Battlefield 1 has been one of the most talked about shooters since its announcement and boy did it deliver. For a change EA have done a remarkable job with both the singleplayer and multiplayer to produce one of the finest shooters in a long time.
First off we have an extremely gritty and ‘real’ single player experience in the form of War Stories. These short narratives follow different soldiers from different countries during World War 1 and it does an amazing job in portraying the grim realities of war. Excellent storytelling coupled with stunning visuals and amazing sound design helps make it an emotional and gritty experience.
The multiplayer mode on Battlefield 1 is a ton of fun. The World War 1 setting and guns make it a refreshing change to the prevailing trend of futuristic ‘triple-jump-boost-slide-fly-punch-headshot’ multiplayer we have been subjected to. The gunplay feels real, with reloads, recoils and even ironsights feeling quite authentic. I personally love the new additions like gas bombs and gas masks to completely change your style of play. The Behemoths are a big addition: their arrival is meant to help a losing team get back into the fight, and in the right hands they can be formidable. Be it the train or airship, I have personally seen matches turned around in the blink of an eye.
Another new mode brought into Battlefield 1 is operations. These are rush type missions tied together with a historical narrative, and are easily my favourite addition. Each operation is made up of two or three maps played in succession with the attacking team having a few attempts to complete several objectives and proceed to the next map. After objectives are completed, the commanding officers whistle signifies a charge at which point the defenders fall back while attackers try and pick them off while recovering a certain amount of tickets as well for the next two objectives. If the attackers fail, they get to try again with an airship backing them up.
Overall Battlefield 1 has been an experience from beginning to end, from singleplayer to the countless hours spent in multiplayer. The guns feel great and for the most part the game plays without any problems. New evolutions like sandstorms and fog are a huge improvement. The only down side is no support for custom servers, which is expected to land towards the end of November making it the most complete battlefield experience in a long time.
Battlefield 1 is definitely a must have for shooter fans this year and is bound to make for a few memorable moments, whether its picking off enemies with old school bolt action snipers across the map or bayonet charging oncoming foes or just wreaking havoc on horseback with a sword.
Strengths Amazing visuals Great sound design War Stories are quite emotional
Weaknesses No decent nearby servers for India No custom servers
On launch Operations take a long time to complete
Verdict 9
