Call of Duty

I’m trying to figure out what it is…
Something feels different when playing Battlefield V.

As you might have noticed from my previous post on gender wars in Battlefield V, there’s a bunch of stuff in that game that feels out of place.
Slightly strange and even awkward at times!

I know – it all sounds silly – and it is indeed hard to explain.
Battlefield V is very similar to its predecessor, Battlefield 1 (again, EA has trouble with numbering systems), but somehow …its gameplay FEELS totally different.
It isn’t easy to figure out what has changed – but something definitely did.

Overwhelming!

When playing on my first map ever someone was crying in chat:

-“This game has way too many animations!”

I thought that was laughable at first. I couldn’t figure out how that could be a bad thing.

The quantity and especially the quality of animations is one of the key factors in driving immersion in a game. Consider the effort that AAA games are putting into animation nowadays!

GTA V, Star Citizen, The Last of Us or L.A. Noire have amazing casts and technology to provide a truly credible cinematic experience.

Competitive multiplayer games have specific needs…

It does take some time before we’re able to get used to all of that.
For a new player, it may indeed feel a bit overwhelming.

Size matters. Its… complicated.

The maps have been a concern for players since DICE announced they would add “ENORMOUS” maps to Battlefield. Many players are now complaining that they are too small and comparing Battlefield to Call of Duty. No one is ever happy!

The truth is that maps are indeed ENORMOUS …and too small at the same time!
It comes down to what maps are available in each game mode and how player respawns work. Indeed there are gigantic maps but most of the action is focused around one or two objectives and nothing else is going on on the rest of the map.
This is not entirely bad. The problem is the map layout.

The way they built most of the maps as a narrow rectangle doesn’t really entice the enemy to flank and capture an objective behind enemy lines in the Conquest game mode. Which is a good thing as it prevents massive waves of enemies from spawning behind the player.

The problem seems to be the fact that it condenses the action around those two choke or capture points. It becomes a slaughterfest for both sides.

Add to that how easier it is now to spawn next to your squadmate in the middle of a thick battle.

Maps are also uncommonly detailed with plenty of open buildings, rocks and hills, where it is easy to hide for a whole match without the enemy ever seeing you.
Yesterday I spent the whole match lying down inside a truck capping an objective and forcing the enemy to stay in that area not to lose it. They never found me.
Summit1g also did that a few days ago. He just stood there while waves of enemies went by.
Interestingly, at the same time, there are groves everywhere yet it is still terribly difficult for a sniper to get a good and clear vantage point. This pleases some and angers many.

Busy bees

Then there’s the fact that there’s so much more to do now.
Starting with the new ability to build fortifications. You are now able to build sandbag defenses, barbed wire, and anti-tank barriers.
This is a cool new feature, but plenty of players die trying to build these often times ineffective defenses.

Sure, medics are still healing and recons are still sniping.
But you are now able to find new perk packs to picking a class that are probably ignored by most players.
They certainly affect gameplay and may take some time for a new player to figure out.

As an example, Support is the only class able to build stationary turrets in specific maps but that isn’t clear to most players.

Every player is now also able to revive squad members – but medics do it faster and can even run faster IF they equip the Swift Effort perk AND tag a wounded soldier.
We’re not just talking about class-based effects, but combat perk packs that affect how a class performs.

Having so many new perk options makes the game smarter.
Not everyone appreciates these changes, however.

Personally, I don’t dislike them, but information is lacking when you first start to learn to play with these classes – there are many of them – and indeed they do feel very different to play with – starting with the weapons.

Bang bang!

Weapons feel incredibly different from class to class. Many people complain that medics have water guns and that support isn’t able to use their LMGs to actually kill enemies – instead only able to lay down suppressive fire.
I feel like that’s actually a good thing in disguise.

Even though it is frustrating to play as a medic and not be able to kill the enemy in front of you most of the times, it forces players to focus on their class abilities. In this case, healing and reviving players.

Laying down suppressive fire still feels pointless – and you won’t last long until a sniper gets to you. It only works well in choke points or bad weather where there’s too much going on before a sniper scope finds you.

All these factors only add to the complexity of learning the quirks of the game. It overwhelms new players and it justifies the frustration that many complain about.

Something Fishy…

There’s also something very strange going on with close-quarter combats.

My ping isn’t high, but it seems like I always lose very close quarters 1-on-1 gunfights.
I’m not missing any shots – but somehow I never get to kill the enemy. As if their weapon fires more rounds in the same amount of time. Or if they started firing before me, even though their animation didn’t start before I shot.

Other players complained about this as well.
I’m convinced that this has to do with packet delay management or lag compensation for large numbers of players. It feels unfair quite often.

Above all else, the game has a very different pace.

I’m pretty sure it comes down to the aiming system.
In Battlefield V it seems to be harder to aim properly until you get used to the way it works.

I don’t think I’ve ever seen such a complex aiming options menu.
You can actually go into detail by adjusting the aiming speed according to the zoom value of your weapon!

There are also other options that I’ve never seen before in other FPS franchises like “Soldier Aim Ratio” or “Uniform Soldier Aiming”. They include lengthy descriptions that only make it more cumbersome to understand.

The truth is that this only makes good players better and newbie players worse – as most new players don’t even know how to adjust these settings properly. This leads to newbies calling out good players as cheaters and a lot of bad vibes in chat and frustration to both sides.

Hide. Think. Act.

I REALLY like to have additional complexity in games. I like to feel that my skills and battle sense are progressing over time. But I think that, in the end, Battlefield V is not as newbie-friendly as other previous games.

Last night I had a great run.
I was determined to figuring out how to play Battlefield V properly.
I decided to take a more relaxed, counterattacking stance. If someone fired at me I would… Hide. Think. Act.

I wasn’t going to run towards the enemy nor would I shoot as many bullets as possible at them. I realized that two shots to the head or three to the body were all it took for my weapon to kill.
So I started being more mindful of my presence and taking aim before firing or revealing my position.

Aha! I became the top player in most rounds!
I think I may have figured the key to succeeding in Battlefield V.

Something different, something new

In the end, it feels like there’s definitely some balance to do and a learning curve that most players aren’t used to from previous games.

It is hard to understand exactly what to learn and how to progress… 
But, there’s light at the end of the tunnel if you manage to relax, learn and enjoy the game for what it is, without expecting it to be something else.

Instead of becoming frustrated, I’m actually enjoying the game now!

If you liked this post check out my previous one on Battlefield V’s clubfooted gender wars or how I became an Undead Pirate in Sea of Thieves (funny).
…Or instead subscribe to my blog to receive monthly updates on any new posts! 😊

P.S.: DICE fix the PIAT damn it! It is NOT to be used as a shotgun!

I’ll see you in my squad,
-ViLa4480