Hit the battlefield, if you dare.

EA and DICE announce today that the latest entry in their popular FPS franchise is now available. That's right, Battlefield 2042 is now available to everyone regardless of which version they purchased. This should be cause for celebration, right? Uh, well, maybe not. We'll get to that in a moment.

If you are still undecided about Battlefield 2042, here's the rundown for the game from today's press release announcement.

Battlefield 2042 features up to 128-player battles on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC. The PlayStation 4 and Xbox One versions are limited to 64-players at most. Today's release include quite large maps with warfare that includes infantry battles, as well as land and air vehicular combat. Apparently, EGM called Battlefield 2042 a "true evolution" for the series in the only review to give the game a "perfect" score.

Gameplay in Battlefield 2042 takes place in the near future in a world where resources are limited and the United States and Russia are once again at odds with each other. However, you won't be necessarily be Americans vs Russians in this as each side is made up of refugees from collapsed nations known as the Non-Patriated (No-Pats). The world is being ravaged by frequent and "dynamic" storms and other environmental hazards. Despite this dire situation, those No-Pats sure are so quirky in their end-of-round quips! Oh those scamps!

Classes? Gone! In their place are Specialists. At launch there are 10 different Specialists to choose from. Each have their own unique Specialist Trait and Specialty. These are in addition to fully customizable loadouts.

There are three distinct game modes to choose from in Battlefield 2042: All-Out-Warfare is the typical Battlefield experience featuring both Conquest and Breakthrough game types. Then there is the Battlefield Portal, which includes a number of classic Battlefield maps and gear. You can create custom game types and mix and match Battlefield eras in here. Finally, there is Hazard Zone, a mode that finds you going in to a map as a squad, finding satellite data, and trying to make it out alive.

Battlefield 2042 is available on digital storefronts starting at $59.99 (USD; $69.99 on next-gen consoles) for the basic edition.

Speaking of digital storefronts, let's take a little look at how Battlefield 2042 is holding up in the Steam reviews. At the time of this posting, Steam user reviews are "Mostly Negative" with over 14,800 reviews calculated. Only about 22% of the fanbase have rated the game "positive" on Steam. According to SteamDB, this places Battlefield 2042 in the 53rd position for the worst rated game of all time on Steam.

DICE has a lot of work ahead of them to turn this game around. As is stands, I would strongly suggest that you hold off on purchasing the game for several months.