Battlefield 1, Modern Warfare with WW1 coat.

Posted by DarkArtist 7 years ago

 

I picked up Battlefield 1, and played it online and off for a while. I will say that visually it is stunning and the gameplay is pretty good in most areas, and does alot of things right as a game. As a fps game set in WW1, it handled its multiplayer well(Save for microtransaction bs) and managed to get the atmosphere down well. I would even say, for a game with a ww1 setting, it was worth a good chunk of my money.

Of course...thats just it. Its Battlefield with a WW1 setting. Its not a authentic ww1 game or would I recommend it as a suitable game if you want a good idea of what WW1 was like. It did not take long for me when I delved into the gameplay to notice some of the things wrong with the game and something I don't think EA or Dice understood when it came to making a WW1 game. A key one being is "Its not fucking ww2 with a different aesthetic."

The problem becames apparent with the weapons most of all. SMGs and Semi Auto rifles are available in large supply...which is not how it was. Scouts were the only ones that really got to use bolt action rifles, and they are considered the "sniper" class of the game. I find it silly that they are the only class to have access to bolt action rifles despite every army in the war having it as their main weapon(In their variations of course). Also amazingly nonexistant or not given much if any emphasis on was trench warfare, a major factor into the sheer brutality of the war as well as the most if not one of the most iconic things of the war. I mean, its one of the things you think of when you think of WW1. Course if you ask one Mr. Danny Berlin, apparnetly its commonly thought of being waged largely with muskets.

https://www.vg247.com/2016/05/12/battle ... h-warfare/

Maybe indeed it wasn't purely "Trench warfare" but it was a major factor in WW1 and why the war dragged on for so long, as soldiers of both sides were basically forced over the trenches, charge through no mans land into waiting riflemen and machine guns, hoping to take the trench or even survive the assault. Unlike WW2 where it is easily defined by major battles, larger than life figures, and a clear victor and clear good vs bad(if you want to believe it) view, WW1 is more defined by the sheer loss of life that achieved so very little with all sides looking really fucking bad for basically devastating a entire generation on the altar of empire and patriotism.

There was hardly any French or Russian armys included with much detail, with the Italians oddly enough getting some focus. But despite trying to at least honor those who fought and die in the war, the armies of the Central Powers got no campaign of their own in the game which annoys me. While you can play for these armies in the multiplayer, it does not exactly help paint the war in a grey area. Valiant hearts, at least, made sure to include sympathetic characters on both sides, and stuck with its intention of telling a story of people who have been unfortunately caught up in this war. Maybe its not fair to compare two games of two completely different gameplay, but it is worth noting as they share the same setting...or should, as BF1 treats WW1 like its a modern warfare with different coat of paint.

I think I have a idea of why EA or DICE(I mean which one you think is really calling the shots here?) didn't want to step out of their pretty little box is because of the fact that, as Verdun a more authentic ww1 game experience has shown, trench warfare can have you largely staying ina trench/area, defending one point until it comes time to try to attack the other. Perhaps they feared gamers would get board of this style of gameplay and would not want to play such a game. Course it could be just they were lazy and couldn't be assed to find a way to make it work.

So if you want a WW1 game get Verdun(Or hell, Valiant Hearts if you just want the setting and dont want to play a fps game). If you just want more of the same crap with some WW1 stuff with Battlefield...well, get Battlefield 1 I guess.