DICE has revealed Hazard Zone, the third main mode that will launch as part of Battlefield 2042 on 19th November 2021. The game mode is rather different to the usual Battlefield gameplay, but true to DICE’s word, it’s not a battle royale. Instead, it’s an objective-oriented mode that takes clear inspiration from another multiplayer sensation: Escape from Tarkov.
Here’s the debut trailer from DICE to show you more:
Hazard Zone’s goal is for you and your team of four players to head into hostile territory, retrieve data drives from downed low-orbit satellites, and then make it out at an extraction point before a dangerous weather front makes this impossible. The the thing is that you’re not alone. There’s other teams out there trying to do exactly the same thing, and you will have to fight for, not only the data drives themselves, but also to make it to the extraction aircraft.
Battlefielld 2042 Hazard Zone: Everything you need to know
Another factor that you need to consider is that there will also be AI opposing forces, who’ve come in and set up camp around the initial satellite crashes. If you want those drives, you’ll have to fight them (or wait for someone else to fight them and then fight them instead). There will be further satellite drops though, giving you plenty of opportunity to grab data drives.
Extraction can happen at two times, and only two teams will potentially make it out alive.
Your odds of making it out might be better on the last generation of consoles. The player count is different between generations:
- 32-players (8 teams) on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, PC
- 24-players (6 teams) on PlayStation 4, Xbox One
Either way, you’ll have to make good decisions when gearing up for insertion. You’ll pick from the game’s 10 specialists, with a restriction of only having one of every type of specialist available to your squad. Additionally, there’s tactical gear, such as the Intel Scanner to track satellites, or the Reinforcement Uplink that can bring back a player that’s been killed. Uplinks can also be found across the map, though.
Those will cost you Dark Market Credits before a match, which are earned from the data drives you manage to extract. This feed your ability to buy and equip better weapons, gadgets and mode-specific upgrades ahead of a match.
It’s an interesting mode, and it could be a real winner for DICE. The battle royale is a brutally tough one to crack right now, dominated as it is by the four juggernauts of PUBG, Fortnite, Apex Legends and COD Warzone, but Hazard Zone is different, drawing upon games like Escape From Tarkov, Hunt: Showdown and The Division’s Dark Zones for their objective-driven gameplay.
If it comes together, this could well do for Battlefield what the battle royale did for Fortnite and COD, adding a new, highly popular, eminently watchable game mode to draw in more fans.
Announced earlier this year after months of rumours and build up, DICE first unveiled the All-Out Warfare mode with Conquest and Breakthrough and up to 128 players on newer systems – PS4 and Xbox One will be restricted to 64 players. The game will have the biggest maps ever found in the series, as well as AI characters that will help keep these massive maps feeling populated at all times.
Alongside that, the newly rebranded Ripple Effect studio has cooked up Battlefield Portal. Remastering content from the original Battlefield 1942, Battlefield Bad Company 2 and Battlefield 3, Portal puts control of the game in your hands, letting users mashup their own game modes, create unique experiences, and more.
Battlefield 2042 guides & more from TheSixthAxis
- What is the Battlefield Portal game mode?
- Battlefield 2042 on PS4 & Xbox One limited to 64-players and smaller maps
- Preview: Battlefield 2042 has huge 128-player battles, but it’s much more than that
- The Maps of Battlefield 2042 and Battlefield Portal
- Battlefield 2042 – Specialists and Classes Guide
- Battlefield 2042 cross-platform play detailed – PS5, Xbox Series X|S & PC separate from PS4 & Xbox One
