Battlefield 1

May 9

Posted by

All my yes.

Okay… most of my yes. Concerns:

  1. Alternate timeline WWI, or is this down and dirty WWI?
  2. Will default weapons be single-shot/bolt action guns?
  3. Melee hasn’t really been Battlefield’s strongest suite.
  4. Going to be real interesting without a minimap. At least, there shouldn’t be one.
  5. I hope the weird fixation on the biplanes doesn’t mean will still see 40-1 pilots strafing all game.
  6. There might be some cannibalization via BF4 due to the (presumed) extreme gameplay shift.

I got into the series with Battlefield 2 and that remains my favorite to this day. So without any of the Battlefield 1942 nostalgia, the time period is a bit weird. But I definitely think DICE and crew deserve massive props for going forward with what is otherwise a huge gamble. Yeah, COD is doubling-down on near-future, so a Battlefield 2143 or whatever might have been too much SciFi. But ceding it entirely? That takes some gumption.

So, yeah. This will be an interesting Fall.

Posted on May 9, 2016, in Miscellany and tagged , , , , . Bookmark the permalink. 2 Comments.

  1. Matt | May 9, 2016 at 6:06 pm

    WW1, wow. Not exactly the most exciting time for warfare. You don’t have your bazookas and your submachine guns and whatnot.

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    • Griddlebone | May 10, 2016 at 6:11 am

      It’s a shame, really, because WW1’s Western and Italian Fronts are probably the perfect setting (strategically) for FPSs. BF’s conquest mode especially ties into WW1 perfectly because there’s no real opportunity for manoeuvre warfare, it’s just an endless grind back and forth for one point reliant on tactical breakthroughs and overwhelming force. I always found it a bit odd that in near-future scenarios the objective was to just throw troops and machines down a corridor and hope for the best; a WW1 setting actually makes it a bit more sensical.

      Honestly if they do this right it could be a gem; tanks with serious weaknesses, limited aerial warfare, naval warfare(!) without carriers, zeppelins with severe limitations, no spray and pray. I don’t hold out much hope, though, because that trailer really makes it seem just like a WW2 reskin: “totally not nazis” 2nd reich, that flight scene could be literally any plane from WW2 with two less wings, dude holding a machine gun in his hand in a jungle (kek, couldn’t let the Pacific Theatre die eh?).

      I can’t imagine they’ll have people start with realistic rifles from the era. If it’s anything more than DICE wanting to make a WW2 game but thinking the setting was overused, I’ll be very happy. Could’ve just done the Korean War, but w/e.

      If the Germans are portrayed as unambiguously evil and America as the main player in the Allies that single-highhandedly wins the war I’ll laugh my arse off. If they even touch the Eastern Front I’ll be surprised.

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