In contrast with its competitor Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 which ships without a classic single player campaign this year, Battlefield V sticks to the War Stories we knew and love since its predecessor’s release. The game’s producer explains why this mode is so important to DICE.
In an interivew with Dualshockers during EA Play, Senior Producer Lars Gustavsson revealed the importance of War Stories and what it means to the developing team. He said:
“We were struck by the love they received for the war stories in Battlefield 1. We felt it was our opportunity to put the war into perspective. With Battlefield 1 and World War I everyone was hesitant to start with and go to that era since the preconception was “it’s only trenches, who wants to make a game about that?”
As you can tell by yourself, the community’s feedback on War Stories in Battlefield 1 played a big role to DICE’s decision to implement them in Battlefield V as well. It was also a decision made on what the company wanted to show to the world, the most realistic version of it:
I think we showed to ourselves and the world that this was a war of epic magnitude. It was all of the world, and I think the war stories allowed us to set the whole war in persepective. We take that mindset for Battlefield V, since we didn’t want to go back and redo all the World War II games that we all played already. We wanted to find new stuff that excited us.”
In addition, Gustavsson pointed out that they still follow trends but that doesn’t mean they won’t make a game that they wouldn’t want to play:
“In terms of the other developers, of course we’re gamers, we play other games, we follow trends in the industry, but this is something that is super strong for us and that we’re really passionate about. When at the races you’re looking at the other lanes, that’s best way of stumbling and getting unfocused.”
DICE’s love for Battlefield V is a big reason why the game is shaped the way it is. Unhappy as the community may be, the developers were pretty straight forward as to what they want from the game and how they’ll achieve it.