When Battlefield is good, it’s really, really good. There’s a magic to be found when zipping to a distant capture point in an armoured vehicle, your friends in tow as you man the rear guns and take potshots at the fighter plane above that then comes screaming down in a streak of fire and crashes into a building, sending it tumbling to the ground and taking out the squad that was camping there. It’s breathless stuff – and when Battlefield’s sandbox delivers, there’s nothing quite like it.
Of course, there’s the other side to Battlefield as well. The one where you’re running aimlessly across a vast map, not entirely sure where to head next, and having your long journey to a capture point cut short by some sniper camping out on some faraway hill. It’s frustrating to the extreme. Or maybe you just fell foul to one of the many glitches to be found. When Battlefield’s bad, it can be really, really bad.
True to form, Battlefield 5 has offered a bit of both. It launched just under a year ago, undercooked and with support in its first few months patchy at best. Firestorm made a belated debut earlier this year, and offered a fascinating take on the Battle Royale genre, though support seems to have petered out, while elsewhere new maps were only being added sporadically. Being a Battlefield 5 player has been, more often than not, a deeply frustrating experience.
Turning around struggling games has become something of a DICE speciality, starting with Battlefield 4 – one of the more disastrous launches in recent years, yet a game that went on to become one of the most cherished multiplayer shooters of the generation. Even Star Wars: Battlefront 2, which rightfully attracted controversy around its launch, has been turned around. I dipped in recently to see where it’s at, and was pleasantly surprised; it’s actually good now.
6 Reasons Why NOW IS The Time To Get Back Into Battlefield 5 – NEW WAR IN THE PACIFIC GAMEPLAY Watch on YouTube
Battlefield 5 never really attracted the same ire, but it’s certainly benefited from the same kind of care and attention in recent months. The rate at which maps have been added has amped up, and this week sees arguably the biggest addition to Battlefield yet with the addition of the Pacific theatre. It’s a pointed return to the series’ roots, bringing it all back to maps that riff off the classics that featured in 2002’s Battlefield 1942.