Battlefield 2042 is the worst-rated mainline entry in series history
Battlefield 2042 is tied with Battlefield Heroes and Battlefield Play4Free as the worst-received game in the series.
Battlefield 2042's launch has been off to a rough start in a lot of ways, and it looks like all the game's woes have been reflected in its critical score, setting a new record low for the series.
Battlefield games have always had rough launches, and some even suffered from a lack of focus, but nowhere are those problems more prevalent than in Battlefield 2042. DICE's latest shooter is now sitting at a 64-71 Metacritic score.
The overall score varies per platform, as it tends to do. The lowest is the Xbox Series X/S version at 64, followed by PS5 at a slightly higher 68. PC leads with a 71.
Things aren't much better on OpenCritic, the independent aggregating site. Due its more transparent algorithm, the overall score is lower at 66, based on 104 reviews.
This is all below Battlefield 5’s, the game released before Battlefield 2042. Battlefield 5's lowest-scoring version was PS4, at 73 Metacritic. Its highest was PC, with 81.
Many don't consider Battlefield Hardline a mainline entry, and the game received its fair share of criticism at launch, and even before. It's not fondly remembered, or remembered at all, really, but it does have a higher Metacritic score than Battlefield 2042. Hardline achieved scores between 71 and 73.
This makes Battlefield 2042 the lowest-rated mainline entry. It's actually closer to Battlefield Heroes and Battlefield Play4Free in terms of Metacritic score than it is to other full-fat Battlefield games.
We awarded Battlefield 2042 three out of five stars in our review.
"I am hopeful that 2042 will be a more interesting Battlefield game at some point next year, but having been through varying degrees of rough launches with this series - from BF 2142 through BF 5 - I can’t say I have the stamina to perform the dance of chastising DICE for technical problems and missing features, only to turn around and celebrate when the game is inevitably ‘good now, actually’ a year into it," I concluded.