I agree with others who have said the maps just don't feel real.
I think a big piece missing is confined spaces mixed with larger spaces. If you go back and look at the most popular maps from BF3/4/1 they always had a lot in common. A good mix of combat. Let's look at Sinai from BF1 for example. You had the big town in the middle if you wanted close quarter and tank combat, you had the mountain the east side for sniping, and the middle for tank and plane combat. Just a nice mix that allowed for exciting combat. We could also look at a map like Caspian border, a classic. You've got the big tower in the center for more infantry combat and the fields for more tank or plane combat.
These type of areas are just flat out missing from Bf2042. There aren't the little towns of destructible realistic buildings for infantry combat, and then a mix of fields for armoured combat. It's pretty much one or two large, boring infantry structures, and then flat nothingness. The closest feeling is the stadium, but it's surrounded by so much emptiness. Something I didn't think I would miss until you don't have it, is choke points. None of the maps have well designed choke points (elevator to a roof doesn't count). If you look at older BF, those maps always had some choke points where some wild combat would happen and always was a space to go for a fight. These current maps are just so disjointed without any cohesion.
I think another thing I miss that a lot of pointed out, is just making us run to much, everywhere. And I don't think more vehicles are the solution. Again if you look at other older maps, you would only need to walk if you wanted to, otherwise you could spawn a flag nearby and just stay there the rest of the match. BF2042 is too much of cap flag, run to next, cap flag, run back. I think the maps are just too big and empty.
Then lastly, as has been mentioned ad infinitum, but worth mentioning again, is lack of cover. There is not a lot of natural cover, like big rocks, or cliffs, usually just one or two big pieces of something. There also isn't cover like craters. Really since this is supposed to be the start of a war, there should be a lot of barricades and car checkpoints and all that stuff is missing. If you go back to 2142, a personal favourite. A lot of those maps had gates or barricades that were choke points and also provided some break ups to the maps and made it feel like you were advancing on a fortified location. I think the maps would feel so much better with a lot of cover that makes sense for the lore. Like police cars and sandbags.
I could go on for years, but thats what I've got for now.
