Battlefield 5 Firestorm Gameplay: New Battle Royale Mode In Action

Battle royale games are all the rage right now, with stalwarts like PUBG and Fortnite being joined by up-and-coming whipper-snappers like Call of Duty: Black Ops 4's Blackout and Respawn's free-to-play Apex Legends. Now, DICE is getting involved with Firestorm, a free update to Battlefield V, and the first gameplay from the mode has finally been revealed.

In the video above you can see an entire match in Squads mode, culminating in a win for team GameSpot. Matches begin much like other games in the genre, with each player dropping from the sky. They then progress like you'd expect, with squads scavenging for weapons and supplies while battling to be the last team standing. Action takes place on Halvøy, which DICE says is the biggest map ever in a Battlefield game. It's estimated to be 10 times larger than Battlefield V's largest map, Hamada.

DICE has certainly put their stamp on the genre, with vehicular combat a much bigger part of Firestorm than similar games' versions of battle royale. The company also highlights destruction, which it says will mitigate camping due to the possibility of the structure you're hiding in being blown up. You'll be able to play as any of your soldiers from the standard multiplayer modes; although their class-specific abilities won't be available, their customized look will be.

Watch the video above to see how matches develop, or watch the one below for the thoughts of our battle royale experts, Dave Jewitt and Will Potter. You can play the mode for yourself when it launches for free on PS4, Xbox One, and PC on March 25.

We enjoyed Battlefield V at launch; critic Michael Higham awarded the game an 8/10 in our Battlefield V review. "The Battlefield series has a winning formula that Battlefield V doesn't deviate far from, at least for now," he wrote. "Conquest and the map roster don't mesh well together, however, Grand Operations--and the other modes within it--steal the show and foster some of the greatest moments the franchise has offered. You might be surprised by the impact of the slight changes made for this entry, especially when you're deep into pushing or defending objectives in Frontlines alongside teammates fulfilling their roles. That's when Battlefield V is at its best."