With the release of Battlefield 1, AAA developers have brought gamers into the trenches of WWI for the first time in a way that combines excellent multiplayer with a riveting single-player campaign.
I’ll admit off the bat that I have always been a Battlefield fanboy, but this game truly blew me away. I have heard it said and I can confirm that this is the best Battlefield game since Bad Company 2 and it is arguably even better.
To start, let’s take a look at the single-player campaign. DICE decided to send players all across the battlefields of WWI in 5 different stories following 5 different characters in what they call “war stories”. When I first saw this I was a little skeptical about character development, but through dramatic cutscenes and excellent dialogue I found myself thoroughly invested in each character.
The first two war stories focus on vehicular combat, something that Battlefield has always touted as the thing that makes them superior to Call of Duty. Most players, though, tend to either ignore vehicles in multiplayer or just aren’t able to get to a vehicle quick enough (and those that do often are not very good), so featuring them in the single-player campaign was a nice way to give every player the vehicular experience they deserve.
Another nice touch in the single-player was the inclusion of a strong female lead in the fifth war story as you fight alongside Lawrence of Arabia. It was a nice way to implement a female character in a way that felt natural and enjoyable, not forced.
The one negative aspect of the war stories was the repetitiveness of objectives. Several times I found myself having to do the same thing over and over again, but I still believe the storytelling and game mechanics made the war stories worth playing through twice (once on the regular difficulty and once on the “hard” mode). While relatively short, the campaign in Battlefield 1 is definitely worth checking out.
From there we get to the multiplayer, Battlefield’s bread and butter. Battlefield has always boasted a superior multiplayer experience and Battlefield 1 is no exception. Players are thrown into exhilarating combat alongside 31 other players in 64-man all-out-war featuring biplanes and horses.
In order to succeed, however, squad communication and cooperation is a must. Now, that’s not to say that it is impossible to succeed on your own, but playing with your squad has always been something Battlefield games have attempted to put an emphasis on. Sure, you can just run in shooting wildly, but playing tactically as a team is the best way to achieve victory.
The maps on the multiplayer take you all around the locations of WWI and they are absolutely breathtaking. While good graphics is definitely not surprising in 2016, they are always appreciated. The weapons, despite being over 100-years-old, are easy to use as well, so hopping right into the battlefields of WWI is incredibly easy.
While no game is perfect, Battlefield 1 is darn close. If anything, it definitely serves as a great Call of Duty alternative for those gamers that are growing sick and tired of the lack of ingenuity in those games. Battlefield 1 is a must-buy for gamers, the few seconds you get to fly a pigeon alone makes the game worth the full price.
Screenshots via Imgur. Disclosure: A copy of the game was provided by the publisher.
