During EA's EAPlay Event in Los Angeles, Jeff Wright and I got to go Hands On with the latest title in the Battlefield series, Battlefield 1. After Battlefield Hardline failed to really impress in the long term as past Battlefield titles had, EA DICE had to come out swinging. The trailers released up to this point all featured action packed scenes set in World War I. Were the trailers merely hype machines, or do they represent a new flavor of Battlefield overall? Well, the answer is a little bit of both.
AJ:
Battlefield 1 is fast. Incredibly fast. It's one of the fastest titles in the series to date and it shows in everything from the way you load into a match to the way you select and customize classes, to the way you can find yourself in a sticky situation where it's you VS a tank armed with only one grenade and a pistol.
We started on the classic Battlefield mode Conquest which pits two teams of varying sizes against one another to fight for control around various points on the map. The regular Battlefield series of classes were all there, Assault, Medic, Support, and Scout were all playable and each featured about 4-5 different primary weapons, 2 secondary weapons, 2 gadgets, and 1 grenade.
It was refreshing to have customization options in the short gameplay sessions we were involved in, as past EA gameplay sessions at E3 have involved you jumping into a game with one class or load out that might not suit your play style.
The core gameplay of Battlefield remains unchanged. The guns all felt wonderful and every weapon sounded incredible. The vehicle gameplay was challenging and exciting for the first time in a number of years and while tanks and vehicles are a challenge for other players to deal with, you never really felt like they were impossible to deal with. Each class has a unique way of dealing with the tanks but my favorite was the Support Class who have access to trip mines and a light anti-tank mine that can really disable the tanks quickly. There are also various anti-tank weapons lying around the map which can end a tanks run really quickly. The addition of the new airship that can really change the course of battle is another HUGE addition to the series and I cannot wait to see more of how this can affect the map during the inevitable beta and launch of the game.
Battlefield 1 is absolutely gorgeous. The dynamic weather effects were incredible as the game went from rainy and wet looking to sunny and windy during the session and it made for a solid immersive experience overall.
Overall, I cannot wait to dive back into the world of Battlefield 1 during the beta and launch in October. It is a title that needs to be explored and so far, deserves a place on everyone's shelf. I hope they keep up the dedication and level of polish through launch and beyond. Only time will tell, but so far DICE is off to a smashing start.
Jeff:
EA Live was a welcomed event to see the publisher behemoth's content this year, and their biggest crowd magnet was Battlefield 1, a reference to World War I. The departure from their typical gamut of historical periods and conflict settings was fresh, but I was a little skeptical hitting the booth this year. I came out of it hitting my expectations on the mark. Yes, it's Battlefield. Yes, it's a beautiful game. Yes, someone still raged at the booth after losing on a shiny pre-alpha build. But I couldn't wrap my head around why I wanted to play a point defense game with slightly different mechanics.
Most of my experience in Battlefield comes from Vietnam, 1942, and 3, so comparing these experiences with a pre-alpha build of a game wasn't easy. I can recall being “MVP” of a round after crouching and spamming the “revive” button as Medic with 3, so I wanted more out of EA's latest foray into the franchise. Battles are more dynamic—weather is a factor now, and in the heat of a few tense seconds a battle can turn into a nightmarish firefight as players try to conquer their enemies in the middle of a rainstorm. There weren't as many “conflict points” on the map I played, so fights felt more randomized than “here's where we're expecting enemies, let's gather around folks!” The crowning moment of play, however, was spawning into an APC unit and gunning down enemies—maybe an overpowered moment of gameplay, but it's nice to climb leaderboards on any software build. I unfortunately missed the airship gunnery seats, but perhaps we'll get to those in later builds.
The World War I time frame promises on bringing different mechanics—brutal melee attacks, biplane dogfights, an arsenal of weapons, and most surprising of all, airship attacks. We saw a nice eye-candy video where several forces banded together to take down an airship—they succeeded in a fiery blaze of glory. The four classes were back in action again as Assault, Medic, Support, and Scout. As Medic, I found it harder to revive people as we were spread out few and far between, and jumping away from a corner was a stronger risk than I'm used to with a Battlefield title.
I often scrutinize the details on early builds. Popping off rounds at distant windows was satisfying in an angsty baseball-to-the-window manner, so I'm expecting a high level of graphical detail when the game hits this (slated) October. The limited playtime given was appetizing, but I don't know if more mechanics are going to revive old game modes. Battlefield 1 nearly felt like DLC of a different nature latching onto a far-too familiar game we've all played. I'd love a new setting, but there needs to be more substance to sell me on another game that might just be a new skin for a spent experience.