Battlefield 5 marked the return to the seminal World War 2 setting for DICE‘s large-scale military FPS series. But ever since the spectacular misfire of its debut trailer back in 2018, BF5 has been fighting an uphill battle winning over fans.
Now years later after active development has ended, does Battlefield 5 remain a worthwhile and enjoyable experience for players in 2023? Let‘s analyze the game‘s post-launch state and find out.
The Controversial Reveal That Set the Tone
May 2018 – After months of enticing promotional material teasing the return to WW2, fans eagerly awaited the first full reveal trailer for Battlefield 5. But when it finally debuted, the community response was anything but excitement.
Rather than showcasing the usual intense large scale combat, the trailer primarily focused on a British woman soldier fighting on the front lines.
This inclusion of more diverse soldiers immediately drew criticism from fans decrying the historical inaccuracy:
Reactions across YouTube, Reddit, and social media skewered the unrealistic portrayal:
The trailer rapidly became one of the most disliked YouTube videos for a AAA game at the time. Rather than building hype, DICE had sparked a raging controversy.
While their goal was including diversity and representing the less acknowledged roles of women in WW2, the execution clearly missed the mark with fans expecting authentic realism.
This early marketing disaster set the tone for Battlefield 5‘s rocky reception at launch.
Rocky Early Access Period
Battlefield games have a storied history of launching in fairly unpolished states. Sadly, Battlefield 5 continued this trend when it transitioned into public early access in November 2018.
Immediately players encountered game-breaking bugs, poorly balanced weapons and vehicles, missing key advertised features, and an overall lack of content.
Popular Battlefield YouTuber JackFrags documented many of these glaring issues in early BF5 gameplay footage:
Major problems included:
- Frequent client and server crashing
- Broken bipod attachments
- Overpowered explosive and sniper damage
- Strange auto-snap aim assist issues on console
- Only 8 maps available at launch
- Most major factions and vehicles missing
Fan reception was extremely disappointing after so much build up. Early Steam reviews painted a dire picture:
By December 2018, BF5 player counts had declined rapidly across all platforms:
However, all hope was not lost. DICE focused heavily on improving Battlefield 5‘s state over the months following release…
Major Improvements and New Content Over Time
DICE proceeded to release 4 major content drops expanding Battlefield 5 over 2019 and 2020:
Overture – Introduced the WW2 Pacific Theatre along with new maps, factions, and iconic battles like Iwo Jima.
Lightning Strikes – Delivered fan favorite urban maps like Operation Metro and introduced the deployable crocodile tank.
Trial By Fire – Added intense close quarters battles in the Greece campaign along with new weapons and eligibility improvements.
Defying the Odds – Dropped the iconic Wake Island map, private games, outpost mode, and better anti-cheat support.
By early 2020, Battlefield 5 had addressed most early issues and expanded into a fairly robust package. The tide of negative sentiment started turning more positive:
Core gameplay was further refined through major gunplay changes in update 6.2, delivering a tighter and more balanced experience. With support finally winding down in Summer 2020, Battlefield 5 overcame a very shaky launch to become a respectable WW2 multiplayer shooter.
Battlefield 5‘s Player Base in 2023
In 2023, Battlefield 5 maintains a consistent player base thanks to server crossplay between PC, Xbox, and PlayStation.
During peak times across North America and Europe servers, finding full 64 player matches remains reliable for conquest and breakthrough – Battlefield‘s signature game modes pitting large teams against each other vying for control points.
The chart above aggregating online player data shows BF5 supporting 25-35k concurrent players daily – very solid figures for a 2+ year old FPS game.
Rest assured you can still experience the chaotic sandbox warfare Battlefield titles are famous for. 64 player mayhem across the sands of Iwo Jima or snowy forests of Narvik play out nightly on fully packed servers.
Finding matches in less popular featured modes like Team Deathmatch or Grand Operations may prove more difficult. Yet conquest and breakthrough keep the Battlefield alive day in and day out.
Gameplay and Gunplay Refinement
Battlefield 5 showcases refinement of DICE‘s large scale combined arms combat formula across infrantry, land vehicles, aircraft, and naval engagements. Core gameplay dramatically improved after several post-launch patches balancing weapons, damage models, and gear unlocks.
Key enhancements over previous series titles include:
- Faster movement speed, vaulting, and mantling mobility
- Manual health regeneration instead of automatic healing
- More squad play incentives like shared ammo and health packs
- Fortification building allowing players to reinforce objectives
- Improved spawn logic reducing frustrating deaths
- Refined gunplay feel, weapon ballistics, and reduced random bullet spread
These changes allow for tighter teamwork focus and smarter movement around objectives. Assaulting and defending capture points with a coordinated squad that builds improvised fortifications and supplies each other health & ammo packs heightens the strategic dimensions.
Destructible environments open new sight lines for snipers while tank shells and bomber payloads peel back layers of cover. The signature "Battlefield moments" emerge from combined ground and air assaults steadily chipping away at entrenched defenders.
Gunfeel and audio both excel with booming, hard hitting sound design on each weapon appropriate for their real world counterpart:
DICE‘s proprietary Frostbite engine delivers lifelike animations, environmental destruction, weather effects, while keeping gameplay smooth even during 64 player shootouts.
Map Design Reflecting Iconic WW2 Battles
Battlefield 5 takes players on a global journey from the fields of France to North African deserts and even the Pacific jungles. Maps like Twisted Steel, Arras, and Operation Underground recreate famous WW2 battlegrounds with expertly crafted fields of play.
