As someone who almost never plays multiplayer, I’ve barely ever played a Battlefield title. There have been story-driven singleplayer campaigns since Battlefield 3, but I’ve played that one and it was a really generic “modern military shooter”, so I’ve ignored them since then. However, I’ve heard good things about the stories in Battlefield 1 and have been meaning to check them some day. Now that I’ve played them in 1 and V, I have to say that they are indeed very good. I’ve also made a mistake to check Battlefield 4, so I’ll write a few words on it as well.
The basic concept for the story campaign in both Battlefield 1 and V is quite simple – it’s a collection of fictional “War Stories” from the Great War and World War II accordingly, based on real events and situations. Each of the stories focuses on a new character perspective experiencing a separate part of each war and all of them are focusing on the human element of war.
Gameplay-wise, they feel somewhat similar to how Sniper Elite 4 works, just with less focus on stealth and sniping. You often get huge open maps, clear goals and occasionally you can choose the order of the objectives you must tackle. Stealth is a thing too, and it’s quite decent, though you’re never really forced to do it. Battlefield 1 overall provides more variety in how each level works and there are more vehicle-based stories in general. While Battlefield V missions are more similar in their approach. Some multiplayer elements also pop up occasionally, like the capture point mechanic as part of the Battlefield 1 campaign. Overall, it’s a nice mix of good shooting and “cinematic sequences” with enough of both in the two games.
Most shocking is that the writing in these stories is actually really well done. It’s nothing you’ve never seen before, of course, especially with V, given how overused WWII setting used to be. But the writing, the tone, the story beats – they’re all really well delivered. Knowing when to build tension, when to put some humour in, when to insert some heroic drama, where to remind you about the horrors of war and the consequences of it all. I’d argue, that this is leagues ahead of whatever Call of Duty has been doing with their stories for most of the past decade. And apart from that, there’s not much of a competition elsewhere. Battlefield 1 is stronger story-wise as it feels like more budget and time were allocated to delivering good story-driven experience for that game. But V is no slouch and while weaker it’s still shockingly good. Yes, the gameplay bits don’t get as creative or interesting as what Titanfall 2 managed to accomplish with its story campaign (also being inside a multiplayer-focused game), but it’s very enjoyable nonetheless.
I’ve been completely uninterested in most “military cinematic shooters”, especially those dealing with World Wars of past for so long, that I couldn’t believe that this type of setting can be done well again in a story-driven campaign of an FPS. But DICE pulled it off. You should definitely check out Battlefield 1 if you’re interested in playing a story-driven FPS about a World War, especially since the Great War hasn’t been explored enough before. But Battlefield V, despite the previously overused WWII setting, is also very strong and worth attention. Especially if you see them on discount.
What you shouldn’t grab, though, is Battlefield 4. I’ve never done a proper review of Battlefield 3 campaign, because there was not much to say. A few good looking locations, lots of horrible QTEs and a lot of bland uninteresting stuff in-between. Battlefield 4 took me around 5 hours and I barely remember what even happened in this game. It’s funny, but without the dumb stuff, like that infamous rat QTE, there’s even less to talk about. Just a bland action story with stock characters, no interesting situations or memorable moments and tons of bugs that remained unfixed 8 years since the game release. This is very much a multiplayer-only game and there’s no reason to bother with the story campaign whatsoever.