Battlefield Mobile First Impressions: Losing The Battle Before It's Started
If I were to list the ten most influential shooter franchises of all time, Battlefield would have to make the list. It’s not like I can claim to have played every shooter across PC, console, and mobile platforms, but I know how amazing and influential the Battlefield series has been to me and others. By bringing tanks, explosions, and destructive weapons to massive, well, battlefields, these games present an intense vision of war at its loudest and craziest. If you’re a mobile-first gamer who’s never yet had a chance to experience the excitement of Battlefield for yourself, you’ll want to pay attention: I’ve now had a chance to go hands-on with the alpha test version of Battlefield Mobile, EA’s first attempt at taking the series on the go.
With multiple playable modes, vehicles, and weapons, Battlefield Mobile boasts the same unique experience as its console and PC counterparts...just on a smaller screen. I first immersed myself into the gameplay through the playable tutorial.
Image Credited to Battlefield Mobile | EA Inc
Unfortunately, that tutorial didn't help me as much as I'd wished; it mostly taught me all the stuff that I already know from every other shooter I’ve ever played. Duck, run, reload, and explode stuff. But Battlefield Mobile’s AI is poor, and I didn’t often meet any consequences for not following instructions quickly or well enough.
The problem isn’t necessarily that Battlefield Mobile spends time teaching players the basics. After all, every shooter is someone’s first. The real issue is this tutorial never digs into the much more complex Battlefield mechanics that even shooter veterans may struggle with at first. Nowhere in the tutorial did it teach me how to steer the tank properly, or differences in weaponry, or even how to capture an objective point in Conquest mode. There are so many vital things that could've been covered through the tutorial or potentially a multitude of tutorials. I was disgruntled to be left on my own figuring out the game’s more meaty mechanics.
Image Credited to Battlefield Mobile | EA Inc
After completing the tutorial, I deployed straight into Team Deathmatch, one of the four playable modes. I was hoping this was the moment Battlefield Mobile would blow my doubts to smithereens. But no, I was very wrong. When I first jumped into gameplay, I immediately questioned if I was playing the right game.
I felt taken aback because the visuals were so outdated and terrible. If I were to take screenshots or videos from my time with Battlefield Mobile and show them to one of my regular sqaudmates from the PC versions, they'd wonder if I was lying or making a joke. The Battlefield franchise is known for its beautiful, scenic maps, with textures and environments that could be mistaken for something taken out of a movie. But Battlefield Mobile's visuals look more like a spin-off browser game or a knock-off from the early 2000s. It lacked so much from its counterpart, and I wish I could've seen more of the quality I expected from a Battlefield port. And I know EA’s capabilities with bringing outstanding visuals and game design to the table, the recently released Apex Legends Mobile being a prime example.
Image Credited to Battlefield Mobile | EA Inc
It’s also worth noting just in case you’re itching to take part in testing, Battlefield Mobile still feels very early and very unstable. Bugs, crashes, poor AI gameplay, mobility problems, and menu choices malfunctioning were heavily prevalent throughout my time with the game. And the biggest issue was also one of the most immediately obvious: AI bots and their difficulty settings.
Considering that Battlefield Mobile is only available in limited testing right now, it's not an issue nor a surprise that AI-controlled bots are used to fill lobbies. More of a problem, however: The bots can't kill you. I never felt challenged when facing off against bots in the game. I'd have honestly been better off doing target practice than playing ten-minute matches with the same outcome every time. Battlefield Mobile's AI tries to mimic natural movement but these attempts come across as obviously artificial. I found it hard to have fun knowing I'd always be the best player in every lobby and on the best team.
Image Credited to Battlefield Mobile | EA Inc
Some of the bugs I encountered were more minor, forgivable, and even funny, like how I was able to bypass missions or purchase weapons without reaching a certain rank, but it would freeze my screen and halt my gameplay. Still, it’s clear that EA has a lot to do to make things even just baseline functional before Battlefield Mobile's global launch. The current state of the game feels rushed and in a state that maybe wasn’t ready to release to a wider testing audience in the first place. Battlefield is a massive franchise full of complex games, though—it deserves the time and attention to make the mobile port a proper representation of what players love about the series.
Thankfully it’s not all a disaster. Battlefield Mobile's audio design and destruction functions as expected, with buildings crumbling with a bombshell from a tank, or a grenade sounding uniquely powerful when tossed nearby. When I would fire cases of bullets across a street, the sound of the ammunition refracting off cement was something unparalleled in the average mobile shooter. Likewise, the weapons feel realistic to use, and recoil control matters in the way I’ve grown to expect from Battlefield titles. These mechanics made playing the game a lot more challenging, in a good way. These elements make it clear that someone who's working on Battlefield Mobile understands what makes the series special. I just hope that they'll be able to recapture that same feeling across the whole game as development continues and tend to these current issues the game’s facing, and that we get the mobile experience the franchise deserves whenever the official launch happens.
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