Battlefield 5 War Stories: The Last Tiger is Not a “Hero Story,” Says DICE
When Battlefield 5 releases in November, the game will include three of the four War Stories; Nordlys, Tirailleur, and Under No Flag. The fourth War Story, which will release for free in December, is The Last Tiger; the first War Story to be told from a German perspective. According to DICE’s Design Director Daniel Berlin, the story won’t be a “hero story”; rather, it will be a deeply emotional story about consequences.
Battlefield 5 War Stories: The First Ever From a German Perspective
Berlin recently spoke with EuroGamer about the upcoming War Story. The fourth of the Battlefield 5 War Stories tells the story of the German crew of a Tiger tank, during the final months of the Second World War. Berlin explains that the reason why DICE included a story from a German perspective was due to player feedback from Battlefield 1; “With Battlefield 1 we got a lot of feedback that it’d be nice to see a German perspective,” he explains; “so that was in our back pocket. And also one of the best-received war stories from Battlefield 1 was the one featuring a tank. So we knew we wanted to do a tank specific war story for Battlefield 5.”
Having decided to write a story about the crew of a German tank, the developers then set about choosing which tank to feature. Obviously, there were plenty to choose from. However, they settled on the Tiger; “There’s one tank I would claim is what the Spitfire is to aeroplanes,” says Berlin; “the Tiger tank. It’s almost a legend, the Tiger tank. There are stories like that Allied soldiers were told to retreat if they saw one, do not engage. The gun itself is as long as a full Sherman tank, so we knew this vehicle was the tank we needed to make a War Story of, and of course that comes with the German perspective.”
The Theme of Consequence in The Last Tiger
Each of the Battlefield 5 War Stories has its own emotional themes interwoven in them. In the case of The Last Tiger, the predominant theme is that of consequence; “You may deny the actions you made,” explains Berlin; “but even if you deny them you have to live with the consequences. All actions have consequences, even in war, so that’s an ongoing theme throughout the whole thing. And I don’t want to spoil anything, but I hope that mantra helps you understand some of what I mean when I say it’s not a her story. It’s really about this tank crew going to war in this crazy machine and they start to actually question why they fight.”
DICE has yet to confirm an exact release date for The Last Tiger. The fourth of the Battlefield 5 War Stories will be released as part of the Tides of War post-launch content schedule, coming to the game for free sometime in December. It’s unknown if it will also be the final War Story, or whether DICE might add more to the game at a later date.