A recent post on the Battlefield website highlights the team’s design philosophy in having players experience the true journey through World War 2. This doesn’t simply mean new locations but a focus on immersing the player in the conflict and evolving gameplay – the same way tactics and weaponry evolved throughout the duration of the war. They call this entire journey ‘Tides of War’ and it begins with a new way to customize your gameplay: Your company.
Customize your Company
The Company is designed to reflect you, according to the site. It is to be a collection of your customized soldiers, weapons and vehicles that are developed and modified as you progress through the Battlefield V journey. In addition to the campaign, you can bring your Company to all multiplayer modes and cooperative Combined Arms.
There is, however, a limiting factor. You can only have one company per faction and each can only contain a set number of soldiers, vehicles, and aircraft. In multiplayer modes, you’ll be able to play as the British and German armies (but MURICA!?) – the two initial factions of the game.
True to usual Battlefield design your soldier’s classes will consist of the four staples: Medic, Scout, Support and Assault with each able to be customized to accommodate your playstyle. You can alter their appearance by changing outfits, gender (shut it gamergate), helmets, skin color, and war paint.
You can of course also change loadouts to best suit your upcoming fight. The more you use your weapon in battle, the more you open additional customization options such as skins, receivers, stocks, barrels, muzzles, and more. This goes for vehicles too: customize your tanks with paint jobs, sandbags, leaf camos, and more to really stand out. This personalization will also build a name for yourself – both squadmates and enemies will remember you based on what they see on the battlefield.
Playing the game is the best way to progress your Company and unlock more customization options and abilities. Whether you take on multiplayer or cooperative Combined Arms, all your efforts grant XP that goes to levelling up your Company.
Experience gain will also serve to unlock new Archetypes for your soldier classes. This doesn’t require explanation for most but an archetype is a class specialization the further specializes your character and playstyle. For example, a Support soldier may choose to be an Engineer or Machine Gunner. These specializations generate more defined team roles and offer greater depth of gameplay with available weapons, gadgets and attributes varying between archetypes. Archetypes will be hot-swappable during matches to make sure your team always have the right tools and skills for the mission at hand.
Throughout the Tides of War, developers will be introducing new Archetypes that support new playstyles including exotic specializations like Paratrooper Recon – a Scout that uses stealth and silenced weaponry to take out enemies (sooooo, a sniper :P).
Bring your Company on a Journey through the Tides of War
After the great Battlefront II EA disaster of our generation players have been very vocal about paying for premium content that separates the community and/or provides in game advantages to gameplay. In response, Battlefield V will have no Premium Pass or requirement to pay for expansion packs.
Tides of War will be an evolving journey featuring a new narrative every few months. Each chapter of Tides of War will focus on a particular aspect of the era, with unique gameplay experiences to drive players forward. We will use content, soldiers, visuals, and narrative to immerse our players deeper into the gameplay.
Tides of War brings you and your personalized Company into themed experiences of the war, starting with the Fall of Europe, that span several months and are filled with timed events. These can include a multi-week Grand Operation, Special Assignments, and new Missions. The timed events will push further into the unexpected and influential battles of WW2 over the course of Battlefield V.
The Battlefield V you play at launch will evolve over time. Our goal is to continue to surprise the community by adding new content and making you want to revisit existing battlefields. We can’t wait to share more details on this.
Along with the various experiences available in Battlefield V, Tides of War will give you the best opportunity to further shape your Company by collecting custom location- and event-specific gear. You’ll enter as a band of fighters – and return as kin. Your Company will never be the same.
No Unfair Gameplay Advantage
The developers remain committed to making sure that you’ll always be rewarded by playing the game. As stated earlier, players will not be able to pay money to obtain unfair gameplay advantages. Battlefield, as it always has been, will remain about a balanced rock-paper-scissors design philosophy.
Experience the Tides of War with your Company on Xbox One, PlayStation® 4, and PC – starting on October 11 for the EA Access and Origin Access Play First Trial*, October 16 for Battlefield™ V Deluxe Edition early enlister access, and October 19 for the Battlefield™ V Standard Edition. Pre-order here to secure your copy of Battlefield V.
