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In the run-up to Gamescom, the expectation among many was that the show would become something of a stand-off between Call Of Duty: Infinite Warfare and Battlefield 1.
Both are grand and bold visions of warfare in gaming, but have approached the idea of turning that into a blockbuster differently. Call Of Duty has jumped into the far future and outer space for this year’s chapter, with the combat taking place on space stations, asteroids and other planets in our solar system.
Battlefield 1 on the other hand has gone the opposite direction on the timeline, back to the First World War and what it calls the dawn of modern warfare, when machinery and technology began to take over the battlefield.
Everything we’ve seen so far from EA around Battlefield has looked great, but what about once you get hands-on with it?
The promises on scale appear to have been fulfilled, certainly in map terms. We tried out the Sinai Desert map in a new mode called Rush, where one team takes on the role of attackers, the other defenders. The map is split into sections and each filled with key defence points, with the attackers aiming to drive the defenders back by destroying each of them. In this case, they’re telegraph poles used to target artillery.
Both sides can mix and match the class of character they play in true Battlefield style, exploring the range of weapons on offer, including some WWI specialists, a tank-busting sniper and a flamethrower-wielding fire trooper.
But it’s each time you die that the size of this map really gets to show off, as players can choose to spawn at a range of relevant locations across the map, close to team mates in order to get back into the action sooner, or a designated point in each sector close to your defences.
It means you cover a huge amount of ground and get to see the vast variety of landscapes in each level.
They are landscapes that are very changeable however, thanks to a dynamic destruction feature that means everything you see can be damaged or destroyed by gun fire and explosives.
Not a new idea by any means, but Battlefield 1 is pushing it to users as a tactic, encouraging players to use craters as cover and new gaps in broken walls to get a line of sight not otherwise possible.
The general level of destruction is also pretty relentless – not just over-hype in the trailer – the real thing all but matches it. That’s down to a mixture of the world being blown apart around you and the huge machinery EA and developer Dice have thrown into the mix.
The various trailers have already glimpsed some ‘behemoths’ in the form of the huge airships, but the Sinai Desert map introduces another of these monsters in the form of a cannon and machine gun-wielding and armour clad train.
It’s possible to control the train too, just like the gigantic airships seen previously, and alongside the trucks, planes, ships and of course horses that users can take control of as they move through this Battlefield world.
Get ready to die a lot, because Battlefield 1 is relentless and takes no prisoners when it comes to pacing. Comparisons to the other big war game out this year are inevitable, but Battlefield is a very different beast to Call Of Duty and should be taken as a different kind of animal.
It’s far more open for one, but in a time where high-tech science-fiction and fantasy shooters dominate, Battlefield 1 throws in a healthy dose of grit and iron.
