General Feedback
As someone with hundreds of hours in BF3 and 4, even going bad to BC2, this is the Battlefield experience I've been waiting for (2042 just didn't scratch that itch). 9/10
In general, the game feels great and runs smoothly. Occasional bugs include a second delay after spawning or rezzing to shoot (you ADS someone rushing you but press fire and nothing happens) and mounting boxes/walls sending you 10 ft into the air. Otherwise, it's been smooth sailing. I can't wait to see the other maps at release to capitalize on the vehicular warfare which I love.
Vehicle controls felt natural (custom settings), though key binds can be confusing when playing inverted aircraft controls. I have my aircraft up/down inverted, as I assume most do. However, when adding a "pitch up" keybind, this actually pitched down, due to the inversion. This is based off the inversion I assume but requires mental recognition when changing binds.
Gun play feels great, TTK is fast but this is a good thing. Hot take: keep the shotgun as it is. It really isn't an issue outside of close combat and the number of 2/3 pumps for targets at mid distance feels fine. I assume the 1 pumps at distance are just lucky groupings or infantry that have already taken damage.
The only area I'd like to see changes is in the playlists. Week one had it perfect, with closed weapons conquest being a stand alone playlist. Week 2 has shaken that up but making conquest open weapons only, unless you play a combined playlist with breakthrough. Conquest & rush (cover that in a moment) are the bread and butter of this series, and closed weapon classes should be the "normal" state. Game search is a great tool but it does not have a open/closed filter so you can only search open weapon games. Open weapons should be the off-shoot playlist and should remain an option but not the standard. At the very least, we should have the ability to enter a playlist of our favorite game mode with our favorite settings, rather than having to play modes we don't like purely to have class weapons. This weekend also brought back Rush, one of the titles best game modes and the twin pillar across from conquest... Except it's been totally reworked into something unrecognizable. Shrinking it to 12 v 12, no vehicles, makes it a game mode I'd never touch outside the skin unlock challenge. I understand that breakthrough is probably meant to replace it, but why change the known entity when fans already have established expectations. Plus, breakthrough feels worse to play when you make a push l, successfully cap a zone, and costs your squad their lives... only to lose that ground back and get stuck in your spawn against 20 snipers (I know this can be a team disparity but still, the thrill of rush inherently thrives under those conditions). Bring OG rush back, closed weapons, vehicles, 32v32. Who cares about breakthrough, make that mode small maps where people can fight over 5 sq ft back and forth for 40 minutes.
Other than those questionable game mode changes and playlist offerings, the game is fantastic. I can't wait for the full release! ( PS: Server browser!)
