Randomly Mine: September 12th

Solo Que

It seems that DICE have pushed themselves into a bit of a corner with Battlefield V. I’m not talking about the political discourse online between EA and multiple communities, I’m just talking gameplay.

From day one, Battlefield was a sandbox game, with infantry, land, sea, and air vehicles to control on large maps. Back when Gamespy, Myspace, and AOL were relevant, Battlefield was most notable for all but infantry combat. It was always serviceable but never anything more. Soldiers in Battlefield were pawns, while vehicles and commanders were the Rooks, Knights, Bishops, and Queens.

Starting with Modern Combat on consoles, this began to change with the biggest leap being made in Battlefield 3. Now gunplay, movement, and weapons are just as loud, tight, and deadly as competitors in the first-person-shooter genre.

Things continued with the overwhelming customization in Battlefield 4, and the sheer speed of players in Battlefield 1.

And that’s where Battlefield 5 comes in.

Ammo is scarce even with supplies granted by bases or fellow players. Health is low, and precious as it doesn’t recharge at the rate it used to. Everyone’s toolkits encourages people to setup defenses. All players being able to slowly revive gives a responsibility to the whole team rather than just medics.

All of these changes are made to end Battlefield’s antics. To destroy the infamy of medic whores, supply spammers, and pounding our spot key. I’m for all of this.

Inspiration taken from middle-market titles such as Rising Storm 2, Insurgency, or Squad is something I welcome, as those games nail the pressure, and atmosphere of war but obviously lack Battlefield’s spectacle and production values.

However, there’s a problem.

You see, in each of those games I mentioned, you are fragile.

All it takes is for a single enemy at any range with almost any weapon and you are in danger. You’ll spend more of your time in those games raising your heartbeat with each corner turned, with every nearby shot fired, or enemy spewing profanities, as death lurks around every corner.

Which means that in the rare moment you’re the aggressor, going on a killing frenzy, wiping out a squad without any assistance, it’s intoxicating.

But in Battlefield V has found itself in an awkward purgatory. Death isn’t quick enough to echo the realism and tension of Insurgency or Squad. Yet, at the same time, time to kill is so fast that encounters can be won by sheer luck with a flick of the wrist.

I fell into a routine with the STG44.

Sprint. Spot enemy. Aim down sights. Shoot five bullets or less. Zoom out. Repeat. All of this taking place within two seconds. Probably less.

I immediately felt uneasy upon finding that the TTK is notably faster than Black Ops IV. Gunbattles require more precision, consistency, and skill in the latest Call of Duty title, than CQC in Battlefield V.

I remember looking at the reveal trailer and thinking that the way it showed a player looking at an enemy for a split second before killing them was silly, and only done to make it seem badass and epic.

Now I know, there was little exaggeration there.

This is what I originally typed up for the document. Now, I write this next section after having stuck with the game for a few more hours.

Yes, the time to kill is extremely quickly but I was too close minded at the moment to realize why I felt opposed to it entirely. I wasn’t on the receiving end of it.

It’s hard to know for sure due to a lack of valuable player data, but it seems my opening matches were stacked to entirely in our favor, facing players new to Battlefield and possibly, new to shooters in general. The beta also had plenty of performance issues affecting thousands of players, and possibly, to the detriment of their skill level.

After gathering a full squad of friends and jumping into Grand Operations, I found myself no longer running around like a madman with a thirst of blood. I managed some good players and occasionally taking down a squad, but not to the frequency of concern.

Lots of firefights resulted in close-battles where the victor could’ve been down to the slightest successes. Suddenly all the adjustments made to movement, ammunition, and health felt much more appropriate. The visuals, audio, and environment had an importance I hadn’t felt in Battlefield for sometime. I wasn’t relying on dots to mark every enemy at any distance for me, or a motion sensor ping to alert someone’s nearby.

I had to use my own senses and when successes came from that, it was exciting.

I also learned the major difference between the maps and modes showcased in this Beta. Let me put in Battlefield fan terms…

Narvik is Bad Company 2.

