EA has been drip-feeding new information about Battlefield 2042 out over the past few months, officially revealing the game in July and showing off new gameplay and cinematics in the time since. While Battlefield 2042 is dropping the campaign, it seems there's still an overarching story, and that story just so happens to contain classic characters. One such character got the spotlight in the most recent gameplay trailer EA released.
Debuting in a cinematic last week, Battlefield 4's Irish is returning as a playable Specialist in Battlefield 2042. While fans received confirmation of Irish's return, few gameplay details were revealed about the Specialist. Luckily, that's now been rectified as a new gameplay clip, while brief, focuses entirely on how Irish will play when it comes time to face off against other players.
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The most notable thing about the gameplay clip is the deployable cover that Irish uses. Battlefield 2042 Specialists have unique equipment, with EA highlighting a grappling hook in a few different gameplay clips, and it seems that the deployable cover will be Irish's ability. Irish will also apparently be an Engineer, the Battlefield class most often associated with repairing vehicles and using PDW or Carbine weapons.
Irish will also be using the "Veteran" trait, which "provides armor, with additional bonuses from downed enemies." It's a bit vague, and not something that fans get to see in action in the gameplay trailer, though the distinction of an additional trait for each Specialist should help make them feel more distinct from one another, which should go a long way to keep the game from feeling stale if they're significant enough.
Outside of Irish's abilities, the gameplay showcases how gunplay will operate on a fundamental level. Fans have seen similar demonstrations thanks to the other Battlefield 2042 gameplay trailers that have been released since the game was revealed, but this time around there are fewer jump cuts and bombastic distractions to pull attention away from the combat. Fans won't get a great gauge on how the game plays until they get hands-on time, but it does look promising.
There are just a few months left before Battlefield 2042 launches, and there will be an open beta to help fill the gap in the meantime, currently slated for September. Some players got to take place in a closed Battlefield 2042 technical test over the weekend, but there's a stringent NDA in place, so those that didn't get to partake likely won't learn anything new from it, barring any leaks.
Battlefield 2042 releases October 22 for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.
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