To add to that controversy regarding women being overly portrayed - they've asians fighting for the Allies. In a time period where America, being racist shitheads back then and fearing collaborators should the coast be invaded, bagged and tagged over 100,000 Japanese-Americans and migrants and sent them to camps or relocated them further east. Even the politicians at the time flat out said they didn't like or want them. It happened not only there but Canada too, and elsewhere. But no, that's a shame that is being swept under the rug because the developers think it's minor and not at all important.
I really want to give the game a chance because there's few things I like, but it fails so hard. They expect a release date by late November? Impossible. I had to stop playing earlier because I glitched so hard that I was revived, only it turns out the game was slow in determining that I shouldn't have been (critical death, think of a double tap) allowed to be, killed me after I walked a few steps, and then I couldn't spawn again, stuck at the map overview. Not only that but many of the icons were lost, grayed out or blank, the exception being allied soldiers.
It's so physical. Going prone feels like I'm slow, heavy, weighed down with gear and everything. But the deaths are out of control, for perspective even BF2/FH2 does it better. Hell even BF1942 does it better, it's broken as all hell.
I feel like some of the combat is at longer ranges than in BF1 or BF4, and it's good, it's nice. Setting up a machine gun on the 3rd floor of building and firing down at a dozen guys slowly crossing a bridge, great. The maps aren't necessarily bigger, but it feels like there's way more angles to fight from. That said, I think there were a lot of areas that weren't meant to be accessible but you could glitch your way to them one way or another.
Back to squads, yes apparently it does seem you have no choice but to be in one. You can make a new squad if there's space for it and set it to private, you can bet there'll be a lot of people doing that. But in addition your squad leaders can actually be demoted for not giving orders. If you request orders, and they don't set a new target, a new leader will be set. Or so it seems. But also you can get a squad leader radio, call in V-1 strikes, air drops, etc, if you have enough points for it.
Lots of recycled material. I've been in houses that are pulled straight from BFBC2. I just don't know yet, it's got something to it that's calling me back, but it's so rough that I don't have much hope for it. Has DICE put together their most bold, untried features imaginable to see if it's popular or not, is this game a sacrifice for them to learn from, I don't know? It wants you to hate it! I got killed by a tank because it was invisible - only the mid air floating passengers and the vehicle hit score let me know it was there. And there have been games where I only ever spawn with a pistol. It's garbage. Full release in two and half months? Yeah right.