Two years after the release of Battlefield (the 1, but in fact, it was rather the 5), here we are again enlisted for Battlefield V (well technically, it's the 6 ... but short).
Continuing its momentum of a return to historical sources, the game nevertheless abandons the First World War to deal with the Second. A rather logical choice, allowing to offer slightly more advanced technologies.
countryside
Unlike its lifelong competitor Call of Duty, which has skipped a single player campaign, Battlefield V does offer one, on the same principle of War Tales as before.
We thus find the principle of Battlefield 1, which places us in the skin of a different character in each act, and especially which tells of little-known events of the Second World War.
In the first, "Under No Flag", we play as a "volunteer" from the Special Boat Section. I am willingly putting in quotes, because it is in fact a petty thief who is released from prison to go and carry out sabotage missions against the Luftwaffe.
At the beginning, I was a little afraid of having a new hyper-scripted campaign where we were ultimately just going with the flow. And finally, this feeling quickly faded, because we quickly find ourselves alone to carry out the mission. We can thus theoretically choose the approach, furtive or nag. But in fact, the game pushes very hard to stealth, since the reinforcements, once the alert is given, are excessively numerous. Add to that the glaring lack of ammunition. I therefore strongly advise the greatest caution. The problem is, other than stealth kills, there is no other way to eliminate guards silently. No pistol or sniper with silencer. Too bad, especially since it already existed at the time (created in 1908 .. yes, yes I checked!).
The second chapter takes place in Norway, the country being under the yoke of 400 German soldiers and the Gestapo. Nevertheless, resistance is organizing. We thus enter into the skin of a woman, in the snow-covered forest, in the middle of the night, and the objective is to find a member of the resistance who has disappeared. Here again, stealth is the order of the day as much as possible. The enemies having at their disposal of the projectors, the alarm is given rather quickly if one gets caught in the light.
Place in the South of Spain and Operation Dragoon in the third chapter, where Senegalese skirmishers are in the spotlight. (Special mention in the introduction and this quote that I found very relevant: "Never forget that what is true is written and that what is written is not necessarily true"). A much more muscular sequence, where clearly infiltration is not appropriate.
Multiplayer
As for multiplayer, it's still Battlefield. We therefore find the major emblematic modes:
- Conquest, large-scale game mode (32 to 64 players), with vehicles, etc.
- Large operations, spanning several days, with each final battle of one day having an impact on the next.
- Infantry, where we can only play characters on foot, no vehicles therefore, on restricted maps.
- Breakthrough, where an attacking team must remove several points defended by the opposing team.
- The great classic Team Deathmatch.
- Domination, where we have to capture flags.
We also find the four Classes that we have almost every time: Assault, Medic, Support and Scout. Note however the existence of "sub-classes", one by default and one unlockable after reaching rank 8 of the Class:
- Assault
- Light infantry, basic troop, more resistant than other classes.
- Anti-vehicle, allows vehicles to be marked and more points to be requisitioned.
- Doctor
- Military doctor, more defensive role.
- Combat medic, useful for melee.
- Support
- Engineer, more focused on repair and fortification.
- Machine gunner, whose suppressing fire is his specialty.
- Eclaireur
- Sniper, the sniper par excellence.
- Explorer, has tags to reappear wherever he wants.
Each Class is highly customizable, so much so that it can feel a bit cluttered and impractical at times. As you progress in the Class, you unlock new weapons and gadgets, which you can also customize (globally, you can change the sight and paint of the various components). Small nice addition: you can choose the appearance of your soldier from a list of 20 stereotypes (10 girls, 10 boys, bravo for parity!). Note also that you can customize differently depending on whether you are playing on the side of the Allied Forces or the Axis.
On the Path of War
Updates are of course planned to expand the game. On Battlefield V, it will therefore be the Paths of War.
Each Path will bring new content: vehicles, weapons, maps, game modes, etc ... The first, scheduled for December 6, will feature a new chapter of War Tales, The Last Tiger, as well as vehicle customization and a card taking place in Belgium.
Conclusion
In the end, can we really talk about surprises with this Battlefield? Not really. All the markers of the series are there, we can note a few evolutions here and there, but nothing really revolutionary. But after all, it already works pretty well like that. On the multiplayer side, I would have liked to have had a mode dedicated to planes, a bit like in Battlefront (even if World War II is not necessarily famous for its dogfights). However, we find everything that makes the strength of Battlefields: large-scale battle, customization galore and attention to detail. I advise you, moreover, to improve the ping, to install a VPN to play online so as not to be slowed down in the game.
As for the single player campaign, I enjoyed looking at some fairly unknown events. Of course, it's still entertainment. But the staging is rather intelligent and much less "big spectacle" than its predecessor, which I did not like.
Clearly, good Battlefield as we like them. Nothing very original, but aficionados of the series will surely appreciate.
Battlefield V - Official Site
