DICE appeared to drop the ball when they didn’t call Battlefield V‘s upcoming battle royale offering ‘Battlefield Royale’. They called it Firestorm instead, which sounds like a terrible Steven Seagal film you’d buy for 99p at a petrol station. Having now played the mode, due as a free update next Monday, I can see why they went with it. The titular blaze dominates the whole affair, looming on the horizon, chewing the map into tiny chunks of Frostbite engine and breathing its magma-hot breath down the back of your neck like some creep on the London underground. Here, why not watch it incinerate me in a handy impressions video…
As the title suggests, I’m a tad torn over Firestorm. It’s out the gate in a very polished state and has all the key ingredients for a solid anecdote generator: crumbling masonry, a liberal scattering of explosives and zippy vehicles, the latter lent some extra spice (and tractors) by the petrolheads at Criterion. But there’s something deadening about the way it slots in among Battlefield V’s other modes and begins to contribute to the same XP-powered trudge towards cosmetic items and whatever else XP unlocks. In the cluttered royale genre, you need a long-term hook. Is it enough to just remix what Battlefield offers on tap elsewhere?
Counterpoint: did you see that great burning bastard eat through a barn in seconds? Cor!