Hey folks! To preface this review ill give a bit of my background in the series; I have been playing Battlefield games since BF2 although I did skip 2142 sadly. BF2 to me was amazing and still is one of my favorite shooters of all time. Really enjoyed the Bad Company games, BF3 and 4 were solid, Hardline was decent but aside from the SP didn't really rise above its predecessor. With BF1 there came a big shift to the gameplay and while I did still put many, many hours into it, it just didn't resonate like the others did. Does BFV change that? Let's see!
Let's start with the obvious; the game looks and sounds amazing. The visual fidelity of Frostbite still amazes me with every new game DICE puts out - but the aesthetic is great too. I did have small reservations about how things were going to look after the initial trailers but they really have nailed the authentic WW2 feel here, and the customization options you can unlock don't really hurt this either which is nice. The bursts of automatic fire ringing out around you as you push through maps is fantastic too (maybe in part because it reminds me a lot of the old Command & Conquer rifleman sounds!) and really lends a hand to immersing you in the scene.
On the topic of customization, things are currently very limited, with there being some camouflage options unlockable for each of the classes through their proficiency assignments unlocked at class rank 10, and a complete set unlockable through mastery at class rank 20, as well as a selection of other outfits available for purchase with the company coins earned through general play. Guns have a similar host of cosmetics, with some being purchased with company coins, some being unlocked as you rack up kills with them, and others for completing the proficiency (gun level 5) and mastery (gun level 10) assignments. Overall I enjoy this system although there are small gripes with the sights being locked to certain cosmetic options (I would love to have the nydar sight in the mint color scheme on my Suomi, but alas all I get is irons) for example but perhaps that will change later on.
I guess next ill follow with the bad things, as I'm sure that's what a lot of you will be more interested in; a fair few things that were announced in media when the game was first revealed are still missing from the game, coming later as part of the 'Tides of War' content update philosophy (Premium DLC is gone, replaced with free content drops every few months). Chiefly among these is the Battle Royale mode, Firestorm, although also included in this list would be the Practice Range, the final War Story 'The Last Tiger' and the ability to drag downed friendly soldiers. I'm sure I've omitted some things but these are really the meat and potatoes as it were. I understand that it was done to show off their live service model, but for sure it would have been a better decision in my opinion to have just delayed the game til perhaps February or March next year with all of these features packaged in; but then they would have missed out on the christmas rush and the sales that brings so...
Aside from this, there are some other small issues I have. The first would be soldier visibility in the multiplayer mode - it can be very hard seeing stationary foes on some maps depending on their faction (axis on Fjell 652 do a very good job of blending in with the snow for one). Another issue lies with outfitting your classes in the Company menu. Having to edit loadouts for the same class on each faction is very tedious, especially when neither faction has exclusive class-based items that affect gameplay - having to change their appearance is understandable but then having to go in and set up my assault with the same gun customization and gadgets on both factions is not ideal. Finally, assignments currently cannot be changed while between rounds, requiring you to fully quit out to the menu. This isn't a major issue but it would be nice to not have to interrupt the flow of my game just to progress my cosmetic unlocks.
Moving on, let's talk about the gunplay. Put simply, its great. It feels more akin to previous games in the series like BF3 and BC2, with each weapon class providing their own strengths and weaknesses. Gone are the sweet spots for snipers in BF1, gone is the horrendous suppression effects too; its a joy to shoot people again and that for me is the biggest plus for this game.
What good is great gunplay without talking about maps? There are eight of them in game at launch, with more coming as the Tides of War rolls around - we currently have two snow maps, two sand maps, two countryside maps, and two urban maps. These provide a good mix of different gameplay, with maps like Fjell 652 and Hamada being great air maps, Arras and Narvik play super nice with tanks and Rotterdam and Aerodrome are superb for infantry focus. Each of them are beautiful and feel good to play on regardless of your bias for how to play the game which is great when compared to some maps like Galicia and Fao Fortress from the predecessor.
Server-side, BFV has been smooth sailing all around, aside from a few isolated hiccups. Net code is very smooth and games have been very stable. There were some issues with reviving sometimes breaking mid round for everyone, and with the planes not spawning in Airborne game mode when all three were shot down at once but these have been fixed with the patch today, as well as a bug with bombs not spawning in both Airborne and Frontlines.
Before I conclude, I will say that the single player war stories are all very good too. Under No Flag and Nordlys give you a few different ways to play - I elected to play very stealthily as I was on the Hardcore difficulty where you will be downed by enemies incredibly fast - on one part of Under No Flag I was tasked with blowing up several objectives on a map, the idea being that I do that on foot with dynamite or some other explosive contraption... except I first made my way to the objective on the airstrip and noticed a vacant Stuka. Of course I hopped right on in and after a comical dialogue with a german traffic control officer I was in the sky and dogfighting before laying down bombs on all of the objectives from the sky. Nordlys has similar options (though not with planes sadly) and while Tirailleur is for the most part a more traditional linear jaunt through france, there are sections towards the end where you have the option of going stealthily too. For those of you that can grab all of the collectibles and finish the challenges, you can unlock a trio of unique melee weapons for the multiplayer; one of which is a rather dashing cricket bat wrapped in barbed wire!
To conclude I will say that BFV isnt a perfect game; there is a fair amount of content that is currently missing that would have been here in prior games, however with the exclusion of a premium pass like the others of recent history I would say that its a fair compromise. The gunplay is great, the single player is a nice chunk of gameplay if you are into that, the variety of weaponry is excellent and the new gameplay features are all fine additions to the battlefield formula. If you are a fan of shooters this game is definitely worth the asking price, and if not you can always grab it a year down the line with more content on sale.
For me, this game scores a solid 8/10.
