Battlefield V under test

The developers of DICE are considered to be co-founders of the genre of massively multiplayer first person shooters (MMOFPS) and yet they haven’t been able to build on old successes of the past lately. The only moderately successful Battlefield 1, as successor of the flop Battlefield: Hardlines from 2015, could not follow the heydays of Battlefield 3 and 4. One possible reason: EA has taken too much responsibility away from the community and tied it to itself. Nevertheless, the negative resonance of the players was not always justified.

EA did not want to repeat many mistakes of the past, this time and has increasingly started to open up to the community and listen to them. Nevertheless, you can’t expect too much from the rigid apparatus of the publisher, but you have to acknowledge it positively if something moves. In the case of Battlefield V this was very strongly expressed in two points, on the one hand EA has renounced the almost necessary Premium Pass and thus a considerable part of additional income. The second very surprising point: For the first time in the history of the Battlefield series, EA decided not to keep the release date at a certain level and to postpone it by another month shortly before the release.

The new war is an old one

As already the big competitor Call of Duty, Battlefield V goes back to its origin and resettles in the Second World War. The step is not surprising, because the First World War in Battlefield 1 was not an issue that was well received by the players. There was too little war material that could be used, even the material was not familiar to most, and let’s say how it is, Nazis still give away the best bad guys. Also in the playable classes there is no surprise, you can find everything you need with the Storm Soldier, Supporter, Medic and Reconnaissance. Something you often wrongly accuse Battlefield of is that it’s not historically correct. But it doesn’t want that either, rather it wants to entertain. Of course, it makes use of the story and gives facts freely told, but it’s not a history book.

Film-Ready Performance

As in the previous part, Battlefield V again relies on a single player, but contrary to so many other FPS there is no consistent story here. The war is told in episodes that didn’t happen so naturally. Here DICE has chosen a very skilful form of storytelling which, thanks to the Frosbite engine, seamlessly jumps back and forth between cutscenes and the actual game. “War Stories” are staged like a Hollywood blockbuster and quickly cast a spell over you, so that you really want to know what the fate of the respective protagonist is. But it’s not only the way the stories are told that lets you immerse yourself in this world, around the cinematic Second World War. The attention to detail with which DICE immortalizes itself here is almost normal for the Battlefield parts of the last few years, yet they still go one step further. It feels almost real and although it’s “only” computer graphics, it always creates an oppressive feeling that only a war can trigger. This beautiful, scary idyll is already a feast for the eyes in Full-HD and yet it doesn’t look really bombastic until 4k. When you recognize details like sweat, tears and blood on the characters, they become really alive.

However, EA and DICE afford a few minor flaws, especially in synchronization. As a person who is fluent in both German and English, you are a little preferred in games that take place during the Second World War and so it is recommended to enjoy Battlefield in English. But this is exactly where they got a bit sloppy, because they didn’t find a uniform line among the German soldiers, so there are three versions of how German is spoken. On the one hand, there are conversations and calls from people with German as their mother tongue, but also from English-speaking people who speak German with an accent, and then there are English commands with a German accent. Of course only people with German as their mother tongue will notice this, but it is a little annoying and should not happen, especially with the budget. But another small detail makes you smile, because it seems that EA has a long-term contract with some dubbing actors and so you can hear the voice of Danny Williams from FIFA, especially the British soldiers, without whom football is ever played.

The war is not for lone wolves

Battlefield is and will probably always be one, namely a massive multiplayer battle, on whose large battlegrounds it is teeming with players and in this sense Battlefield V is no exception. You can currently choose from six different ways to create your online experience. Included is the classic Conquest mode, in which you must storm and hold flags until your opponent’s score is zero. A Team Deathmatch is also included, as is the familiar Breakthrough mode, which requires you to earn two to three flag points per sector in multiple stages and with limited respawn, while your opponents try to defend them. In Operation mode, you as a defender or attacker must complete a multi-day campaign. All available game modes are combined in different ways to guarantee a varied campaign. DICE has not only spiced up these game modes, but has also integrated some new tactical elements into Battlefield V.

.

Vehicles no longer have unlimited ammo. This is exciting, because tanks are no longer insurmountable obstacles, because they have to pick up ammunition again and again. Of course the well-known supporters have ammunition for the troops in their luggage, but such a few tank shells are something else and therefore they can only be reloaded at certain places. And here comes the second tactical innovation: From now on each class has a “toolbox” with it. This allows you to erect barricades and ammunition stations for vehicles at certain locations. The element of the barricades probably caused the most speculation when it was announced, but DICE didn’t integrate a Fortnite copy, as many feared, but a strategic element, which proves to be quite useful, because attachments can only be erected at the positions provided for them.

Orders, Skins, Outfits, Avatars and Credits

EA has apparently learned a lot from the drama around Battlefront II, which is why they don’t repeat it and yet there are signs that they don’t want to leave it completely, respectively can. You can buy new outfits for your avatar and other skins for your weapons. On the positive side, there are also women and outfits for them. All of this has to be paid for with credits, which can be collected through level upgrades or completing orders (depending on the version, you have more or less available or are provided with temporary orders again and again). It is not possible to buy current credits in any way and yet everything seems to be available – just not activated.

The dark side of war

As exciting as Battlefield V is staged, it unfortunately also has some weaknesses and missed chances. You notice that it’s just not finished yet. That’s considering the fact that there is no Premium-Pass and all DLC’s free of charge still come to a large extent bearable, but clouds the gaming fun. The much bigger problem is the network performance, which is characterized by high latencies. So you are already longer behind a cover and die, because the hit of the opponent actually already took place earlier. Unfortunately, as in the past, many other chances were missed. The most demanded option for PC players is the operation of own servers with corresponding administration rights. Already in Battlefield I there was here only very limited possibility. This idea did not go down well at all, since some of the most important options, like the removal of disturbing players, were missing. Whether and how EA wants to reintroduce this is not known at the moment. But not only here one disappoints the community a bit, also XBox players are not provided with all possibilities which would be there. Since the November update it would be possible to play with mouse and keyboard on the Microsoft console, but EA and DICE ignore this feature and don’t offer this option. Whether one is afraid of another Shitstorm if one lets controller players compete against mouse/keyboard is not clear, but competitor Epic has shown Fortnite how it works and has therefore not noticed negatively.

FAZIT

Battlefield V goes back to its roots and is refreshingly new. Many of the fears that had been expressed in the announcement have now been dispelled, such as that the fortifications will be a copy of Fortnite. At the end of the day it’s fun again and not just an unloved hybrid like its predecessor. Nevertheless, it remains to be seen how EA and DICE will complete the game and what impact the loss of the Premium Pass will have on the game. One can only hope that EA will keep his ear in the community and accept advice.

What is Battlefield V? A massive online multiplayer battle.
Platforms: PC, XBox One, Playstation 4
Tested: XBox One X, PC Intel Core i7-2600k, 16GB RAM,NVIDIA GTX 1060
Developer / Publisher: DICE / EA
Release: October 30, 2018
Link: Official Website