Sometimes when I'm playing a game, and I've been playing it for a while, I like to stop playing that game. Such bizarre behavior comes as a shock to Battlefield 5, which mulls over the decision for ages as it loads the main menu. I've just taken to Alt + F4ing after a match.
I'm enjoying BF5, but boy does its user interface need work, and it's not just the absurd loading times between menus. The most annoying quirk is that class loadouts have to be customized separately for the Allied and Axis armies. If I change my Support class sidearm to an M1911 and take an ammo crate instead of an ammo pouch, for instance, I have to repeat the process for both factions. I can't imagine why I'd want to go through the trouble of changing my Allied loadout, enter matchmaking, and then spawn as an Axis soldier with my old loadout. It's like having different weapons depending on whether I spawned on the red or blue team in Team Fortress 2—why?
Making visual customizations is also a pain. Gun skins come in sets, but you have to switch each individual component of the gun—seven in total—to the set you want one by one. It's nice that you can mix and match, but the lack of a higher level option that swaps between full sets feels like an obvious oversight.
DICE is aware that all this is pretty clunky. "Loving the rich customization but the amount of clicks wearing your mouse out faster than playing Cookie Clicker?" wrote lead engagement designer Erik Ortman on Twitter. "We got some improvements brewing to make your customization experience much more pleasant."
In the same thread, Ortman also said that the team is aware that players are frustrated by the loadout management system, and is "looking into different ways of improving it."
5) Do you, like myself, forget to manage both sides of the conflict when it comes to loadouts? We're aware of this frustration, and are looking into different ways of improving it.November 11, 2018
These foibles aren't enough to spoil the game—Andy also likes it, and you can read his Battlefield 5 review here—but the menu loading times especially have put me off of launching BF5 when I only have a limited time to play.
Admittedly, I've installed BF5 on my HDD and not my SSD, but others here at PC Gamer are having the same issue. Recent Battlefields have all been a little sluggish, but at the very least I shouldn't have to force quit to avoid being stuck in menu limbo after a match. A better way to manage loadouts will be very welcome, but here's hoping the entire interface can be streamlined in a future update—ideally before the Firestorm battle royale mode, as it'll really suffer if it takes ages to re-queue for a match after an early death.
Battlefield 5 is out now for Origin Access Premier subscribers, and for everyone else on November 20. Because it can't be that simple, Deluxe Edition owners get it on November 15. Here's a full breakdown of the Battlefield 5 release date schedule.
