DICE has been hard at work with Battlefield 1 for some number of years and let me assure you that all that hard work has paid off dramatically. Gone are the days of Battlefield where the campaign was just a way to show neat-o graphics and half-hearted story efforts. Gone are the days where the maps are expansive, yet struggling with visual details (though, the multiplayer experience was the reason to own the title). Gone are the days where cheap weapons with tech advantages plague MP gameplay so frustratingly bad that some days gameplay was unplayable, and children’s ears had to be covered because of cursing.
Gone are those days.
What did DICE do to alleviate all of the past faults? They did what no other big company would do with their prized AAA title. They took a step back in history to World War I and investigated nearly every aspect of warfare, trusted that gamers would accept a more primitive experience and built a gigantic, yet visually fruitful world for it all to reside in. This was a huge chance that could have backfired, but instead it garnished far more interest, a deeper gameplay experience and opened up future opportunities to go off the beaten path with AAA titles. Battlefield 1 is a departure from the safe zone and the cookie cutter first-person shooter blueprint that everyone has been using for years.
Without further delay, let’s dig right into it.
The gameplay design for Battlefield 1 is built around what a World War I soldier would experience during warfare. Firing weapons can be an inaccurate process, drudgingly running through the battlefield with heavy armor strapped to you making you an easy target, though dangerous when you get the guns rolling, and driving vehicles of this time period, such as a mini-tank called the Leichter Kampfwagen II that you control, brings an entirely new aspect to the usual first-person shooter genre. All of this is accurately portrayed and replicated for a WWI battle environment, which is the crux of the gameplay in Battlefield I. It’s amazing to see in motion, though frustrating at times, but ultimately all a new challenge that goes beyond locking, loading, pointing and firing, which is what most first-person shooters demand of you. The time period helps to break the typical mold of gameplay that you’re used to seeing in this genre. It’s genius and it feels fresh.
Speaking of fresh, the campaign in Battlefield 1 is story-driven. You’re probably thinking, “No, shit? Really? Don’t all first-person shooters not named Titanfall (the first) have campaigns in them?” Well, you wouldn’t be wrong with those sarcastic questions, but at the same time you’re not right. Yes, most first-person shooters have campaign modes that last somewhere around 5-6 hours in length, but most don’t actually have emotionally impactful stories that give off a melancholy feeling. Most FPS campaign experiences these days don’t pull characters in and make their moments last 45 minutes to an hour a piece, nor do they have multi-stage stories that make the experience feel like a well-thought out piece of history that is endearing and relevant. The campaign is broken into multiple character perspectives during multiple battles that all connect in some way shape or form. For example, the second mission in the campaign has your main character leading a tank though foggy woods in order to help clear the way for it to take back a captured German landscape. The first part of the mission has you going through the woods and stealthily sneaking up on enemies, taking them out and progressing to the next check point. The second part of the mission has you going through several open lands and progressing the tank in order to get home. The third part of the mission has you searching out spark plugs to repair damaged parts of the tank. The last part has you going up against the German army in the tank in order to take over a town and ultimately escape. All of that is one single mission, and you get multiple missions for the campaign that are nearly exactly this length and style. That’s a lot campaign to experience.
Seriously, it’s spectacular how DICE treated the campaign portion of this game. It’s more than ‘Look at the pretty shit! Look at all the great graphics, spaces and all the weapons!’; it was far more than that typical FPS experience. Part of me is incredibly proud of DICE for recognizing that campaigns used to matter in these type of games a long time ago. I’ve been crowing about the need for publishers to do more with their campaigns and not treat them like test runs for multiplayer elements or maps and it looks like DICE listened (not just to me, but to a large group of us yelling about it) and they’ve simply made the campaign mode relevant and worthwhile. Again, bravo to their efforts. Gamers appreciate this sort of stuff.
On the multiplayer side of the map, there’s a lot to be happy about. First, let’s break down those MP modes:
Conquest – The massive maps reside in conquest. The matches, depending on how good you are, last around 30-40 minutes and are focused around capturing portions of the played map. Every map in conquest has a personality of its own, as well as advantages and disadvantages, but having a 64-player match makes everything so worthwhile. It feels like a battle should feel, respectfully.
Team Deathmatch – Do you really need a description of this one? It is what it is. Not a huge fan, as I like a bit more scale to my MP experience, but it’s such a permanent piece to the usual MP experience that it would be weird without it.
Domination – While I’m not a huge fan of this mode, mainly because of the proximity and shotguns, I know this makes BF1 have that Call of Duty feel to it. People like fast-paced, small-spaced games, and this is right there for those people. Again, not my favorite mode, but it’s hard to top Conquest.
War Pigeons – Yeah, this is unique. It goes along with a short mission in the campaign. It takes the idea of acquiring a pigeon to launch an artillery strike on your opponent. It honestly reminds me of that Call of Duty game where you take the electronic ball to the large bubble to dunk it. Except it’s a pigeon. And you don’t dunk the pigeon. You should never dunk a pigeon. Please don’t dunk a pigeon.
Operations – I know I’ve seen this type of gameplay before in a different series, but I can’t quite pinpoint it. Giant team-based battles focused on real battles of World War I that just keep rolling after your team wins/lose. Interesting stuff for this release and unique enough to enjoy.
Rush – While this mode has been done before, the story setting it up and the maps you play on really set the tone. You have to rush and help destroy/defend a telegraph post. Lose your telegraph post and you fall back to another sector of the map. We’ve seen this style before, but the added story from the overall game’s package makes it fun.
These are the main modes of the multiplayer portion of the game, so far. There’s a lot of everything for everyone and every type of MP experience needed to be satisfied with the MP side of Battlefield 1. DICE did a fantastic job of returning to a BF4 multiplayer design, which will equal out to good longevity for BF1. As an example, prior to BF1, my team of online gamers played BF4 for the last three years. We didn’t do it because there wasn’t anything else to play, rather we did it because the design of the MP experience was conducive to good longevity. It certainly felt like a better experience than Hardline.
