Since the title's first release, Battlefield 1942, back in 2002, EA's Battlefield franchise has seen at least 11 main games with plenty of expansion packs. With that being said, Battlefield has been a constant competitor of Activision's Call of Duty franchise, with both titles rivaling in sales, gameplay, single-story campaign, and online experiences.
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So, how do these Battlefield games rank according to the aggregator website Metacritic? You might be surprised by how high and how low your personal Battlefield game might be placed.
Updated February 12th, 2021 by Thomas Bowen: With EA having recently confirmed that a new Battlefield game will be arriving later this year, now seems like as good a time as any to take a look back at the series' earlier entries. There have been some truly wonderful Battlefield titles released over the last two decades that have helped to broaden the boundaries of the FPS genre. Not all of the series' offerings have been quite so proficient at hitting their mark though, as evidenced by their mediocre Metascores.
11 Battlefield: Hardline (71)
Hailed as "brand new," more personal-centered experience of Battlefield game, unfortunately, Battlefield: Hardline failed to live up to the billing. The foremost critics about this game center around its flat and weak storyline that failed to emphasize the characters' development. However, the stealth mechanism brings refreshment to the title and sure is worth every penny.
Engineered using the Frostbite 3 engine, Battlefield: Hardline is available on PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, and Windows. Unfortunately, Hardline is the last game developed by Visceral Games before the company's shutdown in 2017.
According to How Long to Beat, players can expect to spend around seven and a half hours tackling the game's main story, with a completionist run coming in at just over 22 hours.
10 Battlefield V (73)
Next is the latest installment of the series, entitled Battlefield V. Like its predecessor, Battlefield 1, that is based on the events of World War I, Battlefield V served as its continuation as it centered around World War II.
Unfortunately, upon its announcement trailer release, many fans expressed their dissatisfaction with its portrayal of female characters. It "only" sold over 7.3 million copies by the end of 2018, making merely half of its predecessor's total sales.
The main story of the game only lasts around six hours, although those looking to tackle all of the trophies and achievements will have to sink around 25 hours into the campaign.
9 Battlefield 4 (79)
Released in 2013, Battlefield 4 is a futuristic-based game that sets during the fictional war of 2020. You play as Sgt. Daniel "Reck" Recker, a second-in-command of the Tombstone squad (also appeared on Battlefield 3), during the inevitable tension between the US, Russia, and China.
Many praised the game for its fun multiplayer mode and mesmerizing graphics, although it was heavily criticized it for its shallow, and short-paced gameplay. The DLC did help to pad things out a little, although that likely came as little solace to those who picked up the game at launch.
The main campaign only lasts for around six hours, with the average completion run adding another seven hours.
8 Battlefield 2142 (80)
More from the future world, Battlefield 2142 set in the new Ice Age of the 22nd century with two superpowers of the world, the European Union and Pan Asian Coalition, fighting over the Earth's unfrozen territories of North Africa and the Middle East.
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2142 was the first Battlefield game not to have the US as the game's main protagonist, which was refreshing, and interestingly, it was designed for great multiplayer campaigns as it allows up to 64 players on one server.
Due to it being centered around multiplayer gameplay there is no completion time to speak of for Battlefield 2142. The average player clocked up around 80 hours of playtime though which goes to show just how enjoyable the multiplayer experience that's on offer here really is.
7 Battlefield: Bad Company (83)
There is never a better way to kick off the Frostbite engine era with Battlefield: Bad Company. Released in 2008, Bad Company was a promising start of the engine and praised for its atmosphere and graphics that were way ahead of its time.
Bad Company centered around an army battalion of cannon fodders named "Bad Company," consisted of Private Preston Marlowe, Terrence Sweetwater, George Gordon, and Sergeant Samuel D. Redford, fighting off the fictional First Russo-American War.
Although the main story is a little short at just seven and a half hours, there's enough extra content on offer in Bad Company to keep players busy for quite some time. The average completionist time is a whopping 56 hours, thanks in large to some challenging trophies and achievements.
