Cuthalion42’s Game Reviews – Battlefield One
I acquired this game Christmas last, and I know it’s been out for a while, but I only recently began to play it seriously, so I am writing this review now. Before I begin, I would like to say that I have never played any other game in the Battlefield series, so I am not qualified to make comparisons.
As is my usual custom with new games, I started with the campaign, and soon found that it was unlike most other video game campaigns I have played. Instead of one long, continuous storyline, this game’s campaign features several chapters like “mini-campaigns,” each with its own playable character and story, though all take place during World War I. The advantage of this campaign style is that it focuses more on the personal experiences of the diverse individuals who lived (or died) fighting the War to End All Wars. Personally, I enjoyed the many locations to which the differing chapters sent me, from the deserts of Arabia to the skies above London. The separate chapters also include vehicle gameplay, including tanks, planes, and horses. Additionally, enemy supply tents can be raided to find a wide variety of weapons and gadgets authentic to the time period.
In this game, one thing is certain: you die fast. This is not simply a run-and-gun style game; rather, this game encourages you to use a more calculated, tactical strategy, especially when you find yourself alone behind enemy lines. Fortunately, it offers several features that allow you to peek over cover, stealthily lure enemies out of safety, and keep aware of your surroundings. The movement system is also pretty fluid, allowing you to vault over low obstacles or walls.
Overall, I rate this an excellent campaign in both story and gameplay.
Next is the Battlefield 1 multiplayer, which features huge Operations, 40- to 64-player battles for control of multiple huge maps, as well as smaller game modes such as the classic team deathmatch. Interestingly, the game also offers a feature for public custom game modes. When starting fresh in multiplayer, you begin with basic loadouts for several playable classes, and more submachine guns, pistols, rifles, shotguns, gadgets, and grenades from World War I can be unlocked with in-game currency earned by ranking up. Playing with these weapons will unlock codex entries that tell about the weapons’ history (the weapons are so authentic that the in-game Lewis Gun has the same magazine size as the real model). In addition, you can get weapon skins from “battlepacks” that drop to random players after each match; if you don’t like one of your skins, you can dismantle it to get credit toward buying more battlepacks.
And now the gameplay: Battlefield 1 multiplayer features a squad system, in which up to five players can join each squad, and new squads can be created if the rest are full. Fast death means you should stick to your squad for strength in numbers, or at least you should stay away from open spaces, because snipers will always take a shot at a head that is exposed too long and machine-gunners are often waiting in the buildings to mow down unsuspecting passersby.
The weather in Battlefield 1 is dynamic, so it can be foggy or rainy one minute and sunny the next. The fog is always challenging to gameplay, as it greatly reduces visibility. As for the rain, it doesn’t affect the way you play the game much, but I have seen a double rainbow on more than one occasion, which is a nice touch.
However, my favorite feature of this game is that almost everything is destructible, which means that your explosives not only blow your enemies into oblivion, but also do a satisfying amount of damage to the environment, leaving craters in the ground and shattering walls and buildings. See an enemy hiding in an upstairs window? Simply toss an anti-tank grenade in there and watch his cover disappear!
Because of the gameplay features and many playable modes, I would say this is an amazingly good multiplayer system.
In summary, Battlefield 1 offers an unusual but excellent campaign as well as great multiplayer that features a dynamic weather system and extreme environment destructibility. My only problems with the game are rather long loading times while joining and exiting multiplayer matches, and I often get disconnected from the server while in 64-player game modes (though playing the same modes with 40 players instead is just fine). I am not sure if these are problems with the game or just with my console; the former I have noticed in other EA games (namely Star Wars: Battlefront), but I am not sure of the latter issue. Despite this, I would recommend this game as an excellent choice for anyone looking to play a great first person shooter in a historical setting, and I would rate it 4.5 out of 5.
-Cuthalion42
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