After what seems like an eternity of waiting, the first early reviews of DICE’s Battlefield V are here as the brutal shooter sets its stall in the overcrowded world of wartime titles. Once again returning to the horrors of the Second World War, DICE is attempting something new by adding a whole host on unique quirks to Battlefield V.
Although the game got off to a shaky start thanks to the #NotmyBattlefield controversy and claims of historical inaccuracy, EA has rolled with the punches and defied skeptics to bring the biggest ever Battlefield game to life. As well as boasting women for the first time in the series, the single-player campaign nudges Battlefield V ahead of Treyarch’s multiplayer-only Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 as the two games go head-to-head.
DICE is a little late to the party with Battlefield V, but with the vocal talents of Mark Strong’s narration, the return of the acclaimed War Stories mode, and one multiplayer map boasting the biggest structure DICE has ever worked on for the franchise, there’s plenty to write home about. While Battlefield V is undeniably a beautiful game to behold, some have already accused the title of being style over substance. As players hop back in the trenches for another WWII adventure, does DICE’s latest entry blow the competition away or get caught in the crossfire? Here’s what the experts have to say about Battlefield V.
PC Gamer: Andy Kelly
CG Magazine: 8 - Cole Watson
Battlefield, despite its best efforts, is a slapstick, absurd affair, and by no means an accurate approximation of a real, gruelling war. Which makes a British soldier’s agonised screams of “I wanna go home!” just come across as really tasteless and tone-deaf. I feel like DICE needs to stop pretending Battlefield respects, or reflects, the struggles of real-life soldiers and just own the fact that it’s a fun, silly cartoon of a game.
GamesRadar+: 3.5/5 - Alex Avard
While Dice was busy developing games for a certain fanbase in a galaxy far, far away, I’ve been clamouring for a new Battlefield experience to satiate my gluttonous FPS appetite and have come out more than satisfied with this year’s entry into the franchise. Battlefield V may be the shooter of 2018 that people love to hate, but the tweaks and adjustments Dice has made since the game’s initial playtests have made a world of difference to the experience.
Press Start Australia: 9 - Christopher Middleton
Battlefield 5 is the weakest entry in the series since 2015’s Battlefield Hardline. Make no mistake; this is a robust, visually stunning, and perfectly enjoyable shooter, but, in trading showmanship for subtlety, Battlefield 5 has simply lost its sense of anarchic freedom along the way, thus failing to raise the admittedly high bar set by its predecessors. When the chaos of war unfolds across the screen in short, staccato bursts, it looks and plays better than ever. And yet, after more than 15 hours in multiplayer, I’ve experienced few of those ‘Only in Battlefield’ moments that previous games were so effective at churning up.
VG247: Kirk McKeand
Battlefield V takes everything good that Battlefield 1 delivered on with a WWII twist. It feels like an all-round improvement on the franchise’s core values and this is highly evident in the game’s maps. I can’t remember the last time where I played a multiplayer game and absolutely loved each and every map, but this was definitely the case with Battlefield V.
God is a Geek: Mike Stubbsy
Battlefield 5 wants to put you in the muddied boots of a WW2 grunt, but it doesn’t want to put off new players who just want to shoot things. Therefore, most soldiers are kitted out with fully automatic rifles, they have modern sights on their guns, and they run around hitting people with a cricket bat while calling their teammates ‘mukka’. The moment to moment play is solid – much more tactical and thoughtful than the competition – but the setting comes across tasteless. It’s like eating wagyu beef in a sandwich.
USgamer: Hirun Cryer
There’s no denying that Battlefield V’s multiplayer is great, and one of the best shooter experiences out there, but so far there hasn’t really been that wow factor of something being really impressive. Don’t get me wrong, there are great moments in game, and everything is super satisfying to play, but it still just feels like Battlefield, and there isn’t that massive change that really makes it feel new. For some, especially those that live and breath Battlefield that will probably be what they want, but for others it almost feels like this is just another refinement on the systems that have been in place for years. It feels like more Battlefield.
PCGamesN: James McMahon
Battlefield 5 is exactly the game you’re expecting it to be, for better or for worse. It’s a solid game, where the shooting feels heavy and realistic, with varying recoil patterns for different weapons, in the hands of different soldiers. But it also doesn’t necessarily have any tricks up its sleeve.
While there is definitely praise for Battlefield V’s multiplayer and impressive backdrops in a variety of locales like Norway, North Africa, and Holland, the consensus is that DICE has done more than simply repackage more of the same in a shinier wrapper. Perhaps critics are being a little unfair on the game because Battlefield V’s real test will come in 2019 alongside the release of the game’s battle royale and co-op modes.
How the multiplayer experience plays out once servers are live will be worth revisiting in the coming weeks. But at launch, Battlefield V is undoubtedly the best title in the history of the series, as well as a game that deserves plaudits for its beauty, strong mechanics, excellent storytelling, and for having a conscience. Battlefield V is horrifying, sure, but it’s bloody brilliant, too.
For the time being, DICE is still waging war against Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 and it’s unclear who the ultimate winner will be. In the meantime, Battlefield V players can suit up and get behind the sights of a tank, plane, or rifle and let off some steam in the long-running franchise’s most ambitious game to date.
