DICE and EA paid money for that garbage trailer? Jesus. The Chapter 4 trailer was a lie, but at least it was a GOOD lie with gameplay footage and clear map visuals. This crappy three minute movie doesn’t tell us anything except “Yep, the thing we told you was happening is still happening.” What a waste of money.
Okay, putting that aside, my thoughts on the announced content:
Maps
Iwo Jima - Hopefully the existence of Breakthrough prevents this form becoming a Conquest Assault map instead of a proper Conquest map. I am looking forward to the Breakthrough, though.
Pacific Storm - Hype. Paracel Storm is pretty much the only thing I like from the entirety of Battlefield 4, so getting a similar map in an actually fun game would be amazing.
Wake Island - I don’t have the BF historical perspective of playing this map, but I guess we’ll see. Again, no Conq Assault, please.
Jungle - Hey, wait a minute. Was this fourth map cancelled? Even if it wasn’t coming until January, it would be nice to know it’s coming. Three maps isn’t enough for the Americans and Japanese, DICE.
Weapons
M1 Garand - About time. Enough said.
Type 99 Arisaka - It’s a bolt-action, will probably do pretty much the same thing as the Kar98k. Fine, whatever.
Type 100 - Is this going to be the Type 100/40 or the Type 100/44? Huge difference, as the 40 fired at 450 RPM and the 44 fired at 800 RPM. Hopefully we get the latter, that would really shake up the current SMG meta.
M1919A6 - Oh good, another MMG for the pile. Ooh, it also shoots at a fraction of the RoF of other MMGs, too. Because if players wanted anything, it was a slow-firing bipod-only MMG.
M3 Grease Gun - Cool. This could be another gamechanger as a slower but potentially heavier-hitting SMG.
Nambu Type 2a - I believe this refers to the experimental SMG? Cool. Medic is getting hooked up.
Type 97 LMG - Mislabeled? There are Type 96 and Type 99 LMGs, as well as a Type 97 HMG. They probably meant the Type 96. Neat.
M1918A2 - It’s the BAR. Cool, I guess. Hard to get too excited about a 20-round LMG.
Jungle Carbine - An SMLE variant. (Another British weapon? Really, DICE?) Wouldn’t add much to Recon. Is this going to the Medics as a BAC? If not, where the crap are the rest of the Recon weapons? I almost wonder if Recon might actually get the Grease Gun instead of Medics, since it would fire at a similar rate to the Trench Carbine.
Type 94 pistol - Legendary for being awful. Thanks DICE.
Model 27 - Another revolver. Wonder how it will differ from the Mk VI.
Gadgets
Lunge Mine - ARGH. STOP GIVING GADGETS TO THE ASSAULT CLASS, DICE. SUPPORT AND RECON ARE STARVED FOR A REASON TO EVEN EXIST ANYMORE. Anyway, will have to see how this works in practice. But seriously, DICE. Cut it out.
Pick-ups
Katana - So, uh, is this going to be like the Trench Raider Eilte kit from BF1? Or worse, like a Jedi Hero from Battlefront? I kinda don’t want either of those. But if it’s just a 1HK melee weapon that doesn’t grant any other abilities like Sith speed or damage reduction, I guess I’m cool with it. I’m pretty worried about this being really dumb, though.
Flamethrower - Same thing. I like that BFV doesn’t have Elite classes. If this is just a powerful close range weapon, fine. But if it comes with a massive armor buff, no thanks.
Vehicles
M4 Sherman - Very iconic. Nice.
Type 97 - The most widely produced Japanese medium tank. Cool, fine.
LVT and Ka-Mi - Cool, something new.
Dinghy - Is that all we’re getting for usable boats? Disappointing.
Jeep and Type 95 - Transports. Whatever.
F4U and Zero - Both very iconic, and it’s good we’re getting Fighter and Bomber variants for each, because…
Meta note - …It sounds like the Pacific will be a bit like the In the Name of the Tsar DLC for BF1 with much more limited vehicle selections than the base game. I think we have enough to work with here that I won’t be missing the tanks and planes of the existing British and German factions. I guess it’s not like the door is closed completely on adding more down the line. The air game in BFV sucks, but if it gets touched up it would be nice to see some more planes added for the Americans and Japanese.
Reinforcements
Sherman Calliope - You can see this in action in the Last Tiger war story. Pretty neat.
Japanese Rocket Barrage tank - Sounds like they just kinda made this one up. Lame. Why not the Type 5 Chi-Ri, a medium-heavy tank with two separate tank gun turrets? Would have been way cooler, and better a prototype than something that never existed.
Ki-147 I-go Rocket - No kamikaze? Weak.
All in all, the proof will be in the pudding. Pretty stoked to see we only have to wait one more week. Bravo on that, DICE. Looking forward to this.