W
ell, of course.
Battlefield, one of the
biggest shooters in the
world, was never
going to let the battle
royale craze pass it by. Especially
with rival Call of Duty having a
mode of its own. Firestorm is, as
you might expect, a mode in which
a large number of players drop into
an even larger map and fight until
one person is left standing. If you
survive till the end, you’re the
winner. If not, well, just try again.
The titular firestorm is the ever-
shrinking play space that has become
a battle royale staple. It squeezes
players together as the match
progresses and prevents you from
spending the entire thing hiding in a
shed and waiting for it all to blow
over. Not that I’ve ever tried that.
And I must say, the effect is pretty
dramatic to look at – a giant ring of
fire circling the map, burning on the
horizon, belching smoke into the
crisp mountain air.
As the firestorm crawls across the
map, buildings and foliage caught in
its wake burst into flames – the
sound of which you can use to mask
your footsteps if you’re brave (or
foolish) enough to stick to the very
edge of the inferno. And, naturally, if
you get caught in the flames yourself
you’ll take damage, eventually dying
if you don’t haul ass. Seeing that
burningwallbearingominously
down on you is pretty terrifying.
The action takes place in Halvøy,
which is ten times larger than
Hamada – currently the biggest map
in the Battlefield series to date. Set in
Norway, the island is dominated by
enormous snowy mountains and
includes a variety of terrain including
forests, fields, villages, and landmarks
such as a dam and a frozen lake.
When you parachute in at the
beginning of a match, deciding where
to land is your first real decision.
It may be tempting to aim for a big
town, knowing the houses will be
stuffed with guns, but this will
increase your chances of being
immediately murdered by another
player. This is, of course, standard
battle royale stuff, and anyone
familiar with the genre will
immediately know what they’re
doing. This is great for anyone
seeking a sense of familiarity, but it
leaves me wondering what makes
Firestorm unique.
The fact that it’s Battlefield on a
larger scale is its strongest selling
point, perhaps. There are land, sea,
and air vehicles. You can capturecontrol points – albeit to unlock
better weapons rather than claim
territory. And you can fight and
communicate with a close-knit
squad. Moving, shooting, and
climbing has that distinctive
Battlefield series feel, and shared tech
and assets mean it’s consistent with
the rest of Battlefield V.
It’s fun too, with all the knife-edge
tension and sudden bursts of
thrilling, breakneck action that has
made battle royale the dominant
genre on PC. It all just feels a bit...
flat? The grounded historical setting
and drably authentic soldiers are
ultimately pretty uninspiring –
especially compared to the zingy
heroes from Apex Legends, Fortnite’s
chaotic slapstick, or even the Call of
Duty character cameos in Black Ops
4 ’s Blackout mode.
Some players will undoubtedly
appreciate the minimalism: the focus
onstraightcombatoverwildabilities,elaboratecharactermovement,anda
constantly shifting meta. But for me
Firestorm lacks a really solid hook to
make it stand out from the crowd.BREAK STUFF
Firestorm also makes use of
Battlefield’s trademark destruction,
and there’s something immensely
satisfying about chasing someone out
of a hiding place by levelling the
house they’re cowering in with
artillery. You can also call in
reinforcements such as the V-1
rocket, which is every bit as
devastating as it is in the main game.
But these elements don’t quite
manage to make Firestorm essential.
This is a solid, well-made battle
royale mode that, while sorely lacking
any really interesting ideas or
gimmicks, is a decent addition to the
game overall. My problem is that it
feels like something that was
developed to ride the wave of a trend,
rather than something anyone
wanted to make. As far as obligations
to shareholders go, it’s pretty decent.
But when I can play something as fun
as the fantastic Apex Legends,
Firestorm just can’t compete.NEEDTOKNOW
RELEASE
November 9, 2018
PUBLISHER
EADEVELOPER
EA DICE
LINK
http://www.battlefieldv.comBATTLEFIELD V
Battlefield’s take on battle royale finally drops in. By Andy Kelly
GET AROUND A vehicle for every occasion
LAND
CHURCHILL
CROCODILE
The flame-spewing tank
from the main game is here.
Use it to flush enemies out
of their hiding places.SEA
SCHWIMMWAGEN
You can pile your whole
squad into this amphibious
vehicle, which can drive
from land straight into the
water and back out again.AIR
PROTOTYPE
HELICOPTER
These are great for
navigating the map, but
they have weak armour so
you’ll be shot down.LACKS A
REALLY SOLID
HOOK TO MAKE IT
STAND OUTWHAT’SNEWINTHE BIGGEST GAMES
UPDATE