Battlefield V is coming October 19th, see first trailer here
Beating the war drum early
Update: We've now got an article with more information from today's press-only reveal event, including insight into the game's new modes, character progression, and Fortnite-like building.
Alright kids, settle down. There's a new Battlefield game coming, and that's kind of a big deal. While Call of Duty may have fallen from grace somewhat on PC, older Battlefield games still remain decently populated. You'll never have trouble finding people to play Battlefield 3 with, and that came out in 2011. At 8pm GMT (30 minutes from now, at the time of writing), EA will be unveiling Battlefield V live via the YouTube stream that we've handily embedded for you within. Come watch with us. I'll put the kettle on.
Post-stream update: It was a bit cheeky for them to open the show with a montage of all the previous Battlefield games, including the ones that EA have shut down and you can't play anymore no matter how much you'd like to. Within, some thoughts on the stream, plus a bombastic debut trailer.
It seemed likely ever since their recent teaser, but the stream confirms that Battlefield V is headed back to World War 2. While the format of Battlefield 1 is being largely mirrored, right down to splitting the campaign up into discrete War Stories, co-op is coming back as a new mode called Combined Arms, a separate story campaign putting a team of four players in the boots of a squad of paratroopers. Operations are returning as 'Grand Operations' and now include multiple game-modes and objectives shifting depending on which team won and when during each four-mission storyline, which is something I was personally hoping for.
Among the solo War Stories is one where you play as a young woman fighting against the German forces as part of the Norwegian resistance movement. You can also guess just how lovely YouTube's stream chat became the moment they announced this. In fact, it was still unreadable ten minutes later, and flared up to fever pitch when the trailer began with a hook-handed lady doing warshoots, too. Plus another one of those terrible ladyfolk in the box-art at the trailer's end. See it in action below.
According to the developers on the live-stream, the sliding, lying prone and getting knocked around by explosions stuff in the trailer above is all present and correct in gameplay. You can get knocked flat on your arse by a nearby bomb, but still keep shooting without having to get up. It's interesting to see how this'll alter the flow of gameplay, but it's definitely nice to look at. Doubt it'll flow nearly as smoothly as in the trailer, though.
One big new gameplay feature mentioned coming for the Support class is building fortifications, and repairing broken buildings. Dig foxholes, install mounted machineguns, patch holes in bunkers and so on. House Flipper: WW2 confirmed. They're also dressing up the unlock system with a little more thematic neatness - they're calling it The Company this time - and for each faction you get to build a set of personal cosmetic upgrades, as well as equipment sets, and define how you want each class to look and play.
One major announcement: No more Season Pass. As with Star Wars: Battlefront 2, all the new maps, vehicles and weapons post-launch will be completely free as regular updates to the game. No 'Premium' status either to get you XP boosts or skip server queues, which is a major step in the right direction. They promise that you'll be able to unlock the cosmetic goodies through regular play, although if it's anything like Battlefront 2, there will be a way to directly buy the costumes, although no gameplay advantages or unlocks you can buy.
Battlefield V is out on October 19th, with early beta access available for those who pre-order.