Turning to the game’s multiplayer, the same core principles and mechanics that have defined the series for years are still at play here, though the gameplay has been fine-tuned and tweaked to a largely faultless experience. Although the World War I setting is still front and center here, DICE has (smartly) chosen to focus more on crafting an authentic, coherent visual style, rather than recreating the Great War in a digital playground.
What this means for the player, is that while the weapons, enemies, and locations seem ripped from a hundred-year-old conflict, it doesn’t play like one; that is to say you won’t be spending all your time ducking behind trench walls and reloading your antique weaponry. Before we dive into it all, if you need a bit of a refresher, be sure to check out our feature on Battlefield 1’s multiplayer modes.
At its core, online play places much of its focus on completing objectives, which is rooted around team communication and maintaining a fine balance across the game’s four main classes. For those who prefer to fight on the frontlines, the assault class will probably up your alley, as it places an emphasis on heavily damaging enemy infantry and vehicles. If light machine guns are more your style, the support class might be a good fit. Aside from its heavy weaponry, support players also have access to a variety of explosives (long and short range), and are able to resupply teammates with ammo and grenades.
Fans of sniping will find their place with the recon class, which (as you might expect) shines in long-range combat and spotting enemies. Lastly, there’s the medic class (which marks its first appearance since Bad Company 2). With the ability to revive and heal teammates, it’s arguably the most important class, especially in modes that either track team deaths or feature a limited number of respawns. For the most part, the classes feel well balanced, though the open landscapes upon which the maps are based do allow the recon class to pick off players more easily than they maybe should. The medic class also suffers from the lack of any weapons or gadgets that can help to disable or destroy enemy vehicles, though they are (oddly enough) able to repair vehicles.
Speaking of, vehicles are back in full force, though they feel appropriately balanced. Unlike older games, which spawned vehicles directly on the battlefield (which in turn, promoted players to ignore objectives as they waited on vehicles to spawn), you now spawn into vehicles, which cuts down on wait times. There are a variety of tanks and planes to pilot, and depending on the map, a few fighter boats are available as well. There’s a sort of ‘mish-mash’ rock-paper-scissors relationship between all the class types and vehicles in Battlefield 1, though it doesn’t take long to figure out the most efficient way of destroying an approaching enemy vehicle.
Overall, the mix of vehicles, weapons and classes all feels great in action, and there are only a few missteps worth mentioning. In particular, even though I do appreciate the increase in map size, the low number of vehicles, and a reduced emphasis on vehicles that solely focus on getting around the map, can occasionally make it a slog to get around.
Also, while Battlefield 1 normally does an excellent job of explaining its many mechanics and systems, there are a few things (such as player speed, gadget cooldown, etc.) which aren’t explained outright. Over time (and perhaps with a few Google searches), you’re bound to figure these things out, but it would have been nice if the DICE had included a robust digital manual to explain the game’s many ins-and-outs.
This is all familiar territory for series veterans, but there’s plenty of new additions and modes to experience. Although the series hasn’t gone so far as to adopt killstreaks or one-time use power-ups, Battlefield 1 introduces elite classes, which can only be picked up during a match (don’t worry, the game notifies you when one is close-by). These elite classes often trade adaptability and maneuverability for increased firepower and a larger pool of health, and they never feel too overpowered or overwhelming.
The ‘flame trooper’, for example, trades in a traditional firearm for a flamethrower, which can be devastating in close-quarters combat, but suffers at mid-to-long ranges. Similarly, the ‘sentry’ class is outfitted with armor plating and a powerful automatic machine gun, but is unable to equip a gas mask in the event that a gas grenade goes off.
There are also elite vehicles, aptly titled ‘behemoths.’ Unlike elite classes, these gargantuan vehicles only spawn when a team finds themselves on the losing side, and are meant as a way to turn the tide of battle. Depending on the map, you might find yourself working alongside (or against) an armored train, battleship, or airship. The best part of these new ‘behemoths’ is that they are fully controllable by players, as opposed to being handled by AI. Â With the ability to pilot them directly, and man on-board cannons or machine guns, they’re a blast (no pun intended) to use, and a well-coordinated team can easily shift the tides of battle. Similarly, its just as viable to mount a defense against these behemoths, and during my playtime, my teammates and I were able to destroy them over the course of a match.
