Battlefield V
Battlefield V is a 2018 first-person shooter game developed by DICE and published by Electronic Arts. The game is the successor to Battlefield 1 and the sixteenth installment in the Battlefield series. It is based on World War II and is a thematic continuation of its World War I-based precursor Battlefield 1. It was released for PlayStation 4, Windows, and Xbox One in November 2018.
Pre-release reception of Battlefield V was mixed, with the announcement trailer causing significant backlash from some fans of the series. Upon release, the game received generally positive reviews from critics, who praised its gameplay and new multiplayer modes but criticized for its shortage of content at launch and lack of innovation. It sold 7.3 million units by the end of 2018, but was a commercial disappointment for Electronic Arts. In April 2020, it was announced that support for the game would continue until the summer of 2020, when it would receive its last major update.Gameplay
Battlefield V is focused extensively on party-based features and mechanics, scarcity of resources, and removing "abstractions" from game mechanics to increase realism. There is an expanded focus on player customization through the new Company system, where players can create multiple characters with cosmetic and weapon options. Cosmetic items, and currency used to purchase others, are earned by completing in-game objectives.
The game features several new multiplayer modes, including the "continuous" campaign mode "Firestorm", and "Grand Operations". The Grand Operations mode is an expansion of the "Operations" mode introduced in Battlefield 1, which focuses on matches taking place across multiple stages to simulate a campaign from the war. In Grand Operations, each round will have specific objectives, and performance in each stage will influence the next. If the final day ends with a close margin of victory, the match will culminate with a "Final Stand", with players fighting to the last man standing on a continually shrinking map. Similarly to Battlefield 1, the game features a collection of single-player "war stories" based on aspects of World War II, with voiceovers in each war story's native language. The game also features a cooperative mode not seen since Battlefield 3 called "Combined Arms", where up to four players can undertake missions together and features dynamic missions and objectives so missions cannot be played the same way each time.
The battle royale mode is built around the franchise's "core pillars of destruction, team play, and vehicles". The name "Firestorm" refers to a literal storm of fire that constricts players similar to the popular Battle Royale game mechanic of restricting the play area. Furthermore, this particular game mode was not developed by DICE themselves, but has been outsourced to Criterion Games and features the biggest map created by the franchise to date. It is playable by 64 players, which can be divided into up to 16 squads with a focus on team work.Synopsis
As in Battlefield 1, the single-player campaign is divided into an introduction followed by episodic War Stories, three of which were available at launch: "Nordlys" takes place from the point-of-view of a Norwegian resistance fighter taking part in the sabotage of the German nuclear program, "Tirailleur" tells the story of a Senegalese Tirailleur during Operation Dragoon, and "Under No Flag" puts the player in the shoes of Billy Bridger, a convicted bank robber and explosives expert conscripted into the Special Boat Service to take part in Operation Albumen. The fourth campaign, "The Last Tiger", was released on December 5, 2018, which depicts the struggles of a German Tiger I tank crew during the Ruhr Pocket in the closing days of the war.My Country Calling
The introductory episode of Battlefield V, titled "My Country Calling" or "Prologue", is a tutorial required upon first launching the game. In it, the player learns the basic mechanics of how infantry, tanks, and planes work, as well as setting the tone for future war stories. The prologue begins after Battlefield 1 "Storm of Steel" left off, before cutting to a black screen with white text, commentating on how society was quick to forget the horror of the First World War. The prologue then jumps forward to London in 1939, with Neville Chamberlain's declaration of war on Germany being played on the radio. The narration then begins before the player steps into the shoes of a British paratrooper, during a night raid at Narvik Docks in 1940, during the Battles of Narvik. The player then must defeat several members of the German military before a Tiger I tank appears, and the screen fades to white. The player is then placed into control of tank commander Peter Muller, the main character of the "Last Tiger" war story. In this instance, however, the player is tasked with breaking Allied lines at Tobruk during the Siege of Tobruk, before an artillery strike causes another character change. After the transition, the player is then put in control of a free French sniper, presumed to be one of the same soldiers as the "Tirailleur" war story, around the Kasserine Pass during Battle of Kasserine Pass. After sniping several enemies during an ambush sequence, the player character is then killed when a strafing run hits them. The camera then pans to a Bf 109 fighter pilot with the callsign "Yellow-Seven". This time, the player must shoot down a variety of Bristol Blenheim and Supermarine Spitfire aircraft during the Bombing of Hamburg in World War II, before being shot down themselves. Finally, the player takes the role of a British machine gunner during the Final Defense at Nijmegen railway bridge in 1944, during Operation Market Garden. A V1 flying bomb soon detonates on their position, and the player goes into a last stand before getting murdered in the onslaught of gunfire. Upon completion of all introductory segments, the player is then shown cinematic clips of the war stories, before being treated to the game's title card.Under No Flag
