‘Battlefield V’: Everything We Know So Far

Tom Regan
Games Xbox
Games Xbox PlayStation PC Gaming

After months of speculation, EA has finally revealed the next entry in DICE’s world-renowned military shooter — Battlefield V. Set during World War 2, 2018 sees EA taking on Call of Duty: WW2 at its own game.

While World War 2 is pretty well-trodden ground for first-person shooters, in a bid to make what was old feel new again, developer DICE has opted to take players on a tour of lesser-known conflicts, giving the example of the Norweigan front in 1943.

Want more info on new modes, the many gameplay tweaks, release date and Battlefield V‘s new live service? Well, fill your boots on the comprehensive guide below, soldier.

When Is Battlefield V Out?

Battlefield V Conquest

Battlefield V will be out in October 2018. But just as with other EA games, the exact date you play it depends entirely on how much money you choose to cough up. If you subscribe to either EA Access or Origin Access, you will get access to the game on October 11th, via the service’s Play First Trial.

If you want to play pre-release without coughing up a subscription fee, you can pre-order the Deluxe edition and get the game on October 16th. For everyone else, the Standard Edition launches on October 19th.

In a nice nod to its existing player base, starting today, EA will be giving two DLC packs for free: Battlefield 4’s Final Stand and Battlefield 1‘s In The Name of the Tsar expansions.

No More Paid DLC

In a nice surprise, EA revealed that its long-standing Battlefield Premium DLC model will be retired for the upcoming WW2-set shooter. In a bid to keep Battlefield V‘s playerbase less segmented, EA will no longer charge for additional maps and game modes.

It will, instead, periodically add content to Tides Of War, the new overall hub which ties together all of Battlefield V‘s different modes.

Combined with an all-new progression system, EA is touting Battlefield V as its most immersive and absorbing Battlefield experience yet.

What Modes Can Players Expect?

War Stories Are Back

Battlefield V War Stories

Once again, this year’s Battlefield will feature a narrative-driven single-player component. Like Battlefield 1 before it, Battlefield V‘s main campaign will be made up of a collection of different War Stories. Telling a story that documents the toil of both male and female soldiers during WWII, players can experience freezing Norwegian landscapes as a Norwegian resistance fighter or battle in the blistering desert heat of North Africa. Currently, these are the only two War Story locations to be revealed.

For DICE, it was important to tell the untold side of one of the most well-known events of modern history. “We deliberately stayed away from 1942, we wanted to tell something new,” reveals Battlefield producer Daniel Berlin. “It’s all about emotion. We wanted to put ‘the feels’ in there.”

While the game’s multiplayer is all about immersive action, DICE promises that Battlefield V‘s single-player component will deliver a campaign comprised of real and relatable tales from this all-too-real war. EA has yet to show any full gameplay yet.

All-New Combined Arms Mode (Co-op)

Battlefield V Combined Arms

The all-new Combined Arms mode looks to combine the feel of Battlefield’s online mayhem but with a new narrative twist. Touted by DICE as a “safe haven” for new players, this four-person co-op mode sees soldiers teaming up to fight across a slew of different locations, as a team of paratroopers, blending the kind of action you’d expect from the game’s online competitive modes with stealth sections and a cinematic twist. Berlin describes the mode as “what connects the dots between single player and multiplayer”.

More will be revealed at E3 next month.

Grand Operations

Battlefield V tank

Battlefield 1‘s Operations mode has returned but with a few major tweaks. This all-new live objective-based mode is now split over four fictional days, providing players with four unique and distinct game modes, each with their own custom rules and map layouts.

Players relive various vast historical battles across these four days, with the outcome of each day affecting your team’s status in the next.

Picking up where the previous day left off, map destruction and number of deaths remain, until the last men standing fight to the death. If on the final day, you spawn in with just your primary weapon and only one mag left, this will be your final stand. On the final day, you have no respawns – that’s it.

EA has yet to show off any footage or screens from this intense-sounding (but intriguing) new mode but promises to reveal more during E3.

64 Player Conquest Returns, with Other Competitive Multiplayer Modes TBA

Battlefield V plane

As expected, Battlefield’s sprawling signature competitive mode  — Conquest — is back in a big way in Battlefield V. But thanks to a slew of gameplay changes, it may feel rather different than it has before…

New Gameplay Tweaks

Squad Goals

Battlefield V squad

Battlefield has always been a series that rewards teamwork above all else. Now in Battlefield V, DICE is looking to take that mantra one step further. This time around, team play will reward squads like never before.

