Battlefield V – Multiplayer

Battlefield V, the fifteenth installment of the franchise, has launched early for EA Access members. I’ve been able to play through my 10 hours of the trial and some more into the Deluxe Edition, which launched early, as well. I focused my attention specifically on multiplayer, so this review will only focus on that. I’ve been a huge Battlefield fan, starting with Battlefield 2: Modern Combat, where I was ranked in the top 5 worldwide. It was the first, first-person shooter (FPS) that I ever played. Modern Combat was not only the reason for my interest in FPS games, in my opinion, but video games overall. The last few years of Battlefield games were good, but not great, and for that reason, I stayed away from playing them heavily. There was always a better FPS game on the market and I always played those instead. However, all of this changes with the release of Battlefield V.

Battlefield V is the FPS you’ve been waiting for. It has everything a player would want in a multiplayer shooter – the action, graphics, map design, sound effects, guns, and game modes. The game feels more realistic than any other FPS I’ve played to this day. There’s a type of adrenaline that rushes over me as I play this game that doesn’t compare to any other games to date. I was quick to say that Black Ops 4 was great, and some could argue that it could be Shooter of the Year, but Battlefield gives it a run for its money. I won’t sit here and say one is better than the other – they both have something completely different to offer and, depending on my mood, one could be more enjoyable than the other. 

Battlefield is a game that you get immersed into in a way that you just can’t with any other FPS game. The bullets flying around, the intense music, building and debris falling around you… it can get so intense sometimes, and that’s how this game is able to separate from all games in its genre.

There isn’t just good that comes from this game, though. This game may be enjoyable enough to purchase right out the gate, but be ready to deal with the bugs that come with a game launch. The bugs are petty for the most part, but there are lots of them. These are bugs that should have been dealt with by now, seeing as the game has been out since EA Access launched it on November 9. My hope is that they’re dealt with by the launch of the standard edition on November 20, but we shall see. The biggest issues with the game that I’ve come across involve mechanics. There are spawning issues with regards to the squads that could drive a man mad. A player could die, and when he goes to spawn on a squad mate, it won’t let him, even though the mate isn’t in combat. The way to counter this is by backing to the overhead of the map, moving to their green circle on that map, then selecting them. Again, this is petty, but after awhile it just makes me wonder why it hasn’t been fixed and why it is even an issue in the first place.

Another issue regards reviving teammates. A player can go to revive a squad mate and hold X (or square on the PlayStation) to revive them, and sometimes that player will pick up a gun instead. It’s weird that someone, a person who isn’t even considered out of the fight, is dropping their gun for you to pick up. I think an easy fix to this would be to make the revive button different than the “pick up gun” button. Or, eliminate the option to pick up the other player’s gun altogether while they’re still in the fight, but in need of revival.

The last issue I’ll talk about isn’t pertaining to mechanics. It’s more on the cosmetics side, specifically the cosmetics of the reticles and sites in-game. There are certain guns that don’t have sites that others do. The STG44 has a close range reticle that’s a reflex that showcases a crosshair. This isn’t a great site because it gets in the way and makes it difficult to see where you’re shooting. This has made me shy away from the STG, which has always been one of my favorite guns. I understand that they’re trying to be as close to the the war times as possible, but these reticles weren’t even used during WWII, so what’s the point? It’s a video game, so put some kind of a close range red dot in the game and move on. 

The other issues – that I won’t go into detail about – revolve around the maps and guns themselves. These two areas are good, but they could be better. There are 8 maps in multiplayer and each map is specific to a certain game mode – pending the player is playing Infantry Focused game modes. Some of the maps are too big for the game mode and players can spend more time running around looking for people rather than actually fighting. If someone is playing Frontlines, then it makes sense for the map to be larger. A 16v16 Team Deathmatch game, or Domination game, doesn’t need to be a large sized map.

Overall, the game is great and will only get better as the bugs are fixed, and some in-game modes and features are fixed. With the addition of Battle Royale mode, at a later date, one can only be excited for this game. The team play style that Battlefield offers will make for a very team-oriented and challenging Battle Royale experience. Players will need to strategize a medic to assist with giving out extra health, a support class to give out additional ammo, and a recon and engineer class for additional support. How one team picks may be the reason they win or lose the match. Only time will tell if Battlefield’s version of Battle Royale can compete with the likes of Black Ops 4 and Fortnite, but I see the promise just based off of what I’ve been able to play so far. The standard edition of Battlefield V launches worldwide Tuesday, November 20, and I believe this game is a must buy!