Battlefield V will feature more destructible buildings and environments than ever before thanks to the latest refinements to DICE’s Frostbite game engine, according to the game’s developers.
Electronic Arts announced details today for Battlefield V, which will return in October to the setting of the Second World War. And the new features for destruction and fortifications should change the way you play this first-person shooter.
Daniel Berlin, design director at Electronic Arts’ DICE studio in Sweden, said in a press briefing that the game has more realistic destruction as one of the underlying improvements in its technology.
For instance, Berlin said that if a tank pushes into a house, it will cause the structure to crumble in a realistic fashion, with splintering wood and other debris falling away from the tank. If that tank shoots into a home and the shell hits the side of the house, the wall will collapse inward as it explodes. If the shell goes into a window and blows up inside, then the explosion will spread debris in a different fashion.
“Destruction is a big staple for the franchise,” Berlin said. “We add physical forces. If you shoot a projectile at a wall, it cracks and crumbles inside the house. It feels much more believable.”
Above: A house bolstered with sandbags in Battlefield V’s prototype.
The interactive environment will become a factor in gameplay. When you move through tall bushes or grass, the enemy can see the movement from afar, and they can target you with fire. If you have a heavy machine gun, you’ll be able to pepper bullets through a building and hit the enemies hiding behind walls. In that way, DICE promises a dynamic world.
At the same time, players will be able to protect themselves with fortifications for the first time. You can build these in certain locations for protection. For instance, if a house is hammered with an artillery shell, you can restore cover by adding a bunch of sandbags around it. You can also add obstacles such as barbed wire, depending on what you have in your tool kit.
“In Battlefield 1, everyone got a gas mask,” Berlin said. “Now, everyone gets a tool kit.”
Where cover has been destroyed, you can now restore it as you reinforce a building.
“You can close off entry ways, but someone can blow it up,” Berlin said. “It does change the gameplay completely and makes the world significantly more dynamic. It marries well with the destruction system.”
Berlin said that you can turn houses into rubble in the course of a multiplayer match, but you’ll never completely destroy the home