In EA’s latest, players will be automatically placed into a squad at the start of each game, and now squads will have access to special abilities and rewards.

The most frustrating moments in Battlefield often come when playing as a medic, where a teammate is stuck under waves of enemy fire and reviving them is near impossible.

This focus on teamwork has very tangible gameplay rewards too. When getting kills together, reviving each other, giving squad members ammo, or playing the objective, the squad will get reward points.

Battlefield V soldier

Like a COD killstreak, the better the score a squad racks up, the better the reward, with well-coordinated teamplay giving squads access to a V1 Rocketplane ( high-cost asset), smoke barrages, supply drops, special vehicles and much more.

Players will now also be able to chat with squad members outside of each map, while in the lobby, during loading screen etc.

Moving With the Times

Movement-wise, players will soon find themselves inhabiting the bodies of the series’ most mobile soldiers yet.

Soldiers can now back-pedal on their backs while shooting and even flip over on their backs while in prone.

Immersive Animation

Battlefield V solider skull custom

Animation has moved from pre-baked to far more reactive and immersive, physics-based animation. In Battlefield V, soldiers actually respond to the materials in their environment, raised legs running through water, charging artillery can actually slip on mud.

When a player was shown running into a nearby crate for cover, the animation now uses the force of each character model’s body to run into said cover.

The environment has also been given a new physics-based overhaul too, where it now reacts to soldiers moving through it in real time. Grass moves as you brush past it, which has a tangible impact on gameplay. Now eagle-eyed snipers can spot enemies thanks to moving blades of grass.

Battlefield V Conquest

Destruction has moved from pre-baked animations to real-time physics too. Shoot a projectile indoors and parts will splay and fly far and wide outside the building.

In Battlefield V, it looks like even the environment you walk on could contribute to your demise.

Spot the Difference

Battlefield V features a whole new spotting system. In news that will come as a relief to many Battlefield veterans, players will no longer able to look over a field/area and simply spam the spot button to locate enemies –  instead, they’d need to actually spy a foe and actually use the game world as a reference point.

Fortification

Battlefield V cannon tow

Instead of the gas mask which every player wielded in Battlefield 1, every class will instead be given the building tool allowing them to construct their very own fortifications. Unsurprisingly, the support class is the most proficient at building, but that doesn’t stop anyone else from having a go.

You will be able to rebuild key structures, you can also tow stationary weapons and place them wherever they please. Interestingly, this means stationary weapons can be made mobile. For example, your friend can be mounting an AA gun and fire at your foes, while you drive a Panzer tank that’s dragging the cannon behind it.

Exploration and Resource Management

Battlefield V Female Soldier

More importance placed on ammo and resource management than ever before. This time, running out of ammo is a very real possibility, so players must be mindful of their resources and explore the environment in order to find more.

In a bid to keep people heading to the objective, resupply stations are now added to every flag in conquest, which replenish health, ammo and other items in your inventory.

Unparalleled Gunshot Accuracy

battlefield-V pre reveal logo

“We want to change the mentality of how weapons work,” affirms Brazil. And based on what we’ve seen so far, weapon fire looks to be a far less randomised experience than in previous installments. Now, where you aim with your controller is actually where your digital gun shoots.

Thanks to this 1:1 accuracy, EA promises that you can comprehensively learn patterns of burst fire, rewarding players for sticking with certain weapons, learning fire patterns and becoming experts with individual weapon types.

Progression Via The Company

Battlefield V Character customisation

The Company is your new comprehensive character destination, where players can easily customise their soldier, weapons, and vehicles. Connects all modes, both single and multiplayer. Here the emphasis is on choice — EA wants players to build a deep connection with their soldiers, vehicles etc, and really customise their playstyle and avatar.

EA promises an unprecedented level of visual customization for soldiers, weapons, and vehicles, offering hundreds of ways to make your loadout feel pleasingly unique. A few customization options mentioned were face paint, distinctive hairstyles (mohawks, etc), upper torso customisation, leather jackets, gold-plated weapon sights, branches on gun barrels and extensive vehicle customisation.

Keen to learn more? All will be revealed at this year’s E3.

Tom Regan
Having written for everyone from Trusted Reviews to The Guardian, Tom is a London based writer who can't stop talking about games.