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The promised Liquidators Event for Battlefield 2042 is here and, like most things concerning the game, it has proven to be rather disappointing for many players.
First off, let's just address the elephant in the room. Most of the event skins that were used in the marketing and promotional materials for the event are locked behind a paywall. That's right, all but five skins (2 Specialists, 3 weapons) are only obtainable if you purchase them using the in-game storefront. This means you will either have to purchase Battlefield Coins to spend using real-world money, or you can spend the Battlefield Coins you earned through Battle Pass progression. The Battle Pass also having cost you money either if purchased separately or when you purchased the more expensive versions of Battlefield 2042.
To the credit of DICE, they never said that the skins would be free, nor that they would all be obtainable by simply playing the game. Their roadmap did have separate areas for the "Missions and Rewards" and the "Exclusive Skins / Themed Limited-Time Cosmetics." It was just that most of us collectively assumed that the skins that were heavily promoted wouldn't be exclusively locked away behind a paywall. It was never really
Separately, I have seen a number of complaints from players about how this event could have been something added to the Portal mode. The "new faction" are still just Specialists. In fact, the Liquidators still appear on both teams, which are still labeled as "USA" and "Russia." It's not a team of No-Pats going up against Liquidators, it's just more of the same.
Players have also taken issue with the fact that while the focus is on close-quarters combat, the reduced play areas of the maps still feel too large because the maps themselves are, well, too large to begin with. I have read a few remarks saying that the layouts, beyond being too large, are also woefully imbalanced on some maps. Apparently, some maps allow for one team to just spawn kill the other team. One Reddit user said that in a few instances, this spawn killing and lack of balance made their rounds last only about "3 minutes tops."
Apparently, the event also features limited Specialist selection without being allowed to have duplicates on teams. Remember that the first week of this event is strictly 8v8 while 16v16 is next week. Players say that this restriction makes the game feel more like a hero shooter. As well, the "missions" touted for the event are restricted only to the Tactical Conquest limited-time mode and consist only of earning ribbons.
Still, it is something new for the game that needed a bit of a stopgap between new seasonal releases. The Liquidators Event runs from now through to October 25, 2022 on all available platforms.
These maps were clearly not made for this game type in mind at all. Hell, they were barely made for regular Conquest let alone CQB fights. The 8v8 with locked Specialists also doesn't help matters. It's kind of a mess.
And then, of course, seeing most of the skins and stuff locked behind the paywall is just kind of disgusting. The skins themselves look alright. They're at least different than the normal stuff. But the entire event just feels so half-assed.