EA and DICE are going back into the World War II well with its fifth mothership multiplayer shooter title. After a major livestream a few hours ago, the duo plan to shake things up in the military shooter genre.

Check out the trailer & presentation first. Trevor Noah is a Battlefield fan; who knew?

Are you done? Good: here’s how EA’s upcoming juggernaut shooter will shake things up for the series.

Player Movement & Gunplay

For starters, the controls and game physics are beefed up. Random Bullet Deviation is no more, which means you can place your shots more effectively with different weapon types.

For example, submachine guns will shoot out their bullets in a concentrated burst at first, then spread out when you hold the trigger button longer. That pattern will be identical for all submachine gun types within the game.

There will also be two tiers of weapons: one for entry-level players and one for veterans. The powerful weapons will be balanced by their damage output and ammunition amount: no more of that RBD hampering your skillshots.

Movement-wise, you can throw yourself in a prone position and slide forward, but also face left or right. You can also fall backwards and go prone on your back; this is the first time you can fire your weapon forward and upwards while crawling backwards.

As long as your gun is at the ready and visible, you can fire. Yes, that includes mantling on obstacles. Coupled with the option to fling out the window from the second story and maybe beyond, and you have a more active and movement-savvy Battlefield game.

Game Modes

EA DICE is focusing on “the unseen locations” of the Second World War, senior producer Andreas Morell said during the stream. Battlefield 5 will take players to theatres of the war that players may be less familiar with, such as Norway north of the Arctic Circle, the North African desert, and the ruins of Rotterdam, The Netherlands.

At launch, we’ll be checking out these areas in traditional multiplayer sandbox warfare -the 64-man kind- and also two new modes. Combined Arms will feature teams of four players all fighting co-operatively while Grand Operations is a massive multi-match version of the standard mode. The outcome of each GO match will affect the conditions of the subsequent fight.

A Customizable Company

As with any multiplayer game, classes and loadouts matter. EA DICE plans to take it one step further with Battlefield 5.

You will be able to customize a number of different soldiers in their stable dubbed as the Company. Gender, race, facial features, hair: you can change it all up and give them one of the four traditional roles of assault, support, medic, and engineer/pilot. Leveling up your characters will unlock subclasses for them; if your guy or girl want to become a better pilot or better anti-tank person, they can specialize down that path.

You can also customize your own vehicles in your Company, cosmetics and all. Whichever soldier you bring will earn experience on any of the modes in the game. Of course, EA DICE stressed that that anything that alters a soldier’s performance must be earned through play: they clearly learned their lesson from last year’s epic failure from a galaxy far, far away.

Squad Mechanics

During a Battlefield 5 multiplayer session, players will be attached to squads. No longer do you search or join a match alone whenever you play, but there will be fundamental changes when you jump in.

First up, you won’t be topped up with ammunition and supplies. While you have enough for a kill or two, you and your squad will have to work together to resupply and fortify the nearest secure position. Also, every player in that squad will be able to revive every other soldier in that squad. Keep in mind that Medics are the only ones who can bring soldiers back to full life.

As an added bonus, you can look over a squad member’s soldier if you’re dead and waiting to respawn. This makes for some good info-gathering and tactical respawning.

Blowing (And Building) Stuff Up Real Good

Battlefield 5 has new and beefed-up environmental destructibility. Most buildings in the game can be destroyed by gunfire and vehicle collision. Debris will scatter and break away realistically and can wreak havoc on any player standing underneath any destroyed and decaying ceiling.

You can also build fortifications now: using resources, you can lay down sandbags, camouflage netting, and gun emplacements. During any point of a match, you can turn on the build mode and place available structures for added protection.

An Ongoing Multiplayer “Story”

Battlefield 5 will feature a new Tides of War system where new battlefields and new fronts will open up post-launch. This will give you and players a reason to stick around with the game as it will be evolving and adding in new cosmetics. With the Tides of War system, you can prove that you were there for a limited event based on the exclusive items you get during the period.

Basically, EA DICE are following the mobile game and MMO limited timed event route, but hey, if it gets people engaged for months and years, why not?

Sounds exciting? You only have to wait five more months: the game is set for an October 19 release date for the PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. EA Access and Origin Access subscribers can take advantage of the Play First Trial starting October 11. Players who buy the Deluxe Edition can start playing on October 16.

With this and the new Call of Duty, it sounds like 2018’s a good time to be a shooter fan.