Battlefield 1

As we continue on through 2016, aka one of the best years for gaming in recent memory, we arrive at what is probably one of the most highly anticipated games of the year. 

Surprisingly I'm not talking about a new Call of Duty either. 

No, in fact, I'm talking about its direct competition, Battlefield. Personally, it's been years since I've bought a Battlefield game -- 3 was my last one. Assuming you're still with me and not confused by the attached numbers to the titles, Call of Duty and Battlefield have been going head to head for many years now. Most years I've found that Call of Duty is the superior choice (ex: Advanced Warfare) or I just decide to skip a fall shooter all together. 

In a strange twist of events, Battlefield decided to take a step backward this year in a genre that's often trying to zoom forward as fast as possible. While Call of Duty went "Infinite" and into space, Battlefield decided to take on an epic challenge by going back...all the way back to World War I. It's a bold decision, but one that spoke loudly to gamers, many of whom were asking for a change of pace. Adding even more to the risk of Battlefield falling further out of the public's grace was the fact that it's been struggling for a couple years now. Battlefield 4 had a horrible online launch that plagued it for weeks, if not months, and Battlefield Hardline was quickly forgotten in a mostly failed attempt to be a unique cops vs. robbers game. 

So, did going back in order to move forward prove successful for the long-standing franchise?

Absolutely.

Battlefield 1is yet another amazing addition to the year and a truly thoughtful, well put together shooter that's a surprisingly strong and complete package. 

Disturbingly gorgeous

First and foremost, the idea to go back to World War I, hence the "1" in the title, was daring for multiple reasons. Battlefield has always depended on its multiplayer and going back to a time before most modern weapons or gadgets alters your flow and balance quite a bit. It also presents challenges with the campaign. What do you present to players that they haven't seen before? How do you depict and work around "The Great War" that was one of the most brutally violent events in human history? The answer? You tackle it head on. Battlefield 1 begins with one of the more brilliant starting missions for a shooter in a while as it throws you into the battle. You'll play as a Harlem Hellfighter -- an African American soldier basically sent into the front lines of war to die. And you'll die, but then respawn as new solider. And die again. It's all set in a war torn field covered with blackened bodies, flames, and war debris. The sky is caked with smoke and cloud cover and soldier screams can be heard over and over. It's horrible and eye opening in its violence and it reminds you just how personal this war was, probably more so than many other wars that followed. You'll likely come away somewhat shaken, and that's the point, and as the game explains that the campaign is more a collection of soldier's stories than a continued arcing plot.

The Harlem Hellfighters

These character stories are phenomenal, separated missions that provide you with context of just about every side of the war except the enemy's. There are five all together, not including the intro, and they add up to about 8-10 hours of gameplay on hard mode. I personally think DICE could have challenged themselves to do one more -- from an enemy perspective. It would have been daring, sure, but it would have been a complete view of the conflict as well as adding some additional time onto that campaign length. Forgetting that however, we're left with some really emotional stories of distinct soldiers and their experience during a particular part of the war. Not only is this a great way to continually change scenery, gameplay, and pace, but it's also a condensed way of giving the player emotional ties to the story and it's participants. Too often in shooters we're bombarded with a litany of reasons for why soldiers are going where, why they have to stop something bad, and blah blah blah. It's easy to get disconnected. In Battlefield 1 it's much different. Thanks to that opening sequence, the game grabs your attention and the well acted and animated cut scenes are short, to the point, but often poignant. Some stories are funnier than others while others are much more emotional. I sincerely didn't find a single mission I didn't enjoy and a good portion of that is because of the tales of heroism. In addition, by changing locales and soldier, it opens the game up to immense possibilities for level design. There's a tank level, an airplane/zeppelin level (my favorite), a suit-of-armor level, a badass Australian-soldier level, and an Arabian/armored train level. Whereas other games would have to strain to tie that story together, Battlefield 1 doesn't and is all the better for it. Additionally, it makes it so that each level is f**king awesome and highly memorable. I can distinctly remember specific events from each one that were thrilling or challenging and that's a rarity to say about every mission of an FPS game. 

If you look very closely, you can see
Aladdin and Jasmine falling out of the sky...

After you're done with it's impressive campaign -- and please, I beg you, don't be one of those idiots that only plays multiplayer -- you're left with an even more robust and awesome multiplayer experience. As most multiplayers tend to go, it's much more fun with friends, but I found that I enjoyed myself the times I played alone too. Battlefield has always been the most challenging multiplayer experience to me which is large part why I haven't participated in recent installments. I still struggle at Battlefield 1, and at times it feels incredibly cheap (spawn, sniped, spawn, sniped, rinse, wipe, repeat) but I feel that those instances of frustration are few and far between. Overall however, the multiplayer is a tremendous achievement and probably one of Battlefield's best yet. Many of the modes are intense, drawn out affairs that take place over insanely large maps. Favorites like Conquest and Rush are still here and better than ever, but I found that Operations was where I spent and enjoyed most of my time. In this mode, you must push back the enemy or defend your territory. The attacking side has only so many attempts and if they succeed, then the battle moves to a new location (read: map), similar to real war. These are often 40-60 person battles (60 person rarely worked for my friends and I) and can take upwards of an hour. The maps all around are pretty fantastic, and in the larger modes teams are often bolstered by an assisting "titan" of a vehicle (ex: zeppelin). My favorite maps were the ones that stuck outdoors more, but even the indoor/war-torn city ones grew on me once I learned them a bit. 

