With massive 64-player battles, Battlefield 1 has created one of the most realistic war games ever.

The best part of Battlefield 1 is the introduction 64-player matches, called “operations.” These battles are the most realistic game type in any first person shooter. The open sandbox maps allow these matches to be played because there are very few spots for players to hide. The large, open maps promote team combat. In order to capture the enemy’s territory, you must run with your team or risk being taken out by an an enemy tank.  

Multiplayer

As mentioned above, Battlefield 1 features a new game mode in which there are two teams of 64 players. This game mode is called “operations.” There are four different maps, and one team has to defend the sectors while the other team tries to capture and then clear the sectors.  

“I think that the operations are a great addition to the Battlefield series. They allow for larger scale multiplayer combat that has not been seen in many other competing franchises like Call of Duty,” said Nicolas Terry (12).

While this may sound like your typical zone control from Destiny or Domination from Call of Duty, these games are not controlled by score. These games can last up to 45 minutes as the struggle for control of a sector goes back and forth. Once both sectors are captured and cleared, there are two or three new sectors to capture and clear.

Because the boundaries of the map are constantly changing, people cannot sit in one spot the entire game. This eliminates the worst aspect of any war related game: camping.  

The weapons in Battlefield 1 are very balanced. Some critics, such as the ones on VG24/7. of the game said that the snipers are overpowered; however,  they are very difficult to use, which balances them out. Rather than just aiming and shooting, the bullets do drop,so it takes some time to line up the snipers. By the time a player has the scope lined up to account for the bullet drop, the target has likely moved. People that are sniping are very easy to sneak up on from behind, which also limits their power.   While the tanks and aircraft are very powerful in terms of firepower, they are limited by their speed. The aircraft are very fast relative to the maps, so finding an enemy in the gun’s sights is very challenging. The only easy aircraft to use is the bombers as they can drop their payload over a wider area and have a large damage radius.  

The tanks are very powerful but are relatively easy to destroy.  There are a variety of ways that ensure destruction of both the tank and the people in it. Once the tank is damaged, the driver can repair it, but it is usually destroyed by the time it can be repaired.

While the aircraft and the tanks are fun to use, you are likely to have more success by walking around on your own, especially in operations where there are so many people that can destroy your tank with dynamite or an anti tank grenade.

Campaign

One thing that the campaign does particularly well is show the true extent of World War I. Upon startup, the game takes the player right into the Western Front. The initial mission appears very weak, as you are dropped into a trench war with little defense. This is a common opinion as it is expressed on a popular gaming site, IGN. It is pretty hard to survive, and as soon as you die you end up changing to another player.  

After the initial mission, the game gets very interesting. You quickly get dropped into a Mark V tank named “Black Bess.” Driving over trenches in order to try to avoid the fire from the field guns is a new experience in any Battlefield. The single-player version is not that long, as it consists of six individual stories. This is a movement away from the tradition campaign of the player being one character during the entire campaign in order to try to drag out eight hours of a single story.

“My favorite part of Battlefield 1 is that it goes back in time and allows players to experience the first World War. This is a different turn from other franchises that are pushing more into advanced technology and futuristic warfare. I think that it’s more enjoyable to experience the old wars rather than focus on the cheesy, futuristic combat of other games,” said Terry.  

It is widely known that World War I was a particularly bloody war with a high casualty count. The campaign makes this clear with defenseless people running across the battlefield while a tank bears down on them.

The campaign keeps it the player engaged, as each mission is different. There are all types of missions, whether it be rolling over the trenches in a Mark V tank., running through the front with no cover, or flying through the Alps in a British fighter. The campaign puts a new twist on the typical first person shooter campaign that is much welcomed.

All in all, Battlefield 1 is the best all around first person shooter since the early games in the Call of Duty series. The game continues to make a case for the Battlefield series to overtake the Call of Duty series as the most popular first person shooter. Battlefield 1 does a fantastic job of being historically accurate. The historical aspect keeps the player engaged and make the player want to keep trying out new tactics and weapons.