Even though classic modes such as Conquest and Rush are available for play, I was personally drawn to Operations; one of the game’s new online modes. A hybrid between Conquest and Rush, Operations tasks attacking players with capturing of a handful of control points simultaneously, while defending players must keep least one control point at any given moment. If the attacking team manages to capture all points and hold them at the same time, they will unlock a new sector, where they will be tasked with capping a new set of points, and so on.
Operations cleverly borrows campaigns that actually took place during World War I, which provides some historical context to the events that are unfolding on the battlefield. This mode might seem simple in its design, but since the attacking team must hold all the capture points at the same time, Operations lends itself well to stretches of tug-and-war, which rewards well-organized teams with a slight edge.
War Pigeons also makes its debut in Battlefield 1. A unique take on capture the flag, this mode tasks players with grabbing a hold of a pigeon which randomly spawns on the map (which is devoid of vehicles, and is smaller than large-scale Operations or Conquest maps). When a player gets a hold of a pigeon, they will begin filling a meter which represents how much of a ‘message’ has been written. If you and your team are able to write a full message without losing the pigeon to the enemy team, you can release the pigeon, which nets your team a single point.
Of course, there are a few tweaks to this mode which keep things interesting. For example, writing a message takes less time if you stand still as opposed to running around the map. However, all players are constantly informed of the location of the pigeon, meaning you won’t be able to hole up somewhere without being on the enemy’s radar. The pigeon itself also has some interesting properties.
As expected, you can’t release a pigeon unless you’re in an outdoor area, but once you do set a pigeon free, enemy players have a small window of opportunity to shoot the pigeon down, denying you and your team a point at the last second. While I personally enjoy the more objective-focused modes listed above, modes such as Team Deathmatch and Domination (a scaled-down, infantry-only Conquest variant) are great for those who prefer to play solo, and have little interest in co-ordinating with their fellow teammates.
Tying the game’s online and offline modes together is perhaps the most polished user experience that I have had the pleasure of seeing first hand. Slick menus, clear text, well designed menus;Â Battlefield 1Â oozes polish, and based on my time playing on public and private servers, the online modes run without a hitch.
Visually, the game looks spectacular, and the use of a physically-based renderer lends it a very realistic look. Coupled with high-resolution textures, a heavy use of alpha and particle effects, and excellent animation and motion capture, Battlefield 1 stands as one of the best-looking games on this generation of hardware. The sound design also warrants praise; the use of high-dynamic range audio and a bevy of sound effects make the virtual battlefield feel that much more real.
All of my playtime was conducted on PCs, and I’m glad to say that Battlefield 1 runs amazingly well. While the PCs that were available at the offices in DICE LA are not necessarily representative of the hardware most gamers will be sporting, I tested the single and multiplayer on my own hardware, and the game ran between 100-140 frames per second on average. Settings were set at ultra at 1920×1200, and I never had a dip below 60 fps, save for the transitions between cutscenes and gameplay.
I’ll be the first to admit that I didn’t have the highest of hopes for Battlefield 1, and I approached it with the same level of caution that I had for the past few games in the series. However, I’m glad to say that it’s refreshing take on a single player campaign and its refined and robust multiplayer mode has thoroughly impressed me. Simply put, Battlefield 1 is the best Battlefield game yet, and I can’t wait to see what direction DICE and EA take the series from here.
This game was reviewed at an EA-hosted review event at DICE Los Angeles, on provided PCs with Intel Six Core CPUs and AMD Fury X graphics cards. Further testing was done on the author’s own PC, which is sporting an Intel i5 6600k CPU, an NVIDIA GTX 1070 graphics card, and 16 GB of DDR4 RAM.Â