Rotterdam is Battlefield 3.

Narvik is blizzard backdrop with verticality, progression, and most importantly, buildings to destroy. The construction is even reminiscent of Bad Company 2 with 2-3 story cottages placed together, facilitating a layout for infantry combat that evolves throughout a match.

Players also have easy access to grenade launchers and dynamite that cause a level of destruction not previously possible. Not only does it look stellar, but its effects can radiate. Buildings that’ve suffered sustained damage can partially collapse without any further actions done by the player.

It makes the part of this mechanic previously binary dynamic, and it’s what I think fans have been waiting for since Battlefield 3 hyped everyone up.

Meanwhile, Rotterdam replicates the issues with urban levels in Battlefield 3 & 4, and honestly, even adds more to the mix.

Not only is a majority of the level utterly static and completely devoid of any reaction to the player’s contributions, it doesn’t even carry the fast-paced infantry intensity of Battlefield 3 & 4 due to the map being far too large.

It reminded me of the Tank levels in Call of Duty World at War’s multiplayer, where the ratio between searching for action and actually participating in it is far lower than the rest of the game.

Thing is, these types of maps were in previous titles, and they prove these linear levels can still have a sense of epic chaos. Hectic tug of war matches with players throwing themselves at objectives to win.

Unfortunately, that’s not how we experienced Rotterdam. Instead, an infantry based map that’s too big to have a lack of vehicles, can only be played in Conquest. Requiring players to move through empty streets without an enemy in sight or a shot fired.

This experience was a healthy reminder just how much a game’s first impressions can be off despite not urgent fault within its core. Instead, poor experiences can be due to repetition, downtime, or the game simply not showcasing its strengths.

DOOM 2016 comes to mind.

Everything seemed stacked against that game’s release. ID Software were coming off of their only flop. No founders were left working at the company. DOOM 4 was scrapped. Reboots had earned an apathetic response from gamers. The first demo appeared as a pandering, slow, consolized mess of dubstep and pre-animated takedowns. After managing the screw up even the box art, the multiplayer beta seemed to be the final nail in the coffin. Featuring loadouts, perks, and overly powered Demons given without a hint of speed, strategy, or skill.

And despite all of my hesitation felt due to these things, I ultimately picked up the game and loved it to hell.

Uh… no pun intended.

Too Easy

In my King Kong video, I really considered writing “My computer didn’t just die… it was murdered!”

But at this point, it’s just not worth it.

Fantasy

I’ve sometimes dreamed about being on stage at E3 and losing it. Not due to anxiety and fear as I would in real life. But in this fantasy, I’d lose it out of anger. Raw anger. The sort that has no logic behind it, no thoughts made through research, discovery, and consideration. Just a deep bruising hatred that’s waiting to reach the breaking point.

I imagined shouting things along the lines of “Are we’re really supposed to believe a conglomerate like EA actually gives a damn about helping women, or children when they use their workers like cattle? Do we actually have to clap our hands during these shows meanwhile employees at the company are paid jack to work crunch during overtime and fired the Nano second their product is out as to not pay them during the gaming drought?”

“Why are we creaming our jeans over a CG trailer that’ll inevitably have the same people shitting said jeans in outrage upon seeing the gameplay that doesn’t resemble what was promised at all?”

“Fuck Square Enix.”

“Hey guys! Check it out! A full E3 conference without a celebrity irrelevant to the industry! Only took us over a decade to realize how moronic that was!”

“Hasn’t there been enough abuse of our passions? People come into the gaming industry knowing all of the pains, struggles, and torment that’ll come, and they do it anyway out of sheer love. They don’t want to develop operating systems or program algorithms for Netflix and Spotify. They want to make a fucking game! They want to spit fireballs and eat dust ridden turkey legs. They want to confront our deepest fears and then stomp away with an iron foot. And taking that passion, that love, that need, and using it to force an atmosphere of terror, resentment, and bitterness that has hundreds if not thousands leaving by the hour, is a crime.”

“Seriously, fuck Square Enix.”