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Games: EA's Battlefield V the best the series has been in years

Battlefield V, an ambitious and, at times, epic war simulator
Battlefield V, an ambitious and, at times, epic war simulator Battlefield V, an ambitious and, at times, epic war simulator

Battlefield V (Multi)

By: EA

PROVING that online gamers aren’t all insufferable sods, Battlefield players recently downed guns on the 11th hour of Armistice Day to mark 100 years since the end of the First World War.

It was a genuinely heartfelt moment, but itchy trigger fingers must be scratched, and the sequel to 2016’s blaster returns gamers to the virtual trenches – focusing this time on obscure locations and diverse stories of heroism that have until now been historical footnotes.

Unlike its rival Call of Duty, Battlefield V still embraces single player, with three War Stories focusing on a diverse range of soldiers as they stalk virtual theatres of war, from a reformed British criminal making a last stand against the Germans in North Africa to a Senegalese tirailleur. Debuting in December, a fourth will even put you in the hobnails of a German tank commander.

Yet while welcome, their short running times (each lasting only a few hours) feel more like trailers than full-blown campaigns. Of course, it’s in the online trenches where gamers will spend most of their time, knee-deep in glory.

The logical evolution of Battlefield 1’s multiplayer, V offers a spectacular handful of spacious maps and blistering modes with up to 64 combatants at once. Weapon handling and player movement is much improved in a sandbox of slaughter that rewards strategy and teamwork.

Moving along at lickety split speed, death now comes equally fast. End up on the business end of a bullet and rather than simply respawning, you’ll lie in the dirt, bleeding out and either calling for a medic or hastening your own demise.

Rewarding players for mastering their firearm, every weapon now has its own unique skill tree, from faster aiming to quicker reload speeds. And while defences can be assembled, trenches dug and structures fortified with barbed wire and sandbags, virtually everything is destructible, with gunfire nibbling at masonry and mortars razing entire buildings to the ground.

An ambitious and, at times, epic war simulator, Battlefield’s online offering should stave off Battle Royale jitters until Firestorm – EA’s take on the Fortnight craze – lands next year.

From snowy Scandinavian mountains to the arid deserts of North Africa, Battlefield’s travelogue visuals are breathtaking – easily the best yet committed to an online shooter –and backed up handsomely by first-rate audio.

It’s still a few patches short of perfection, though, with a fragile frame rate and more bugs than I’m a Celebrity. Context sensitive actions can refuse to work while corpses will occasionally fly into the air for no reason or contort themselves into bizarre positions, like some necrophiliac Kama Sutra.

These are sure to be ironed out by EA, though, in their ongoing arms race with Call of Duty – emerging victors here thanks to an affecting, if short, solo campaign. While your grandkids won't sing songs of your glorious Battlefield shenanigans, EA’s latest lesson in the art of war is the best the series has been in years.