EA and DICE have just revealed the third multiplayer experience for Battlefield 2042. Today, they revealed an all-new, high stakes, squad-based game mode called Battlefield Hazard Zone, and we've got all the juicy details to share with you along with the reveal trailer. Set in the year 2040, with tensions rising between Russia and the US, players must battle it out to gather as much intel as possible from fallen satellites. The mode has had a name for a while, however the exact details have been under wraps until now...
Battlefield Hazard Zone is an extraction-based four-player game mode, which combines tense, squad-focused survival gameplay with Battlefield's iconic sandbox maps. Depending on your platform you can play against scores of other gamers. You can play against 24 players on Xbox One & PlayStation 4, and 32 on Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 5 and PC. The main objective is to extract out of the Hazard Zone safely, with as many data drives as possible.
Watch the brand new Battlefield Hazard Zone trailer here...
On your data drive retrieval mission, it's not just enemy squads that you have to worry about. There's tornados that feature in Hazard Zone too! You'll know how much chaos these cause if you played in the recent Battlefield 2042 open beta.
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A Hazard Zone match has five main phases, strategise & equip, insert, retrieve, first extraction and last extraction, if you manage to survive that long. Eliminating enemy squads along the way is a risky strategy, but rewarding if successful. If you get downed you can crawl to safety, but if you are killed you are sent to spectate. Your squadmates can get you back into the battle by using the reinforcement uplink - similar to the Warzone's buy stations or Apex Legends's respawn beacons.
Hazard Zone is playable on all Battlefield 2042 launch maps confirmed for All-Out Warfare. These maps are: Kaleidoscope, Manifest, Orbital, Discarded, Renewal, Hourglass and Breakaway. Players will have two chances per match to extract out of the Hazard Zone, with as many data drives as possible. The extraction timings and locations change depending on the match.
There's a greater emphasis in Hazard Zone on the specialists that make up your squad. Getting the right mix of weapons, gadgets and tactical upgrades is key to making it out alive. You could build a squad based on offensive or defensive styles, or have collectors who go after lots of data drives. Unlike standard Battlefield 2042 multiplayer, specialists are restricted in Hazard Zone, meaning your squad cannot contain more than one of the same specialist.
So, why bother extracting and collecting these all important data drives? Well this is where the metagame comes in. The Hazard Zone assigns a unique value to each of the drives. Each drive that is successfully extracted is converted into a currency called 'Dark Market Credits'. This currency can be spent before each match to buy and equip weapons, gadgets and tactical upgrades unique to the mode.
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The Escape from Tarkov-esque mode will have 15 tactical upgrades available at launch, some free and others available through Dark Market Credits. These can drastically change your performance in a match, and can be tailored to your playstyle. Some upgrades increase ammo capacity, whilst others can give you additional credits for each extracted data drive.
Like the sound of Hazard Zone? Well you don't have long to wait, as the newly unveiled mode is set to launch alongside Battlefield 2042 when it releases worldwide on November 19th 2021, or if you're an eager beaver, on November 12th for EA Play/Pro Subscriber or Gold and Ultimate edition purchasers.
See you on the battlefield.
Featured Image Credit: Battlefield 2042 / Credit: EATopics: Battlefield 2042