I'll write it out anyways before I go to bed. Iwo Jima Breakthrough is easily the best BF experience I ever had and I've been playing since BF 1942. They absolutely nailed it. If both teams are evenly matched and it goes all the way, it's some of the best gameplay in all of gaming. No joke. It's just an extremely well designed map that looks fantastic. From the fighting on the beach, to the plains, then the caves, and finally the mountain top. There is nothing else like it in gaming. I had so many BF moments, taking a tank into the caves or doing a great flank and going on a crazy mulit kill because of the katana. Speaking of pickups, they are well designed. The katana getting a speed boost was a good choice, much better than increased HP or some other way of making it viable. Pacific Storm is no Iwo Jima, but it's still a fun map. In a sense, it's the polar opposite of Iwo Jima, so they go well together. I'm definitely excited to get my hands on Wake this December.
I have also warmed up to the vehicles. It might seem like there are a fewer, however, once you start upgrading them you can create any type of vehicle to suit you. Light, medium, and heavy tanks? You don't need that anymore. Less is more with the new and improved specialization tree.
However, one of the best aspects of this update are all the small details. I love that planes spawn on carriers. I love how the tanks spawn on the troop carriers and have to roll out. I love the coral reefs and the fishes. The voice acting is phenomenal. It's all of these little things that come together to make this such an amazing experience. This is the first time since playing BF V that I've actually been impressed by what DICE has created. Don't get me wrong, the base game is good, but this is just a totally different caliber. If this is how BF V would have launched, things would have been extremely different. The reception would have been stellar.
In my 450 hours with this game, this is easily the most fun I had. It almost feels like a new game. Even though it doesn't seem like that much content, its worth more than the rest of the game combined. This is a prime example of quality over quantity. Yeah, sure, it's not perfect. There are a ton of issues I could list, but right now I don't want to focus on the negatives. DICE really made something special this time around. If they can keep pumping out content of this caliber, BF V will easily become the best in the series.
