The first-person military shooter video game set during World War I, “Battlefield 1,” was officially released on October 21 on the Xbox One, the PlayStation 4, and the PC to mostly positive reviews by gaming enthusiasts and critics.
But the general consensus of the reviews is saying that “Battlefield 1” has used clever storytelling to maintain a perfect balance as a horrific but fun military shooter video game, notes IGN.
Just like in the past games in the “Battlefield” video game series, “Battlefield 1” features an objective-driven warfare that is as intense and theatrical as ever against the haunting, crude, and archaic backdrop of World War 1.
While its single-player campaign is short, it is still a pleasantly surprising anthology of small human stories that worked well in highlighting some of the key technologies of the era.
Its multiplayer mode is exhilarating nonetheless, capitalizing mostly on the potentials of the old-school arsenal while bringing a number of subtle changes that keep the combat balanced and smart while still allowing for the hallmark chaos normally found in all “Battlefield” games.
A bad beginning
Critics are also saying that the first story-driven mission in “Battlefield 1” entitled “Through Mud and Blood” is regarded as the weakest in terms of character and the huge jump in quality that follows afterward.
They can’t understand why game developer EA DICE decided to make it the beginning of the game but most of them think that the answer to it is gamer familiarity.
The gamer takes on the character of Daniel Edwards. He is a young and inexperienced soldier, who is part of a British Mark V tank unit pushing through German lines into Cambrai, France.
The mission story is not really bad but Edwards is as bland a character as his mission. Earning points along the way to Cambrai serves as an easy primer for one of the most popular multiplayer modes, “Conquest,” in “Battlefield 1. It also shows the how-to on operating tanks but offers little else in the way of storytelling opportunities.
Each single-player level is large and relatively open enough to give a gamer more than one option for confronting an obstacle, but still tight and focused enough to keep him on track without limiting his freedom.
An approach like stealth is made viable by the ability to throw bullet casings to distract enemies, but also by poor AI that makes it extremely easy to just run from point to point undetected.
As for the guns-blazing approach: ammo is extremely limited but weapon crates are numerous, and the player can always grab guns from fallen enemies, too.
“Battlefield 1” is not really built for stealth, and getting the chance to experiment with a wealth of World War I-era weapons, such as the newly invented submachine guns or the simple but effective bolt-action rifles, and changing up the player’s tactics depending on what he could salvage from enemy encampments is a gratifying experience.
In general, the single-player campaign of “Battlefield 1” is a decent series of adventures with a handful of memorable highlights, but serves mostly as a way to sample some of the vehicles, elite classes, and firearms the gamers would be using in the much more interesting multiplayer.
Zeppelin glitches in the game
Those who have had the opportunity to play “Battlefield 1” after its launch less than a week ago might have already seen the game’s gorgeous zeppelins or the airships do something unexpected.
It was actually a glitch that had the gamers sharing it all over YouTube and on social media. In one video posted by Imqur, the clip showed a zeppelin glitching after it was hit by a plane and transforming into a glorious flaming tornado of death.
Another YouTube user also shared the same occurrence to his game. Then there is the unique experience of Cody Wiggins who found some weird things happening in the skies over World War 1.