Battlefield One Open Beta: First Impressions

               

           When Battlefield One was announced on May 6^th, it didn’t appeal to me the way Titanfall 2 or Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare did. Before the reveal it was rumored that that next battlefield will be set in an alternate version of World War I. I was more interested to see DICE’s version of WWI, but hearing that it’s based on real history, my appeal to the game lessened.

As it gets closer to the games release day, EA opened a public beta on August 3rd. It is not yet known how long the beta will be open. The requirement for collecting Battlefield 1’s battle tag is to play four straight days, so you can bet it will be up for the week. I’ve heard great things about Battlefield 1 demos, I want to try it to know for myself.

            The beta released with only one map called “Sinai Desert”, sets of four class loadouts, and two modes called Conquest and Rush. The full game will feature more maps and modes when released, expect changes in the full game. The map open to the beta is massive. I haven’t spent much time playing the Battlefield franchise, and considering this game didn’t peak my interest, the beta surprised me. After playing more modern first-person shooters like, Titanfall 2 or Destiny, I thought it would be hard to adapt to that kind of slower gameplay. It wasn’t that much of a difficult change. The shooting in Battlefield 1 is really different from modern shooters. The bullets have travel time. You need to aim where the target is going. Adding endless running gives increase in the overall speed of the game. That makes it easier for new comers to WWI shooters (like me) to adapt too.

            

            Before entering the battlefield, you will need to select your loadout. The loadout determines the class you want to play; this provides more ways to contribute to your team. The four set loadout provided is Assault, Medic, Support, and Scout. Of course you can customize the loadout, but will have to choose a class along with your custom loadout. Adding multiple ways to play, allows players to adapt and counter enemy actions.

The Sinai Desert is a massive open map that has fully destructible buildings, as will other maps in the game. Adding environmental elements to the maps, make is difficult to see enemy players. I was amazed the map took me out of the comfort zone and made me change my playstyle. Occasionally the whole map will be in a sandstorm. This effects the way everyone plays. Finding new ways to approach the objectives makes players think about other options.  Both modes will feature this map. When I entered the game I couldn’t believe how large, open, and crazy everything was. Looking around, there were some many things happening. The map is so massive I couldn’t walk around to get things done, I needed vehicles.

The map provides ground travel and overhead airships. When entering vehicles, there will be five positions, anyone on your team can fill those position. One for driving and the other four position are for shooting. If you’re in the vehicle yourself, you control the driving and the ammunition. Transition from position to position is fast and smooth. My favorite form of ground travel is horseback. On horseback the loadout will change to a shotgun and a curved sword. The control on ground travel is difficult to control. It could be the esthetic of the game, but it’s difficult to notice where you are with some vehicles (third persons view helps). Air travel got a little difficult to control, but got the hang of it the more I played. Air combat is fun, chasing enemy players around while trying to take it down was engaging and rewarding when you see the ship blow up in flames.

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            The first game mode introduced in the beta is Conquest. This mode is a 20-minute, 64-player map; players fight to control points. I spent most of my time in Conquest, because the freedom of airships. With the chaos I can create with a plane I would never pass that opportunity up. The map is so massive, points on the map are really far apart. As a result, some parts of the map are not as much populated. Being that a lot of the battle is happening on one side of the map, it provides more options to capture points.

            Rush is the last mode in the beta. In this mode you and your team will capture points in sections of the map. Capturing the points will progress your team farther into your enemy territory. Airships are not available in Rush. I like the idea of pushing your enemies back to their territory, but my appeal for this game are the airships. The mechanics of capturing points to push your enemy back is a good choice for the esthetic the game. Taking territories from sections of the map to claim a ruler of the map. Perfect for a World War I shooter.

             Battlefield 1’s beta will be available for the rest of the week; it is not yet confirmed when the beta will end. I love the way EA handle their marketing with both their big first-person shooters, Titianfall 2 and Battlefield 1. I’ve enjoyed the time with both betas. Allowing public players to play the two betas, will help players to pick and choose which game resonated with them the most. You can play a more fast-paced, futuristic shooter with Titanfall 2, or many you enjoy more of the historic, reality type of shooters? Than Battlefield 1 is the perfect choice. For me Titanfall 2 is my choice for EA shooters this fall, but this Battlefield 1 beta is really grabbing me the way I never thought a WWI shooter would.