Battlefield V review - WWII on an epic scale

Battlefield games try to recreate warfare through scaling up the action. The online fire fights involve massive battles where up to 64 players can opt to be foot soldiers (of which there are four varieties), take to the skies as a pilot, or commandeer a tank for a ground assault.

You work in squads of four inside sides of 32 and rampage through the European countryside and cobbled city streets taking the fight to the enemy. How organised you are depends on your approach to the fight – but needless to say the squads that communicate and work as a team generally do better than the run-and-gun trigger-happy heroes.

The battles can be gruelling, exhausting affairs

In single player, Battlefield V brings back the War Stories feature to portray different people facing brutal warfare, filled with Battlefield moments. Fight as a Norwegian resistance fighter in Nordlys, a Senegalese French Colonial War fighter in Tirailleur, or a British criminal in the Special Boat Services looking for a chance at redemption in Under No Flag.

Further (free) content is planned, starting in early December with a new tank-focused map called Panzerstorm, the introduction of the Practice Range, and a chance to stand out on the battlefield with vehicle customisations for both tanks and planes.  

Gameplay tweaks are predictably minor in a long-running series that focuses on big marquee events rather than subtle variations, but two improvements stand-out. On the physical side, the ability to throw yourself directly into the prone position makes movement more fluid – and makes you much less of a bullet magnet. Couple this with being able to frantically backpedal while being on the floor means your opponent’s kill shot is never a foregone conclusion. Meanwhile the new Fortifications feature that allows you to build sandbag defences to repel oncoming forces is a leaf from the Fortnite playbook and adds a defensive advantage if executed correctly.

The biggest new game mode is Grand Operations, a sprawling battle that takes place over the course of several in-game "days", where you’ll repeatedly engage the opposing force in either an attack or a defend scenario. The battles can be gruelling, exhausting affairs but the action captures the ebb and flow of lengthy campaigns perfectly.

The fifth Battlefield game retains its rank as Major General of the soldier-shooter titles. It’s refinement over revolution but there’s still enough new stuff here for Battlefield veterans to once again invest in a collection of polished, nostalgic war-games.

• Battlefield V is available on Xbox One, PS4 and PC
• Read more gaming reviews on theartsdesk

@wordsbysteve