GamingPickz
Game vs game · side by side

Battlefield 1942 vs Battlefield 2042

Battlefield 1942 is an FPS game from DICE (2002) while Battlefield 2042 is an FPS game from DICE (2021).

Quick answer: Battlefield 1942 has the higher Metacritic, 89 to 68.

Battlefield 1942

2002 · DICE

89Metacritic

Battlefield 2042

2021 · DICE

5.0GamingPickz Score

$59.99

Steam: Mixed

What each one is

Battlefield 1942 is filed under FPS. In contrast, Battlefield 2042 under FPS.

Battlefield 1942

Battlefield 1942 is a 2002 first-person shooter game developed by Digital Illusions CE and published by Electronic Arts for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X. It is the first installment in the Battlefield series. The game can be played in single-player mode against the video game AI or in multiplayer mode against players on the Internet or in a local area network. It is a popular platform for mod developers, with many released modifications that alter the gameplay and theme.

Description from Wikipedia

Battlefield 2042

Battlefield™ 2042 is a first-person shooter that marks the return to the iconic all-out warfare of the franchise.

Description from its Steam store page

Story, characters and reception

Battlefield 1942
Reception

Reception The game received "generally favorable reviews", according to the review aggregation website Metacritic . At 6th annual Interactive Achievement Awards, Battlefield 1942 received awards for Online Gameplay, Innovation in PC Gaming, PC Game of the Year, and Game of the Year. In March 2010 Battlefield 1942 was awarded with "Swedish game of the decade" award at the computer game gala hosted by Swedish Games Industry. (Wikipedia)

Battlefield 2042
Plot

Setting and characters Battlefield 2042 takes place 22 years after the events of Battlefield 4 . Unlike previous installments, it does not have a single-player campaign. Instead, the story is told through multiplayer gameplay. (Wikipedia)

Reception

Reception Critical response Battlefield 2042 received "mixed or average reviews" on all platforms, according to the review aggregator website Metacritic , making it the lowest-rated installment in the Battlefield series. Fellow review aggregator OpenCritic assessed that the game received weak approval, being recommended by 33% of critics. Electronic Gaming Monthly gave the game five out of five stars, writing: " Battlefield 2042 brings the sandbox back… (Wikipedia)

At a glance

Battlefield 1942Battlefield 2042
GamingPickz Score—5.0/10
Steam rating—Mixed (47%, 325,628)
Critic aggregate89/10068/100
PriceUnknown$59.99
Install size—100 GB
Steam DeckUntestedunsupported
Released20022021
DeveloperDICEDICE

Prices and Steam ratings are read live and move over time.

Battlefield 1942 vs Battlefield 2042, point by point

Each facet side by side. A round is marked won only where a figure settles it; feel and "which is better" carry no mark, because no number we hold decides them.

  1. Genre and premise

    Battlefield 1942FPS game
    Battlefield 2042FPS game

    What each is filed as. Each game describes itself in full above; we do not judge a premise.

  2. How it plays

    Battlefield 1942No descriptive tags
    Battlefield 2042FPS, Shooter, Military

    The tags players apply most, in order of votes. A read on feel, not a verdict.

  3. Reception

    Battlefield 1942 ✓Metacritic 89
    Battlefield 2042Metacritic 68

    Metacritic's critic aggregate, from the game's Wikipedia reception where it was never on Steam.

  4. Content and scale

    Battlefield 1942—
    Battlefield 2042325,628 reviews · 2 add-ons · 100 GB

    Reach and footprint, not quality: more reviews or a bigger install is not a better game.

  5. Price

    Battlefield 1942Unknown
    Battlefield 2042$59.99

    Read live from Steam and subject to change.

Battlefield 1942 takes 1 of the marked rounds to 0. That is only what a number can decide, not which you will enjoy more.

Which to pick, by what you want

  • The better reviewed of the two: Battlefield 1942 (Metacritic 89)

Where they differ

Battlefield 1942 is also

Battlefield 2042 is also

FPSMultiplayerShooterMilitaryWarSingleplayer

Tags players apply to one game and not the other.

Difficulty and who each is for

By the tags players apply, Battlefield 1942 is middle-of-the-road on difficulty. Battlefield 2042 is relaxed, easy to pick up.

System requirements, side by side

Battlefield 1942Battlefield 2042
Minimum GPU—AMD Radeon RX 560
Minimum CPU—AMD Ryzen 5 1600, Core i5 6600K
Minimum RAM—8 GB
Install size—100 GB

Can your PC run them? Check each against your own kit: Battlefield 1942 · Battlefield 2042.

Accessibility features

Steam store pages declare 0 accessibility features for Battlefield 1942 and 5 for Battlefield 2042. A declaration is a floor, not a review.

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Common questions

How different are Battlefield 1942 and Battlefield 2042 in scope?

Battlefield 1942 lists little scope data. Battlefield 2042 has drawn 325,628 Steam reviews, ships 2 add-ons and installs in 100 GB.

Is Battlefield 1942 or Battlefield 2042 better?

Neither carries enough reviews for us to score it reliably, so we do not call a winner. The table above shows what each does have.

Which is cheaper, Battlefield 1942 or Battlefield 2042?

One or both do not have a current listed price, so a straight comparison is not possible. See the table above.

Should I get Battlefield 1942 or Battlefield 2042?

Battlefield 1942 has the higher Metacritic, 89 to 68. It also depends on what you want: the "which to pick" section above calls out which is cheaper, lighter on storage, better on a Steam Deck and the safer bet by weight of reviews.

Do you rank one above the other for a fee?

No. Neither game, nor anyone else, pays for placement or a verdict here. The order and every figure come out of the same public data the rest of the site uses.

All comparisons

How we compare, and what we will not do

The GamingPickz Score is a composite of player sentiment (adjusted for sample size), the critic aggregate and popularity, computed by the same code every ranked list on this site uses. The Steam rating label is Valve's own, reconstructed from the positive percentage and review count. Prices are read live. We do not write an opinion of which game is "better": we report the numbers and say which wins each measurable question above.

More on each