Games I'd Play: Battlefield-as-a-service

 Every once and a while I find myself day dreaming about games I'd like to play.  One that recurs to me is a Battlefield-as-a-service game where instead of releasing a new iteration of the Battlefield franchise every year instead we'd have a single Battlefield game where they just release new maps and campaign settings (WWII, modern, future, Vietnam, etc) as part of the service and throw a battle pass on it to tease money out of our wallets.  I honestly wonder why this doesn't already exist.  I'd play it.

My theoretical Battlefield game would also take us back in time to the style of game that Battlefield 2 was.  Battlefield 2 had two amazing features I have missed in every Battlefield game I've played since: commanders and replay.

Battlefield 2 allowed a single player to take on the role of commander and instead of going pew-pew around the battlefield that player had a top-down view directing squads of players to objectives and calling in artillery strikes on areas.  The enhancement I'd make to bring this feature back would be a ranking system for commanders that way its not just luck of the draw on who gets to take on this key role.  Yes, this would gate keep some players but I think its one of those key roles that could make this sort of game that much better.

Battlefield 2 also had a replay system whereby you could go back and replay the entire match.  Many games have this system to a degree, but Battlefield 2 is the only Battlefield I am aware of that has had it.  I spent hours replaying matches, watching epic fights, rewinding them, re-watching them from different angles, and then capturing epic combat footage.  I made a good number of videos (which sadly were lost to the now defunct Google Video platform that Google had before they acquired YouTube).  

Yes, we live in a world of streaming and super simple video capture, but a replay system allows for so much more than just what a single player's view was.  With the content creation tools that exist today a replay system would be an amazing capability and I have no doubt would result in some epic community created content.

I also think graphics engines are at a point where you could use a current state engine for years without a concern about it looking "old" in a couple.  This would be a key element to making Battlefield-as-a-service.  

Of course I mentioned battle pass and I understand that may tilt some players, but I think its the reality of the current market for these types of games.  If it was combined with new maps, weapons, and campaign settings it would be almost no different than buying "Battlefield version 2022/2023/2024/2025" and the improvement is that your investment per pass is building on all previous passes.  Compared to when I started playing Battlefield 3 it didn't matter what I had accomplished in Battlefield 2.  Ideally a battle pass would focus on cosmetic and "battle medals" type awards and not any power increases (i.e. don't tie unlocking access to a weapon behind battle pass).

If this game were made I'd play it.  Would you?  If so, leave a comment.  If not, believe it or not, still leave a comment.

Netflixed: Ozark

 The Netflix show, Ozark, is a stressful show to watch.  It was nicknamed the "depression session" in our household as we binged through the four available seasons and each episode saw the main characters go through one depressing change of events after another.  We had watched the first season when it first came out but hadn't returned for its follow ups until now.  After watching the series finale last night I kind of wish I hadn't picked it back up.

Beware; spoilers ahead!

I honestly don't understand how so many good shows fail to land a decent ending. Game of Thrones is the most famous, but there are many others in the modern era of binge-worthy television shows that just can't get it right.  Ozark is another one on the pile and probably closest in feeling to the series finale of The Sopranos.  It is classic fade to black leaving the audience wondering.

Fortunately (or unfortunately maybe) the last season's story line is so unbelievable that as a viewer I was well prepared to be let down.  There are so many plot holes and questions and then a last second (literally the last seconds of the show) "oh hey I'm back" character appearance before the fade to black.  Also the season throws one ridiculous situation after another at our main characters who in turn find one more perfect miracle solution to get out of it. Then the ending.

The ending is a let down.  The Byrde family is happily back together murdering someone (assumed as the screen fades to black before a gunshot sound plays) to keep the gig going.  Throw this on top of the fact we just watched Ruth get whacked for literally no reason because some character blurted something out.  Oh and Nelson was killed by whats-her-face.  What was Nelson even doing?  We will never know.

The ending and lead up to it through the latter half of the season is just baffling.  The situations were so stressful to watch as well that it made it hard to enjoy but also hard to not want to binge the next episode and the next and the next.  Unfortunately that stress is unrewarded as the Byrde family is right back where they started: a family tied up in a criminal enterprise looking for a way out.

Another thing that rubbed me wrong was Marty's flirting with "do I really trust Wendy?" when he pours his heart out to his daughter Charlotte.  This was a pointless scene though as Marty goes way out of character to keep letting Wendy ruin any chance he has at saving his family.  Its OK though; the show writers just snapped some fingers and all miracle solutions were easily obtained off screen for Marty.

Most egregious of problems in my book was the final season kicking off with a car crash only to leave the viewer hanging and going back in time.  Then we eventually get to that car crash in the final episodes and it MEANT NOTHING TO THE STORY.  What a fucking wasted tease to have that as the kick off to the final season.  The scene was fine, but it didn't need to be teased as some huge ending moment.  Well maybe the scene was not fine; it was just one more ridiculous scene on the pile of ridiculous scenes.

Damn it.  Typing this post has stressed me out.  I want Season 1 Marty and Ruth back in my brain.  There was so much possibility there.  Another great series wasted with a shit ending.

Disagree?  Love Ozark's ending?  Leave a comment so I can tell you that you are wrong.