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Battlefield V Review - Does it ACTUALLY suck? - MojoPlays Review
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Battlefield V Review - Does it ACTUALLY suck? - MojoPlays Review

VOICE OVER: Riccardo Tucci
Battlefield V had one hell of a rocky and controversial pre-release phase, but does the game manage to overcome everyone's fears? Check out MojoPlays' Battlefield V video review

Andrew Labelle
Mon, Nov 12, 8:17 PM (2 days ago)
to s

Battlefield 5 has women in it. If you have a problem with that then nothing I say about the game is going to change your mind. For everyone else, welcome to MojoPlays and this is our review of Battlefield 5.

The Battlefield franchise got its start in 2002 with Battlefield 1942, a ground breaking multiplayer FPS set in World War 2, with huge maps, driveable vehicles and game modes that were more complex than more people were used to at the time. After many spin-offs and different iterations of the game, many of which were set in present day, Battlefield 5 brings the franchise to its roots.

There is of course a single-player campaign and like its predecessor Battlefield 1, Battlefield 5's single-player missions are set across various battlefronts. There are of course some really impressive set-piece moments, but overall the game takes a huge emphasis on stealth and never really manages to capture the scale we've come to expect from the franchise. Considering a staple of Battlefield is combat in land, sea and air, the campaign takes place mostly on foot and I found it crushingly generic and unexciting.

Aaaaaaaand that's all we're going to say about the single-player campaign, and if you're buying a Battlefield game for the single-player experience, I'm sorry but you're doing it wrong. The single-player is a glorified tutorial and while you can definitely find some enjoyment in it, you won't get your money's worth.

For the most part Battlefield 5 feels a lot like Battlefield 1, except the weapons are, as expected from a more advanced era, a bit deadlier. There are more automatic weapons as well as rifles that feel much more like something found in Battlefield 3 or 4. With that also comes tighter controls, a faster and more intuitive cover and lean system, and bipods deploy a lot more easily.

There are also some significant changes to the mechanics. DICE is really pushing players towards teamwork in a number of ways. The squad also has its own score independent of individual players, and the squad leader can spend points to call in supply drops and even vehicles. Regular vehicle spawns are a lot slower too, so these extra drops can mean all the difference in a tight game. Lower total ammo reserves necessitate a resupply from your teammates so lone wolves can no longer post up in a corner and snipe for long periods of time before running out of ammo. And slower healing means medkits are more important than ever. Players in the same squad can all revive each other regardless of class, but Medics can revive anyone on the team, and also revive at a significantly faster rate.

However, the revive mechanic is really inconsistent. On paper, it's as simple as running up to a downed ally and 'activating' them before they bleed out. But in practice, the whole process is often very jankey. If a friend gets knocked down on a pile of debris or clipped halfway into a wall, getting in the right spot to revive them is often a headache. If you take too long and they die, or worse, you get killed while trying to wrestle with the awkwardness of it all, is next-level infuriating.

Bodies tend to glitch out and twitch often enough that I keep mistaking them for living targets; and of course the game running through Origin means joining and connecting with friends is often more difficult than it should be.

The progression system has been streamlined, and unlocks are split between cosmetic customization, class specializations and weapon perks. Classes have also gotten more focused in terms of weaponry. The Assault class' arsenal excels at medium range but the weapons fall off significantly at a distance and there aren't a lot of options to help that much. Medic's are now limited to close range SMGs that barely hold their own even at medium range. The Support and Recon's weapons are almost useless fired from the hip making their roles on the battlefield pretty well defined. The limited weapon variety across classes was a big annoyance for me, especially because I spent most of my time as a Medic and found myself useless in a lot of firefights. Healing and reviving teammates is always a huge help, but seeing my K:D take a hit every time I switched to the medic was especially frustrating. The limitations of each class is of course another means to push players into sticking to and working together, and it certainly isn't game breaking, but it would be nice to see further balance to the weapons. There are a few other new features here and there. Players can build up small barricades in certain areas, but I hardly even noticed when this was happening.

All these changes don't just encourage team play, but enforce it. Don't worry, you don't need to communicate directly with your team if you don't want to. The mechanics of throwing out a medkit or ammo pouch are quick and there are enough visual cues that doing all of these tasks starts to feel really automatic. For me a bigger change was how spotting enemy targets work. Now you can't simply press a button to highlight enemies in the centre of your screen for the rest of your team to see. Instead spotting targets is something you need to work for, like how the Support can unlock a perk that automatically spots suppressed targets. As someone who was admittedly, extra scummy with my abuse of the spotting system in previous Battlefield games, I actually found this new system welcome, as it's not only more immersive, but forced me to focus a lot more on potential enemy positions. I also found it added a fun element of stealth to the game, as now it's much more possible to creep around the map and flank objectives.

Ultimately, if you've been largely happy with the Battlefield franchise since Bad Company 2, you will definitely find this game worth the time. Battlefield 1 ended up being a solid, but flawed game and Battlefield V fixes a lot of what was broken, and improves on what worked. Although 5 does also succeed in adding a few new problems along the way.

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