Since it’s official reveal trailer at the end of last month Battlefield V has been a hot topic. With the trailer having over 10 million views likes and dislikes were bound to happen. But with 309,000 likes and 395,000 dislikes it seems like this trailer got some fans particularly heated but few particularly hyped. DICE and EA dropped the ball. In a game based on WWII, the trailer did not live up to the preconceived notions most of us have of WWII. And while the team wanted to show us the unseen stories of WWII this doesn’t seem like what fans had in mind.
With British WWII soldiers that look like they fall out of FarCry with their dice tattoos and blue face paint, it looks downright comical. Implementing cosmetic items is one thing but this is entirely out in left field. This would all be okay if the setting was modern or futuristic. But when it comes to a historical background you have to wonder what they were thinking.
It’s Not Like Players Care About Immersion … Or Do They?
This lack of immersion takes away from the astounding graphics, amazing cinematics, and beautiful sound design. And while the choice to include women is controversially politically correct you have to wonder even more why they felt the need to give her a prosthetic arm. And yet she still manages to hold a fire her gun and somehow do her eyeshadow. Next thing you know we’ll have a Battlefield full of blind soldiers in wheelchairs as if facing a disability or fighting in a war wasn’t hard enough already, you need to do both at the same time. But people would lose their cool even more if a game replaced the participants in other historical events that weren’t white men.
The Logic Behind All This Nonsense
Ultimately it comes down to an attempt at expanding their player base. And while the Battlefield V official Twitter account tweeted “we wanted to empower player choice, diversity and inclusion” it’s hard to believe that this is anything more than attempt to get those who like to play as women (whether they themselves are a man or woman) to pick up the game. It also expands the number of cosmetic items they can add. After removing loot boxes from Battlefront 2 they are certainly looking for a new monetization scheme.
Additionally, the trailer itself is one long disorganized, action dense, unbroken shot that left viewers with more questions than answers. And they chose to highlight the multiplayer experience rather than the campaign. What this reveal trailer did was reveal a hot mess.
However, the reveal event as a whole was much more painful. Trevor Noah pretended to be a long time player of the series. The one thing he was honest about was telling the developers “You have made a horrible mistake”. This was in regards to choosing to speak with him. With as vital as first impressions are this one was not a good one. It’s going to take a lot to correct this.