DICE outlines Battlefield V's "ever-changing journey" The Tides of War
New "themed experiences" every few months, instead of a season pass.
DICE has revealed more about its upcoming shooter Battlefield V in a new blog post, outlining what it's calling The Tides of War, an "ever-changing journey" that will see the core experience "evolve over time".
Sounding like our old friend games-as-service in all but name, The Tides of War is the catch-all name for Battlefield V multiplayer's so-called "true journey" through World War 2. "Instead of just showcasing new locations," DICE elaborates, "we want to immerse you in this epic conflict and evolve the gameplay, just as tactics and weaponry evolved throughout the war."
Battlefield V jettisons the Premium Passes and expansions of previous series entries (to avoid fragmenting the player base), and The Tides of War's "evolving journey", says DICE, is a response to that. A new narrative will be introduced every few months, with each chapter focussing on "a particular aspect of the era", and bringing "new gameplay experiences".
An entirely unexplained "Rewards" infographic appears to suggest that new Tides of War chapters will also offer the likes of new vehicles, new weapons, timed events, dog tags and emblems, face paint, soldier skins, and weapon skins.
Battlefield V's first The Tides of War "themed experience" is titled Fall of Europe. It will run for several months, and is "filled" with timed events - such as multi-week Grand Operations, Special Assignments, and new Missions. "Our goal is to continue to surprise the community by adding new content and making you want to revisit existing battlefields", says DICE.
The developer is also keen to reiterate, with the Star Wars Battlefront 2 debacle still clearly fresh in its mind, that "players cannot pay to get any unfair gameplay advantages." The post does a good job of dancing completely around the issue of monetisation, otherwise, although DICE's Lars Gustavsson previously told Eurogamer that "Cosmetics is what we're going to sell."
One constant throughout The Tides of War campaign, notes DICE, will be your Company. This is a collection of customised soldiers, weapons, and vehicles "developed and modified as you progress through the Battlefield V journey" that can be used in multiplayer and the co-op Combined Arms. It will be possible to create one Company per faction, with two factions - the British and German armies, also the two multiplayer sides - available at launch.
Going deeper, DICE explains that soldiers are fully customisable, and you can change gender, helmets, skin colour, and war paint. Weapons are equally tailorable, with more options becoming unlocked for a weapon the more you use it in battle. Eventually, you'll be able to adjust skins, receivers, stocks, barrels, muzzles, and more, while vehicles will feature customisable paint jobs, sand bags, and leaf camos - so lots of scope for cosmetics then.
Finally, DICE explains that XP earned in multiplayer and co-op will unlock new Archetypes for your soldier classes (Medic, Scout, Support, and Assault). Archetypes are class specialisations, switchable during a match, that are designed to create "clearer team roles and greater gameplay depth". They include the likes of Engineer or Machine Gunner for the Support class.
Weapons, gadgets, and attributes vary between Archetypes, and new Archetypes will be introduced throughout The Tides of War. DICE also mentions "exotic Archetypes", such as a Paratrooper Recon for the Scout class, able to use stealth and silenced weaponry.
EA and DICE are due to reveal more at EA Play 2018 on June 9th, and Battlefield V will launch on October 19th for Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC.