Battlefield V Review: 7 Ups & 4 Downs

6. Animation-Based Gameplay Is More Demanding, But Way More Immersive

One of the biggest aims of DICE going into the sequel was to try and make gameplay as immersive as possible, taking away or altering a lot of the "gamey" crutches players relied on in the previous title. This meant that 3D spotting was virtually thrown out entirely, with players no longer being able to rely on the little red marker above enemies and force them instead to track them with their own eyes.

Likewise, the devs have also put the focus on animation-based gameplay that keeps you in the moment. While that means you have more freedom over your movement and the chance of being knocked off your feet by an incoming explosion, it also means that reviving people is now contextualised, and you have to enter an animation to bring people back from the brink.

This could have been a needlessly complex change from the simple stab-your-friend-to-bring-them-back-in-a-second approach from Battlefield 1, and it is certainly more obtuse and prone to get you shot, but it is a change that makes the game better overall.

Sure, it's not as quick as it used to be, but physically having to grab players writhing on the ground, look them in the eye while you heal them as bullets whizz past your head is exhilarating. As strange as it is to say, it makes you feel connected with the random people you're playing with, and enables a real sense of camaraderie between your team.

There'll no doubt be people who prefer the arcadey elements from previous instalments, but the new system is undeniably more immersive.