6 Battlefield Vietnam (84)
Not to be confused with 2010's Bad Company 2: Vietnam expansion pack, Battlefield Vietnam was a standalone game released in 2004. As the game title suggests, Battlefield Vietnam set during the infamous Vietnam War that cost plenty of lives from both Vietnamese and American sides.
It was built using the same engine as the Battlefield debut title, and it's impressive how EA took real-life historical settings and events like the 1968 Battle of Huế and implemented it on the game.
Battlefield Vietnam has one of the longest campaigns in the series, with the main story lasting for around 14 hours. The lack of trophies and achievements does however provide little incentive to replay missions, although given the game's aging visuals, a single playthrough should be enough for most.
5 Battlefield 3 (84)
Supported by the second generation of the Frostbite engine, Battlefield 3 was undoubtedly one of the best Battlefield games in the market. Players take on four different campaigns of the fictional war in 2014 throughout the game.
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The game was highly successful in that it sold over five million copies within the first week alone and broke EA's record as the company's fastest-selling game ever at that time, as Hollywood Reporter indicated.
As with some of the other more recent Battlefield games, the main story of Battlefield 3 only provides about six hours of gameplay. A completionist run can last for quite a bit longer though, with the average time on How Long to Beat currently sitting at 65 and a half hours.
4 Battlefield: Bad Company 2 (87)
More from the Bad Company storyline, the 2010's Battlefield: Bad Company 2 was set in 1944, several years before the events of the first title. It still centered around Private Preston Marlowe, the first game's main protagonist, and Sweetwater, Haggard, and Sergeant Redford.
Unlike its previous games, the Frostbite 1.5 engine allowed the players to take on massive buildings and totally destroy them, giving them more freedom to explore the map. It scored over 12 million sales, and its expansion pack, titled Vietnam, was released ten months after.
Much like its predecessor, the main campaign of Bad Company 2 clocks in at around seven hours. Unlike the first Bad Company, however, there's not too much extra content on offer here meaning that a completionist run will only provide an extra eight hours or so of gameplay.
3 Battlefield 1 (87)
Following the disappointing result of Battlefield: Hardline, EA bounced back with Battlefield 1. As the title suggests, it was set during World War I. It consisted of four different campaigns from different War events from the Arabian desert and the Battle of Cambrai to the sky of Germany and the Battle of Gallipolli.
Battlefield 1 was a significant commercial success with over 15 million copies sold and received numerous high-profile award nominations. It also introduced a number of new ideas and features that would go on to become series staples.
With the main story only lasting around six and a half hours, Battlefield 1 is a relatively short game. Thanks to its fantastic multiplayer mode though, most players typically spend a lot more time with it than that.
2 Battlefield 1942 (89)
As the first game of the Battlefield series, Battlefield 1942 brought fresh air to the first-person shooter genre. Released in 2002, a year before its rival Call of Duty's debut, Battlefield 1942 centered around both the Allied team (the US, the UK, and the Soviet Union) and the Axis team (Nazi Germany and Japan) of the World War II.
From Wake Island in Pacific to El Alamein in North Africa, Battlefield 1942 was praised for its interactive and engaging multiplayer mode. The game didn't do too badly in the sales department either; with estimates suggesting that it generated a little over $27 million in revenue.
Many would consider that to be money well spent, especially considering that a completionist playthrough provides more than 50 hours worth of entertainment. The main story accounts for eight hours of that, which is fairly long for a Battlefield game.
1 Battlefield 2 (91)
Hailed as the best Battlefield game to date, Battlefield 2 raised the bar for not just the series, but also the FPS genre itself. It was the first Battlefield game to take place in the modern era and allows players to partake in a high-stakes war between some of the world's biggest superpowers.
Although it was not precisely a story-driven video game, Battlefield 2 has a special place among the fans' hearts for its online multiplayer mode that lets them team up to six soldiers. On top of that, the game features an immersive and wide variety of 15 maps ready to be explored.
As well as being the highest-rated Battlefield game to date, Battlefield 2 is also one of the longest. Its main campaign clocks in at around ten hours whilst a completionist run averages close to 100.