Now Playing: Battlefield V

Despite my reservations about the release and future content plans of Battlefield V, I decided to give it a shot. It’s the first Battlefield game I’ve purchased since the original 1942, and that’s an important piece of context to keep in mind during this review. I can’t compare V to the previous Battlefield releases, including the most recent Battlefield 1. If you’re looking for a review from a Battlefield fan who is more familiar with the series, then I’m not your guy.

Let’s begin with the good stuff. I thoroughly enjoy the core gameplay of Battlefield V. It’s why I enjoyed the BETA so much and it’s why I decided to purchase the game. The shooting, movement, squad/team mechanics and the dynamic destructible maps make Battlefield V a real joy to play. How a game ‘feels’ to play is always tricky to describe, but Battlefield V really does feel good to play.

It’s a game where nearly every online match has an entirely unscripted ‘wow’ kind of moment, as the various gameplay systems combine to create quite spectacular engagements. The most impressive aspect for me is the destructibility of the environments. This can radically change the shape of the battlefield and how you approach various objectives.

It also plays into the excellent ‘fortifications’ system, which allows you to construct makeshift barricades or dig out defensive positions. I typically find maps in online shooters to grow rather stale after several plays, but that’s not such a problem here due to the way the maps change dynamically throughout every battle – changes which are entirely player driven.

 

The squad and team mechanics are also cleverly incorporated to encourage and reward team co-operation and play. They make it beneficial on both a personal and team level to work together and support your squad. Battlefield V is by far at its most enjoyable and satisfying to play when teams really do embrace these mechanics and work together. Of course, the flip side is that Battlefield V is at its least enjoyable when they don’t.

In terms of visuals and audio, Battlefield V looks and sounds amazing – despite that horrible audio glitch I encountered in the BETA persisting into the release. In fact, a lot of little issues that I experienced in the BETA haven’t yet been fixed. I had one match in which our team kept spawning in the ‘dead zone’ out of bounds area of the map. I’ve had occasions when the reloading animation doesn’t play or when health packs fail to heal.

Probably the most infuriating issue is when trying to use a bipod on a Support class weapon. The bipod has a mind of its own and flips on and off at will. And there’s still issues with attempting to vault over scenery. A couple of times I’ve gotten stuck on scenery unable to move. There’s a general lack of polish to Battlefield V which is as disappointing as it is surprising.

Although I appreciate the addition of single player content in the form of the ‘War Stories’ I can’t say they’re particularly great. They’re not bad, but they’re short, forgettable and range on a scale of quality from ‘okay’ to ‘meh’. They also don’t really play to the strengths of the core gameplay which is big, combined arms battles. Nearly every mission is a solo, stealth or commando ‘one-man-army’ style experience.

 

It may be they’ll add bigger, more elaborate War Stories in the future, but I can only review what’s in the game at release. And what we’ve got so far isn’t very inspiring. I appreciate the variety of locations and characters, but they all follow a similar pattern of objectives and style of play.

They said they wanted to focus on lesser known aspects of WW2 in Battlefield V and that’s an approach I can totally get behind. However, I think they needed to balance this out a little with more familiar battles and locations. It may be they’ll add this kind of stuff in later but like I said, I’m not reviewing potential future expansions, but what’s in the game now.

I would love to see a Battle of Britain map in which the German team must bomb and destroy key locations, as the British side have to fight back with AA guns on the ground and fighters in the air. I’d also love to see a D-Day map or series of maps for the Grand Operations mode featuring a beach assault/defence. A Stalingrad map, maybe? The Pacific Theater?

There’s so much potential in terms of what they can do, where they can go and what would look and play fantastic in this engine. But that’s always been my concern about Battlefield V – there’s no guarantees. If the game hasn’t sold as well as EA might like they might just pull the plug on future expansions.

 

I quite like the cosmetic customisation – pointless as it is – although the cost of some cosmetics is pretty silly and discourages you from purchasing them when the in-game coins you’ve earned are best spent on upgrading your weapons and vehicles. They really need to increase the ways you can earn more coins. More regular and varied Assignments would be a good addition.

There’s a good selection of maps and modes in this initial release, and I like how maps can feel very different to play depending upon which mode you choose. The weapon/vehicle selection is decent but there’s certainly room for expansion. Battlefield V really does feel like a ‘foundation’ release. And as a foundation, it’s a pretty solid one upon which they can now build.

I’ve now played Battlefield V for 70 hours and I still want to keep playing so I can’t say I’ve not had good value from the game, and that value will only increase as new content is released. That said, because this is a ‘foundation’ release, you’re also not really missing out on anything if you choose to wait for the inevitable discount.

Overall, I’m really enjoying my time with Battlefield V. It just needs more content and more polishing. As long as EA don’t decide to pull the plug on future expansions, Battlefield V should keep me busy for the foreseeable future.

7/10