In the spring of 1942 during the North African campaign, convicted bank robber William Sidney "Billy" Bridger, the son of another infamous bank robber, Arthur Bridger, volunteers to join the British army in order to be released from prison, and is assigned as an explosives expert to a Special Boat Service team led by George Mason. Billy and Mason infiltrate occupied North Africa in order to sabotage German airfields. However, things don't go as planned at the first airfield; one of Billy's explosives fails to detonate, much to Mason's anger, forcing Billy to commandeer an anti-aircraft device to destroy the final plane. Mason is wounded, and after an argument with Mason about whose fault it was that Mason could have been taken out, Billy and Mason steal a German's car and drive to the second airfield. However, due to Mason's wounds, Billy is forced to infiltrate the airfield alone. Billy is able to destroy the objectives, but detours to a nearby bunker to collect medical supplies for Mason, and uses the radio there to call HMS Sussex for evacuation. After destroying the base's radar stations, Billy returns to report to Mason. However, Mason is furious when he finds out Billy radioed for help, since it would alert the Germans to their exact location. A massive German force begins to pursue them and they are forced to hide in some ruins. Billy begins to express doubts at his own competence and their chances of survival, as well as grieving over his failure to please his father. Mason confides in Billy that he picked him to volunteer for the unit because his many attempts to rob banks, especially three of one bank, showed him as a "tryer", a person who doesn't easily give up. Inspired, Billy shoots alongside Mason in a last stand while singing along to "It's a Long Way to Tipperary". They manage to hold off the German forces long enough for British reinforcements to arrive, and the Germans are subsequently routed. In the aftermath, Billy and Mason have a newfound respect and understanding of each other as they head off for their next mission.Nordlys
In the spring of 1943 during Operation Checkmate, in Rjukan, Norway, a British commando unit is killed attempting to infiltrate a German-occupied facility and Astrid, the Norwegian resistance movement soldier assisting them, is captured. Meanwhile, Astrid's daughter Solveig fights her way into the facility to rescue her. However, Astrid refuses to leave, insisting that the facility must be destroyed first since it is producing heavy water for Germany's nuclear research program. The pair manage to sabotage the facility, but much of the heavy water is evacuated by truck. They attempt to pursue, but are cornered on a bridge by German forces commanded by Leutnant Weber. Entrusting Solveig with the mission to destroy the heavy water, Astrid pushes her off the bridge to prevent her from being captured. Narrowly surviving the fall, Solveig carries on the mission, pursuing the trucks and destroying all of them. Unfortunately, the Germans have already loaded Astrid and some of the heavy water on board a U-boat, and Solveig is unable to board it. Astrid steals a Stielhandgranate and uses it to destroy the U-boat and the heavy water, blowing up herself and Weber in the process. It is left unclear whether Solveig survived the explosion or not.Tirailleur
In the late summer of 1944 after the Allied landings at Normandy during Operation Dragoon, Senegalese Tirailleurs soldiers are sent to help liberate France from German occupation. One of these soldiers is the young recruit Deme Cisse, who meets fellow soldier and older brother Idrissa upon arriving in France. However, Deme quickly experiences discrimination from the French army, with the Senegalese being blocked from fighting on the frontlines and instead assigned to perform menial tasks such as filling sandbags. Finally, the Senegalese are allowed to participate in an assault on a heavily fortified German position by moving to destroy a set of anti-aircraft guns defending the area. The Senegalese are ambushed on the way to their objective, but they are able to capture and hold a German strong point. Idrissa is reluctant to proceed further since their commanders are dead and they have no support, but Deme is determined to keep pushing for the anti-aircraft guns in order to win recognition from the French army, and he convinces the rest of the unit to follow him. They are successful in destroying anti-aircraft guns but suffer heavy casualties in the process. In addition, a wounded German soldier boasts they will be surrounded, and destroyed in the inevitable counterattack, and that nobody will know they were even there. A hopeless Idrissa, fearing that he won't come home to his family alive, considers withdrawing, but Deme insists that they do what the Germans won't expect them to: directly attack the German headquarters. They manage to break into the headquarters but are ambushed by a Tiger I tank. Idrissa is mortally wounded after destroying the Tiger, much to Deme's shock. Despite Deme's unit having taken the headquarters, their involvement in the operation is covered up and forgotten. In the present, an elderly Deme recounts his story and declares that no matter what happens, nothing can erase what he and his comrades had done, and that he is proud of it.