesets, as well as their curated selections from the community, through a matchmaking service. I'm extremely curious to see how hardcore Battlefield lifers use these tools. In one sense, I look forward to the freakshow excess that will inevitably come to pass. But I'm also excited to play a standard 1942 matchup with some trimming around the edges — maybe ditching that M1 Garand once and for all. That's the beauty of Portal: It can be knives vs. defibrillators, or it can be the Battle of the Bulge on next-gen consoles, immaculately balanced by one of the most dedicated fandoms in the world. There is nothing this Battlefield can't do.
Continue reading...
At its core, Battlefield Portal is a level editor. DICE has grabbed six classic maps from across Battlefield 1942, Battlefield 3, and Battlefield Bad Company 2, and reupholstered them to fit alongside the many scintillating landscapes found in 2042. (So, for 1942, El Alamein and The Battle of Bulge will be presented in glorious 4K.) The vehicles, weaponry, and classes from those games have also been preserved, and DICE is proudly handing the toolkit off to its community for them to wreak as much chaos as they'd like. The whole Battlefield expanse is at your fingertips. Do you want to import 2042's supersoldiers into vintage World War II clashes? Go for it. What about a shotguns vs. snipers throwdown in your favorite Bad Company 2 crucible? Make it happen. Maybe a version of Battlefield 3 that removes all the weapons but the rocket launchers? We're not here to judge. Shall we learn once and for all if Panzer tanks could hold their against modern engineering? Can the Tommy Gun beat back the M16? Portal has your back.
[widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="slug=battlefield-portal-screenshots&captions=true"]
All of this level editing doesn't actually happen within the Battlefield 2042 client. Instead, players will log onto a website that opens up all the variables, which they can then upload to the servers. That might seem counterintuitive at first, but after watching DICE show off the nuts and bolts, it immediately made sense why Portal's logistics wouldn't adapt well to the game's UI. The amount of detail poured into Battlefield Portal is immense, to the point of resembling, like, RPG Maker or something. You can, for instance, adjust the damage multipliers applied to headshots or body shots independently of each team — which opens the hilarious possibility of creating a snipers-only ruleset with no extra headshot damage. Downright sisyphean! You can turn off the HUDs and black out mini maps for the uber-tactical Battlefield experience you were waiting for. You can be a real bastard, and make it so one faction can't go prone. You can even adjust certain spawn conditions or perks. In the example I watched, a DICE developer set a condition where players restored to max health whenever they scored a kill, which itself was a mechanic in an overarching set of functions that essentially created a makeshift Gun Game a la Counter-Strike or Call of Duty. It's a truly bold endeavor. Few video games have ever shipped comprehensive mod tools within a retail package.
[poilib element="quoteBox" parameters="excerpt=Few%20video%20games%20have%20ever%20shipped%20comprehensive%20mod%20tools%20within%20a%20retail%20package."]
That said, there seems to be a distinct learning curve with Portal. On screen, all of the integers and commands look a lot like coding prompts. This is not Super Mario Maker — you won't be winsomely dragging power stars with a stylus across El Alamein. Instead, I imagine Portal's creation tools appealing to a very specific type of player, and the rest of us will reap the rewards of their genius. That is how classic multiplayer modding has always worked, of course. Halo's beloved Zombies mode was initially a fan-based creation, (as was the original DOTA for that matter,) and personally I can't wait to see what fascinating new Battlefield interpretations will surface in the newfound meritocracy. It should be said that DICE is offering some scaled-down, arena-type maps for Portal, which means that not everything needs to be a 128-player slobberknocker. Finally, DICE is offering the means to 1v1 our enemies.
[ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2021/06/13/battlefield-2042-desert-storm-gameplay-trailer"]
Portal creations can be private and played among friends, or you can take them to the universe through an old-school server browser. That's right, in 2021 you'll once again be selecting Battlefield matchups like it's 2004. DICE will also be hosting some of its own in-house rulesets, as well as their curated selections from the community, through a matchmaking service. I'm extremely curious to see how hardcore Battlefield lifers use these tools. In one sense, I look forward to the freakshow excess that will inevitably come to pass. But I'm also excited to play a standard 1942 matchup with some trimming around the edges — maybe ditching that M1 Garand once and for all. That's the beauty of Portal: It can be knives vs. defibrillators, or it can be the Battle of the Bulge on next-gen consoles, immaculately balanced by one of the most dedicated fandoms in the world. There is nothing this Battlefield can't do.
Continue reading...