3 things we learned from Battlefield 5's creepy gameplay teaser

We knew Battlefield 5 was going to be an E3 2018 game and that it would probably be set in World War 2, but we didn't know it would be this alarming. EA and DICE revealed a first, brief look at Battlefield 5 via Twitter today and let me tell you, it is a far sight from the typical "blurry tank treads" or "split-second of explosions and screaming" teaser. On the contrary, it's uncomfortably focused. Not to put too fine a point on it but, uh, content warning for intimate murder scenes? 

There's a second or two of darkness and muffled groaning, then we see a guy with goggles and a bushy moustache leaning in very close to the camera, shushing us. Then it cuts back to black. It may be a reference to that horrifying scene in Saving Private Ryan where a German soldier shushes an American's panicked protests as the Nazi stabs him in the heart (this is the scene if you want to compare yourself but, again, it is quite disturbing). I guess that's one way to break free from the usual cycle of remaking Spielberg's D-Day landing scene over and over again? 

Setting the creepy subject matter aside for now, we can learn several key things from this tiniest of teasers. Here's a quick breakdown.

This is multiplayer Battlefield 5 we're looking at. Including all the multiplayer user interface elements (like the ticket count and the squad spawn notification) was unusual for this kind of teaser, and definitely deliberate. EA and DICE want to show off the cinematic side of Battlefield 5 multiplayer - before it inevitably gets super weird with people riding on plane wings and whatnot.

Battlefield 5 is set in World War 2. Normally this is the part where I'd speculate about the gear that the shushing guy is wearing, but again, EA and DICE have made this unusually explicit. Look at the ticket counts I mentioned before; that's clearly a UK flag on one side and a Balkenkreuz, official symbol of the Nazi German military, on the other. Yep, Battlefield is officially heading back to where it began. Hard to believe Battlefield 1942 is almost 16 years old...

Battlefield 5 is promoting its Xbox One version. You've probably seen so many console splash screens that you don't even recognize them any more, but that was indeed an Xbox One logo at the start of the Battlefield 5 teaser. It doesn't mean this game will be an Xbox One exclusive, just that EA and Microsoft are working together to promote the game (Battlefield 1 had the same arrangement). With that in mind, keep an eye out for Battlefield 5 to appear on Microsoft's E3 2018 stage as well as EA's.

If you can't wait for Battlefield 5 to arrive, check out our list of the best FPS games you can play in the meantime.