2019-05-01+Official+PlayStation+Magazine+-+UK+Edition

103

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arge-scaleconflicts

have always been

Battlefield’s bread

and butter. Nobody

gets it quite like

DICE, which is why we were

quietly hopeful about the

Firestorm mode that had

been on the horizon as an

update for Battlefield V for

some time.

The best thing about

Firestorm isn’t that it’s

battle royale, it’s that it’s

Battlefield. The polished feel

of the firefights you’ve come

tolovefromtheseries

translates right into the

mad dash to be the last

surviving squad within the

ring of fire. It also gives the

whole concept a lovely

sense of exaggerated

realism – parachuting in,

escaping an advancing wall

of fiery death. It’s a setup

thatisn’ta farcryfrom

scenariosyou’vetoyed with

in other modes. The scope

of the map means vehicles,

all in here straight away, are

more important than ever,

and they may prove to be

the mode’s distinguishing

hallmark. It’s a fine start

indeed, and if DICE can keep

it up, it will have been worth

thewaittogetit right.

live games THE MONTH IN...

NEW RELEASES

Ever since PlayerUnknown’s

BattleGrounds and Fortnite

stepped onto the scene,

battle royale has been the

hottest genre around. But

what will it take for this

unique format to have a

long,healthyfuture?

For the few

hot seconds

you could

spare in between lavish

and expensive Fortnite

events, it seemed that the

battle royale competition

was finally over. Epic’s

refinement of what PUBG

had popularised was a

sensation like no other. Was

it even worth other devs

trying? Cue Apex Legends,

whichlaunchedforfreewith

nexttonowarning.

But EA and

Respawn knew

what they

were doing. Rather than give

players time to find reason

to grouse about Apex, they

let them jump right in and

see how much fun it was for

themselves. Not to mention

they knew how to capture

attention by making sure

the right streamers were

playing it early. If it’s free,

surely you want to play

alongside your favourite

people you watch, right?

That’s the concern when

it comes to battle royale

as a side-mode. As good

as Firestorm may be, can

it light the fire in players’

hearts in the same way

when it’s locked behind the

Battlefield V entry gates?

@MrOscarTK

BAPTISTEOF FIRE

The 30th hero to join the ranks

of Overwatch is combat medic

Baptiste (or Jean-Baptiste

Augustin to you). Formerly of Talon

(essentially the bad guy unit), he

now uses his powers of healing

to help those affected by the

horrors of war. His assault rifle

packs a punch and can fire healing

projecticles. He also has a barrier

that powers up friendly projectiles,

and an immortality field.

BLOODMOON RISES

Crimson Curse, the first card

expansion to the free-to-play

Gwent, is here. It consists of over

100 cards for The Witcher spin-off,

and adds to the current factions

as well as containing neutral

cards. Themed around higher

vampire Dettlaff van der Eretein,

the set provides plenty of buffs for

monsters and vampires alike. The

new cards can be obtained in their

own kegs (basically booster packs).

DRAGONSEASON

We might be a few months from

the launch of The Elder Scrolls

Online’s Elsweyr expansion (see

p44 for our first impressions), but

the Season Of The Dragon starts

with the Wrathstone update. The

dungeon pack adds the Depths Of

Malatar and Frostvault, but most

importantly this 21st update sets

gears in motion for what’s to come

in Elsweyr. Preparation has already

begun! Are you ready?

Fire hazard

Battlefield V’s Firestorm lights up battle royale

THE BEST THING ABOUT

FIRESTORM ISN’T BATTLE ROYALE,

IT’S THAT IT’S BATTLEFIELD.

CHARACTER UPDATE UPDATE

UPDATE

LARGE-SCALE CONFLICT

You might think DICE is already an

expert at making battles feel like,

well, big battlefields. And it is.

But Halvøy, Firestorm’s peninsula

setting, is ten times the size of

Battlefield’s previous record.