On the maps side of things, here’s what to expect:
Ballroom Blitz – This is one of the more limited maps in the game. Its design is shaped into multiple squares (a small square that is the mansion in the middle, then square sectors that surround the mansion that get bigger and bigger – like a square inside of a square inside of a square). Its limited size certainly makes for quick battles, but the structure can be used for slow drawn out fighting. It all depends on the groups playing each other. The additional tanks, vehicles and guns help to make it brutal.
Argonne Forest – I think this might be the prettiest map of the bunch, as you have lots of trees and lots of good lighting opportunities to see in action. Leaves are kicking up everywhere, there is hill-y land surrounding you and plenty of places to hide and snipe, especially when teams are wearing dark clothing. Again, this is one of the prettiest maps in the bunch.
FAO Fortress – They should just rename this sniper’s paradise and get on with it. You have an almost island castle in the background that is connected to a larger landmass with mountainous terrain. The level is more narrow than most, but the distance between each side’s base is considerable. Again, this is very conducive to sniping. One of my favorites, but not when the sun is killing the details due to thick shadows. It’s certainly a map with a lot of visual challenge to it.
Suez – This map is a more narrow version of the Sinai Desert that most gamers are familiar with from the beta. The levels are tighter and the buildings are closer together, which makes up a majority of the map. It feels like that city from Raiders of the Lost Ark, where Indy loses Marion (and that stupid monkey rats on her — what an ass). It’s a good balance of close quarter combat and sniping. It’s one of the better balanced maps of the bunch.
The St. Quentin Scar – This is the most war torn map of the bunch. A raw battlefield, something that casts off a familiar look that most see when they discuss World War I fighting grounds (or when you’re watching the movie War Horse). The land is scorched, hill-y and pretty much broken. It’s a tough map to play on, but it shows off a lot of gorgeous visuals.
Sinai Desert – A huge desert sprawling out everywhere. It’s what the beta consisted of and definitely one of the more fun maps of the bunch. It’s a good balance of every type of gameplay style. The mixture of mountains and sand dunes makes for interesting battle strategy.
Amiens — If you want to feel a bit claustrophobic, then this is the map you want. It’s a giant city that features plenty of places to hide and shoot. It’s good for snipers, but really excellent if you can get a destructive vehicle going through it. It’s fun, but it’s narrow for a giant map due to the alleys and roadways you travel in it.
Monte Grappa – This is a gorgeous hillside map that is pretty much a valley of sorts. It features good places to shoot and a good amount of paths to get above or below your enemy. It’s a great map, especially when you run into its giant guns located in the middle of the map. Also, and this is just between us because I know most people have already skipped to the score by now, if you can get on the zeppelin as a scout…oh, lord, you’ll be in heaven. Tiny little ants to snipe over and over and over again. It’s gorgeous.
Empire’s Edge — I haven’t played this one! Can you believe that? Me neither. I will, though. Until then, go experience it. Let me know what you think below in the comments.
As you can see, and there’s more maps on the way this year from DICE, what you get with the initial package is impressive. There’s a good map for various types of gamers. In short, you won’t be disappointed in what you get from the MP experience in the maps department.
Now, if you didn’t play the beta this summer, let me tell you how to open up more loadout goodies in BF1. As you progress in the game, meaning leveling up, you can earn war bonds. If you get enough war bonds, you can unlock new weapons, which will open up new MP opportunities. In addition, you can win boxes in the game that contain weapons, goodies or unique items. You have to score well in the game and do a certain amount of things to win one of these, so don’t be selfish and for goodness sakes help your team. I have found that type of gameplay helps tremendously when progressing. Speaking of which, while it was easy to level up during the beta, it is a slow process now, as it looks like DICE has raised the bar a bit on the level arc. I’m fine with that, as I love challenges and hard work in games. I’m not sure how this generation of gamers is going to act towards it, though.
On the presentation side of the equation I can firmly say this without any doubt…Battlefield 1 is unrivaled in visuals. I suspect, though I can’t confirm, DICE probably took their Battlefront tools built off their Frostbite Engine and adjusted and implemented the lighting, shading, shadow and texture techniques that they picked up from the Star Wars title. There’s nothing wrong with that, as I’m happy they built some good stuff from Battlefront.
Related, typically such visual categories (shading, textures, etc.) look great on campaigns, but never translate over to the MP experience. I can name 4-5 games in the last few years that have proven this statement. This time around, though, what you see in the campaign is replicated and in some instances improved during the MP experience. You read that right, the MP and campaign look equally as good most of the time, if not all of the time. That’s not to say that you won’t see some rendering or pop-ups here and there, but not nearly as much as other games in the series (looking at you, BF4). In short, Battlefield 1 iss just visually stunning. A true masterpiece.
The music and sounds are equally as impressive. The battlefield is teeming with life and death, where screams of enemies, allies and explosions are everywhere. When the gaming isn’t going on, the in-between moments of orchestrated somberness and heroism is evident through out. It’s great stuff for those wanting to really fall into the game.
While I know I’ve missed something in this review (maybe not), I feel confident in highly recommending this game to you. It’s got everything you want from a first-person shooter. You get a thought out campaign with a deep multiplayer experience in the other half of the overall package. You get plenty of weapons to play with, characters to enjoy and a war that most of us know nothing about, which is a shame. DICE did a great job with bringing this title to life and their out of the box thinking really brought some interesting gameplay design, as well as memorable moments that make the game better than we’ve seen previously in the series.
This is how you make a perfect game, folks.
Anyway, onto the summary.
