World War 1 is a subject that is rarely touched upon in video games, but EA and DICE have done an amazing job of conveying the horrors and sadness of the Great War in ways I never imagined. Going into Battlefield 1 I was expecting your typical FPS that almost glorifies war, but in the end, I was left surprised and at times teary-eyed as DICE truly conveyed how horrible it would have been to fight in one of the largest wars in human history.

What makes Battlefield 1 such a powerful and emotional game is its amazing single player campaign. Unlike in previous Battlefield games where you are just one soldier, you see World War 1 through the eyes of multiple soldiers in what DICE dubbed War Stories. In the six war stories, you complete you are given a glimpse into just how tragic the war was, the best glimpse of this is in the prologue war story, where you as a member of the US 369th infantry are fighting the German Empire in the trenches. While the prologue story pushes to invoke the horrors of the war with battles in no man’s land, the ending with a German and US soldier refusing to shoot each other shows just how emotional the war was.

The standoff between the two soldiers isn’t the only part of the campaign that makes Battlefield 1 great, although I think using the term great feels somewhat wrong, is how the gameplay makes you feel like you are in the conflict. In many instances of the campaign you find yourself being shelled by artillery rounds and hear the shouting of both allies and enemies, the whole campaign feels alive and as one story character says, the landscape around him was so horrible he had to convince himself he wasn’t dead.

In terms of how the War Stories work, the six stories give players a snapshot of major conflicts in the war, which include the British attempting to recapture a French village and the truly horrible storming of the beaches of Gallipoli. The war stories also are more than just infantry warfare as some of the stories involve you controlling planes and tanks. The stories also show that brute force doesn’t always win the day as many missions require the use of stealth, for example in the Arabian Desert, you use stealth to complete your objective of helping the legendary T.E. Lawrence and Bedouin Rebels take out a powerful Ottoman Empire train.

Moving away from the horrors and emotions of the single player campaign, we have the multiplayer. While the Battlefield 1 campaign surprised me in terms of how it created such powerful images of the Great War, the multiplayer surprised me by being mediocre. To me, the Battlefield 1 multiplayer felt like a World War 1 reskin of previous Battlefield multiplayer games, and while that is fine for some it was boring to me. I suppose it is down to personal taste and the fact that I am terrible at online multiplayer shooters, but nothing about the Battlefield 1 online multiplayer truly inspired me to keep playing.

In terms of multiplayer modes, Battlefield 1 offers operations, which are large battles that span several maps, war pigeons, which see players looking for messenger pigeons and using them to send messages to their supporting artillery so they can take out the enemy. Apart from these two new modes, there is the traditional conquest, domination, rush and team deathmatch modes. In terms of multiplayer gameplay, you have the assault, medic, support and scout classes. These classes all behave the same way they did in previous Battlefield games. Honestly, I’m not much of a Battlefield multiplayer person, but if you enjoyed the multiplayer in previous Battlefield games, you will no doubt enjoy the Battlefield 1 multiplayer.

Going past the gameplay, I want to talk issues. While Battlefield 1, for the most part, ran well on the PlayStation 4, the game had occasional dips in frame rate, it was most noticeable when you went from the paused menu back to gameplay. Other issues included enemies phasing through brick walls, and the shooting and aiming animations failing to trigger in the multiplayer.

In terms of graphics and audio Battlefield 1 is a gorgeous looking game, its graphical fidelity really is something amazing. In terms of audio, Battlefield 1 was immersive as the sounds of artillery shells hitting the landscape and bullets narrowly missing me made me feel like I was personally living the experience. The music is also a major plus for Battlefield 1 as it helps to elevate the sad and pointless feeling of the war.

Conclusion

Battlefield 1 is an emotionally powerful game that explores the tragic stories of those who fought in World War 1. However, while the game’s campaign is a truly an unforgettable experience, the multiplayer is, unfortunately, forgettable.

SCORE: 9/10

Pros	Cons
+ War Stories campaign	– The multiplayer is very much similar to previous Battlefield games
+ sombre and reflective gameplay
+ Audio and music

 

Developer	Publisher	Genre	Rating	Platform	Release date
EA DICE	EA	FPS	18+	PS4, XBOne, PC	October 21, 2016

*A review code was provided by the game’s publisher.*

For more information on Battlefield 1, visit https://www.battlefield.com/.