Battlefield Portal: Classic maps, weapons & custom game modes coming to Battlefield 2042
DICE and Ripple Effect have finally revealed Battlefield 2042’s “REDACTED” mode: Battlefield Portal. Here’s everything you need to know about Battlefield Portal, including the returning maps, weapons, and gadgets from classic titles.
Ahead of Battlefield 2042’s official reveal, fans clamored for everything from a new Bad Company title to a Battlefield 3 Remake. Ripple Effect, who were previously DICE LA, were listening and crafted a “love letter” to those fans: Battlefield Portal.
Battlefield Portal is a brand-new experience for 2042 that brings back maps, weapons, and more from classic Battlefield titles such as 1942 and Bad Company 2.
Here’s everything you need to know about Battlefield Portal, including all confirmed content and the game mode builder system.
What is Battlefield Portal?
Battlefield Portal brings back classic maps, weapons, gadgets, and more from previous Battlefield titles for the ultimate sandbox experience.
Content from Battlefield 1942, Bad Company 2, and Battlefield 3 will play alongside Battlefield 2042’s content, which will lead to some unique and crazy modes and experiences.
You can choose to either play the ‘Official Experiences’ crafted by Ripple Effect or take advantage of ‘Community Experiences,’ where the playerbase has free rein to build whatever game mode they can come up with. The British Army from WW2 could fight 2042’s Specialists in Arica Harbor, or you could play “Gun Game with weapons throughout history.”
Although being a unique experience, devs confirmed that it’s still part of Battlefield 2042, and you’ll gain experience and progress the Battle Pass even while playing in Portal modes.
Read on for every confirmed map, weapon, vehicle, and example of all the whacky game modes players can build.
All Battlefield Portal maps
- Battle of the Bulge (BF 1942)
- El Alamein (BF 1942)
- Arica Harbor (Bad Company 2)
- Valparaiso (Bad Company 2)
- Caspian Border (Battlefield 3)
- Noshahr Canals (Battlefield 3)
Not only will these classic maps feature in Battlefield Portal, but all seven of Battlefield 2042’s launch maps will also be there. All of the upcoming DLC maps will come to Portal too.
These fan-favorite Battlefield maps have been “optimized for next-gen quality and graphics,” and players can even add destruction that wasn’t there originally.
While playing on PC and next-gen consoles (PS5 and Xbox Series X|S), these classic maps can be pushed to feature 128 players. However, those on PS4/Xbox One will be limited to 64 players.
As for players creating their own maps, Ripple Effect said they’d “see what happens in the future,” but it’s not something that they’re focusing on for launch.
All classic weapons & gadgets coming to Battlefield Portal
While playing these classic maps, an arsenal of fan-favorite weapons and gadgets will also come to Battlefield Portal.
Fans can take various weapons and gadgets from Battlefield 1942, Bad Company 2, and Battlefield 3 into the Portal modes. In total, there are over 40 weapons and 30 gadgets from these games coming to Battlefield Portal, as well as all of 2042’s content.
You can check out Ripple Effect’s list of all confirmed weapons, but here are some standout examples:
- Battlefield 1942
- Thompson
- M1 Garand
- MP40
- STG 44
- K98 Sniper
- Bazooka
- Bad Company 2
- M416
- G3
- PP-2000
- SPAS-12
- M24 Sniper
- GOL Sniper Magnum
- Battlefield 3
- AS VAL
- AKS-74u
- M16A3
- ACW-R
- MP412 REX
- M98B
These weapons have been rebalanced to make sure they’re “normalized around the 2042 values.” So, the WW2 weapons should be much more in line with the modern-day weapons, but, Ripple Effect have given players the choice of switching to “historical values.”
- Read more: Will Battlefield 2042 be on Xbox Game Pass?
The devs explained that in Bad Company 2, “the balance between weapons, infantry, and vehicles was very different to today.” They described how the game made you feel “more like a superhero in a way,” and they want to recreate this feeling with historical tweaks. By enabling the historical settings, they want you to “feel like you felt in Bad Company 2.”
For gadgets, there will be over thirty coming to Battlefield Portal from the previous titles, alongside those from 2042.
Here are some examples:
- Battlefield 1942
- EXPPACK
- Landmine
- Wrench
- Binoculars
- Medkit
- Battlefield Bad Company 2
- Defibrillator
- Mortar Strike
- Repair Tool
- AT Mine
- Motion Sensor
- Battlefield 3
- SOFLAM
- C4
- M18 Claymore
- SMAW
- T-UGS
All classic vehicles coming to Battlefield Portal
As well as all of these returning weapons and gadgets, over 40 classic vehicles will also be coming to Battlefield Portal. With how technology has advanced, expect some whacky combinations, such as Spitfires dogfighting Little Birds.
Here are some standout classic vehicles coming to Battlefield Portal:
- Battlefield 1942
- B-17 Bomber
- Spitfire
- M4 Sherman
- M3 Halftrack
- Tiger 1
- Bad Company 2
- UAV-1
- M1114
- M3A3 Bradley
- UH-60
- T-90
- Battlefield 3
- AH-64 APACHE
- Mi-28 Havoc
- AH-BJ Little Bird
- M1161 ITV
- M1A2
Ripple Effect confirmed that the number of vehicles in custom modes will be limited: “You can spawn maybe 40 vehicles, but not 128.”
Battlefield Portal custom game mode builder
One of the most exciting aspects of Battlefield Portal is the custom mode creation feature. With the help of Ripple Effect’s mode builder, Battlefield fans can create various weird, wonderful, and even competitive game modes.
The devs described how players can create Gun Game, Infected, and even pit teams from various titles against each other. For example, a 1942 army could take on a 2042 army.
Ripple Effect appears to have thought of everything to allow players to create their own mode; there’s a casual builder and even complex visual scripting for “advanced builders.”
Tompen Andersson, a Game Developer at Ripple Effect, said that he’s most excited to see the “what if scenarios.” Such as could a “Russian tank survive an onslaught of say 20 EOD bots,” or would modern soldiers be able to take on double the amount of 1942 soldiers?
To top it off, designing game modes is completely free, and you’ll still gain XP while playing in them. However, they said they’re working on systems to prevent players from creating XP farm game modes.
DICE and Ripple Effect confirmed that an Open Beta will be held in September for players on all platforms, so you can check out how to play in the Battlefield 2042 Beta.
Image Credit: EA / DICE