It’s fair to say that Battlefield V has divided opinion since the moment it was revealed with what has to be one of the most controversial trailers for a game in recent memory, though it’s hard to imagine any topping the outpouring of disgust towards Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare. After a pretty confusing launch window that saw three separate release dates, Battlefield V is now out in the wild. But how is it?
It’s good. Not great, just good. It’s (mostly) the same Battlefield you know, which actually works for and against it, but with the caveat that it feels particularly unfinished with content to come at a later date. Having poured countless hours into it already, here’s what makes Battlefield V more Hardline than Bad Company 2.
1. Lack of launch content
This is the real kicker for me personally. Battlefield games have almost always been overwhelming with things to do and shoot, but Battlefield V feels significantly less fully-formed than even Battlefield 1. The extra content, such as Tides of War, not coming at launch leaves a sour taste in the mouth, as if EA desperately just wanted to get it out of the door and patch things later: one of the worst trends in the industry. Battlefield V really does feel like Early Access at the minute.
2. Support being better at assault than Assault
While classes in Battlefield V feel generally unbalanced, there’s a ridiculous disparity between Assault and Support. Despite being essentially the backup, Support feels far better on the frontlines due to their more dependable weapons. The KE7 is, no matter how you slice it, a better weapon than pretty much all of the Assault class’s options because it has low recoil and a high rate of fire. It’s a maddening oversight that they still haven’t fixed.
3. The unbalanced maps
Of all of Battlefield V’s maps, I’d suggest that only Arras and Fjell 652 are up to Battlefield standard with the rest being fairly uninteresting. Worse still, there are maps that feel patently unbalanced with clear advantage given to one side over the other. Aerodome is the worst offender, giving whoever attacks from the “F” side far more opportunities to capture on Conquest as well as an easier route to capturing C: the map’s major chokepoint.
4. The bugs
It’s nowhere near as bad as Battlefield 4 at launch, but Battlefield V is no shining diamond of optimisation itself. I’ve fallen through the map a few times, found myself stuck to scenery often, and even somehow bounced up into the sky after jumping out of a window. It’s difficult to polish multiplayer games before launch, but there are no excuses for how poorly optimised War Stories, the underwhelming campaign, is either.
5. Rampant spawnkilling
If you spawn on your squad behind enemy lines, that’s on you. However, if you spawn in a friendly area with no obvious signs of conflict, that’s on the game. Battlefield V has a nasty habit of spawning you exactly in the line of fire of an enemy, meaning that you don’t even have the opportunity to raise your weapon before you’re gunned down. Better spawn rotation is needed.
6. It just doesn’t do enough
The biggest flaw with Battlefield V is that it simply doesn’t do enough to push the franchise forward, instead feeling like a quicker Battlefield 1. When so many FPS games are moving with the times and constantly adapting, it feels like Battlefield V is just playing a little safe. While Conquest is always great and Grand Operations a spectacle worth investing time into, there’s not much here that could be called evolutionary. That might come with Tides of War, but again: you can’t judge a game based on what it could become.
From our Battlefield V review:
“While the gunplay and spectacle is as excellent as you would expect from a Battlefield game, the underwhelming maps, lack of content available at launch, disappointing single-player, and poor optimisation make Battlefield V a difficult day one recommendation.”
MORE BATTLEFIELD:
– 7 Battlefield V Tips To Sturm Your Gewehr
– Battlefield V: 5 Things We Like
– Battlefield V Has The Weirdest Launch I’ve Ever Seen
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