From D-Day beaches to snow-covered forests, iconic battlegrounds come alive impressively:
Fan favorites mentioned earlier like Iwo Jima and Wake Island received beautiful next-gen visual overhauls populated with deadly interplay of infantry and mechanized weapons:
These sandbox environments promote experimentation and emergent gameplay – hallmarks of Battlefield map ideals. Storming the hillside bunkers of Iwo Jima or defending last point on Wake Island fuels Battlefield 5‘s compelling "one more match" factor.
Innovations: Fortifications, Revive System, Progression
While staying true to WW2, Battlefield 5 brings some fresh ideas keeping the experience enjoyable without sacrificing team play:
Fortifications
The fortification system stands out as a game changer, giving engineers the ability to reinforce captured objectives with:
- Sandbags
- Barbed Wire
- Trenches
- Ammo/Health Stations
- Machine gun nests
As buildings are shelled to smithereens over the course of long matches, rebuilding key cover spots with fortifications leads to many memorable comebacks holding out at critical strongholds.
Revive System
The buddy revive between squad members reduces dependency on dedicated medics, letting any nearby teammate get you back into action. Savvy squads combining health/ammo reloads with revives achieve serious momentum pushing and holding objectives.
Progression
While BF5 utilizes a less grindy progression system than previous entries, there‘s a decent amount of customization at play:
- 150 primary weapons with specializations and upgrades
- Vehicles like tanks have their own perk trees
- Cosmetic skins reward skill milestones
- Weapon Mastery tags reflect player proficiency
Unlocking new optics or increased reload speed creates effective niches for playstyle preferences on the various WW2 guns.
Overall the innovations blend nicely with Battlefield 5‘s traditional mix of versatile land, air, and infantry gameplay.
How Does BF5‘s Content and Quality Hold Up Now?
Battlefield 5 entered 2023 in a fairly feature-complete state after 4 DLC packs of post-launch support. With development and live service infrastructure handed off to the next game, no more expansions remain.
Yet the current package offers plenty for WW2 combat across several iconic yet underutilized fronts:
- Western Europe Campaign (8 maps of France, Holland countryside)
- North Africa Campaign (Egypt, Libya desert warfare)
- War Stories single player missions
- Combined Arms PvE co-op mode
- 19 multiplayer maps, 12 modes total after all DLC
- Factions: British Army, Wehrmacht, US Marines, Japanese Army
- 150+ weapons with customizations
- 40+ land vehicles like tanks and transports
- 10 Aircraft each faction spanning fighters, bombers, helicopters
- Naval warfare with amphibious vehicles and ships
- The Armory cosmetic skin and takedown system
- Free content/maps were added over first year of release
While hardcore veterans may have wanted even more fronts and battles represented with additional post-launch content, Battlefield 5 won‘t leave players starved for iconic WW2 weaponry and warfare hotspots to sample for countless hours online.
So How Does BF5 Stack Up to Other Battlefield Games?
As a long time Battlefield player logging 500+ hours across every core release since Battlefield 1942, I evaluate Battlefield 5 in the context of its relatives both older and newer.
Compared to previous franchise highs like Battlefield 3 and fan favorite Battlefield 4, Battlefield 5 doesn‘t quite reach those heights yet delivers a polished gameplay experience on par with 2016‘s Battlefield 1.
Key advantages over BF1 include better weapon handling, superior movement mechanics, and deeper teamplay systems. Fortifications and squad revives also push teamplay more strongly.
However BF5‘s atmosphere and art direction generally fall short of the jaw-dropping spectacle made possible by BF1‘s World War 1 setting. BF1 captured lighting in a bottle there.
Visually Battlefield 5 also looks dated in the new era of photorealism in competitive shooters like 2019‘s Modern Warfare reboot. This graphics disparity limits some immersion and cinematic quality compared to bleeding edge titles.
Gameplay innovations and activity aren‘t as ambitious as what DICE attempted with the massive player count leap in 2042 either. Yet BF2042 severely fumbled execution and currently plays like an unfinished beta.
So in terms of balancing quality gameplay, map design, weapon handling, stable performance, and functional content, Battlefield 5 finds a nice equilibrium representing one of DICE‘s most polished Battlefields post-launch.
The Verdict: Still Worth Playing in 2023
Considering its lower price point now and healthy ongoing multiplayer population on consoles and PC, Battlefield 5 represents good value for FPS fans in 2023 seeking another quality large-scale World War 2 shooter.
Core gameplay mechanics, gunfeel, map design, audio and visual feedback are still top notch and competitive with more modern FPS games. Provided you play during peak times, finding full lobbies running at 60+ FPS is no issue.
The WW2 setting remains timeless offering a classic boots-on-the-ground battlefield missing from recent futuristic shooters in the genre.
Veterans may miss ongoing updates and content roadmaps of the early live service days. However, Battlefield 5 has recieved enough fixes, tweaks, maps, weapons, vehicles, factions, and battles since launch to offer a thoroughly enjoyable and feature-complete WW2 playground. One that continues thriving thanks to a resilient player base preserving the Battlefield spirit now into 2023.
For those seeking another polished Battlefield fix showcasing large scale combined arms combat, Battlefield 5 absolutely fits the bill and warrants your deployment. Sign up soldier!