One of my favorite MP maps of the game.
Stunning.

Multiplayer's biggest downfall however, especially when compared to the soon-to-be-reviewed Titanfall 2, is that it doesn't make me feel like I'm accomplishing much. Leveling up is a long, arduous slog most of the time, and you're maybe rewarded with a loot crate and some war bonds. War bonds are how you unlock specific weapons and gadgets and loot crates, to my knowledge, don't give you hardly anything but weapon skins. Thanks to the odd user interface within multiplayer (that also doesn't allow you to exit a game while waiting in the loading lobby), I had to find this out by searching the internet. Personally, I like being rewarded for kicking a** online, or at least something close to it, and Battlefield rarely made me feel rewarded for that outside of the gameplay high itself. That's fine and dandy for the first 10-20 hours, but when it comes to grinding or progressing, I don't see Battlefield 1 as the game I'll sink MP game after MP game into unless my friends are playing.

Battlefield 1 is a unique FPS experience in this day and age because it slows things considerably. With slower weapons and larger battlefields and no assistance from exoskeletons, this becomes war. It's violent, steady, intense, and visceral. It controls amazingly well in nearly every regard using classic FPS controls. Sprinting from crouch or prone is a super annoying issue, but other than that, you'll find yourself easily picking up the gist of things. Guns handle fantastically and feel old, but powerful. Bullets from snipers travel "slowly" across the battlefield meaning you often have to lead your target considerably. But honestly? There's nothing more rewarding than "calculating" your shot far ahead of your enemy and getting a kill from it. There's even a bayonet charge, complete with disturbing war cry, to complete the World War 1 feel. All of this put together, including some great vehicle controls (thanks for finally fixing your s**t flying control scheme, DICE!), makes the MP component far more balanced than you might anticipate. Sure there are some things here and there that could use tweaking, but overall I felt its balance never left me feeling incredibly cheapened by death. 

"Wow. Look at the pretty lights!"
[gets smooshed by falling zeppelin 5 seconds later]

I'd be remiss if I didn't mention Battlefield's incredible technological achievements too. This is one of the best looking games of the year, right up there with Uncharted 4 and Forza Horizon. Locales look borderline photo-realistic and the etches of war are eerily gorgeous. Flames and explosions light up nearby surfaces and dust, debris, and spark particles float effortlessly around your screen. Trees and bushes sway and filter light magnificently and building textures look like their real life counterparts of brick, stone, wood, etc. Oh yeah, and almost all of it is completely destructible. This isn't new to Battlefield but it's still jaw dropping. I remember taking cover in a building during a multiplayer match, only to hear a loud roar of a tank shell entering said building. Dust covered my screen, blinding me, and once it settled, the building I was in was practically no more -- it was destroyed down past the studs and I was left scrambling for somewhere new to go. It's astonishing, exciting, and lifelike. Another trait that shares those characteristics is the sound design. It's impeccable and also adds to the intensity. Bullets whiz by, soldiers yell orders and whistle, planes rip overhead, and tank treads move through the ground. It's outstanding and feels like you're actually there. 

Battlefield 1 is a highly anticipated game that actually lived up to the hype. In fact, I'd say it surpassed it with a campaign that is special, thoughtful, and unique. Likely no one was expecting that. Pairing that with some classic and fantastic mulitplayer makes for a great game, but the addition of a rare setting in World War 1, not to mention the outstanding sound and visual design results in a game that drops jaws and stands out from the crowd. 

DICE challenged themselves with Battlefield 1 and it paid off in a big way. 

CONS:

• The game has a ways to go in explaining certain elements to the player. For example, I couldn't for the life of me figure out exactly what I was being rewarded with from loot boxes
• I wish the campaign was one soldier's story longer
• Progress and leveling up in MP is slow and I never felt truly rewarded for my efforts
• Sprinting from prone/crouch isn't possible. Annoying
• I had some connectivity issues when attempting to play 60 player games

PROS:

• The decision to do World War 1 was not only a challenge, but a risky endeavor. It paid off in spades
• Equally as risky was the "War Stories" approach to the campaign. But it was brilliant as it makes the campaign have a lot more emotional heft and it covers the entire war
• Campaign missions are all memorable. The intro is a shocking start and each level has something unique and awesome to offer
• Captures the intensity and violence of World War 1 while also respecting it
• Multiplayer is the complete package. It has awesome modes, great and sprawling maps, and remains intense throughout. I particularly like Operations mode
• MP is also well balanced between soldier classes, on-field vehicles, and off-field vehicles
• Solid controls and overall gameplay. Not like your typical FPS game speed in this day and age
• Loud and crisp sound editing and design
• Simply incredible graphics. There's so much going on at any given time on screen that it's a wonder there isn't slow down
• Destructible environments still blow me away
• A fun, complete, and well crafted game all around. Battlefield is back and possibly better than ever

Rath's Review Score | 9.5/10