Call of Duty and Battlefield will once again lock horns in the quest to be crowned the autumn shooter of choice.
While BLOPS is rumoured to veering in a very different direction to that of last year’s game, EA DICE is expected to be sticking with their tried-and-tested formula for Battlefield V.
After all, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it… right?
Here we pick three key reasons why sticking to their guns could be a masterstroke.
Compelling campaign
Activision has near-enough confirmed the single-player campaign has been nerfed from the upcoming COD.
Although a vast majority of the user base plays COD online, campaign still offered some incredible moments.
PLAY DREAM TEAM WEEKENDER Pick seven players to win £10k!
Modern Warfare’s All Ghillied Up, No Russian in MW2… these were experiences that stuck with you long after the closing credits rolled.
DICE, however, has promised “compelling single-player stories” in their upcoming game.
EA boss Andrew Wilson said: “With our next Battlefield game, the team at DICE is bringing the intensity of combat to life in new and unexpected ways.
“Every battle is unique, and every mode brings its own challenges – from the way you interact with the environment around you, to compelling single-player stories, to the next level of large-scale multiplayer that spans across multiple maps and modes.
CLAIM YOUR FREE £20 BET Sun Bets have this brilliant offer when you sign up and bet a fiver
“This will be a deep and fully-featured shooter and ongoing service that will evolve with major new experiences for our community, beginning right from launch.”
He added: “Building on the success of Battlefield 1 and taking inspiration from DICE’s core DNA, this new game will advance the state of the art for the franchise, while still delivering the signature gameplay and Battlefield moments that have captivated and grown our global community.”
There were rumours a remastered Modern Warfare 2 could drop with BLOPS 4, but that’s now looking like it’ll arrive next year.
A shame, as this would certainly go some way to fill a campaign-sized void.
Did you say Battle Royale?
Black Ops 4 is rumoured to have a Battle Royale mode at launch – although it’s not clear if it’ll support 100 players.
Battlefield fans, though, are used to large scale battles in Conquest. These are huge wars, sometimes housing 60 players at a time.
It’s no surprise then that EA DICE is rumoured to be announcing a Battle Royale mode in the game – after all, the servers and Frostbite engine are both used to handling large games.
Treyarch, meanwhile, are moving into uncharted territory, so will need to work on unique gameplay aspects to help their offering stand out from the crowd.
We know COD excels in close quarters combat but vast, epic battles are very different beasts.
What COD does have, though, is Zombies – which is rumoured to be shown at next month’s E3 in June.
Destruction
There’s been no word yet on whether Battle Royale in COD will have destructible environments but we’re certain Battlefield V will.
Although it was well implemented in Battlefield 1, arguably Battlefield 4’s strangely-named ‘Levolution’ mechanic was the best use of destruction.
Not only does it look the part, but it adds a whole level of tactics to gameplay. Fortnite has some level of destruction, while PUBG’s is non existent.
If Black Ops 4 can nail this aspect, it’ll help it compete – while its tighter gameplay may appeal to those frustrated with PUBG’s console performance (which still isn’t up to par).
Time will tell whether Activision’s gamble will pay off – but for Battlefield fans, it’s going to more of the same… and that’s no bad thing.