Russia’s winters have been known to be some of the fiercest ever known. This hasn’t changed as bone chilling winter winds blow across the Russian landscape as soldiers from opposing sides take to the river valleys as they trek towards the streets of Tsaritsyn. The Russian Army will face off in the Russian Civil War in this latest update, which brings in new maps, a new mode, more weapons, some new vehicles, and a slew of fixes with its launch today.
Pros:
+Extremely well balanced classes, weapons, and vehicle systems
+Unlock progress smoothly transitions to an era set before previous games
+Vehicles are unique and authentic to their time
+Multiplayer deepens the games story through operations
+Gorgeous graphics and soundscapes (music, ambiance, etc)
Cons:
–Sound performance problems seem to pop up during extremely chaotic moments.
Much like any Battlefield, Battlefield 1 is not a far cry from what makes the series unique among all the competitors out there. For the first time since Battlefield Bad Company, the series finally displays what it is to make a campaign a piece of importance to the overall title. While the series adapted to destructible environments, which is still present this day, the game also followed suit with titles such as Activision’s Call of Duty in the element of including unlockable items.
Since the release of Battlefield 3 the series has been trumped by an rather distinct since of identity conflict due to the direction the series began to take. With the launch of the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, players whom purchased Battlefield 4 on the next gen consoles (at the time) were plagued with numerous problems. Each of these problems weren’t elusive to just some players, but they plagued all. With game crashes, texture issues, and insane load times, Battlefield 4 put a black mark across the franchises name for many.
For many it would seem as if the franchise was losing its focus, that it was falling apart, and luckily that has changed as they took a bit more time with Battlefield 1. Long had been the days since I thought World War 1 or any other war would have been a viable idea. Games such as Medal of Honor, Shellshock: Vietnam, and Rising Storm 2: Vietnam had proven that wars previous to Desert Storm, Desert Shield, and even Iraq. Setting foot into even older wars, however, had seemed to set things a bit more taboo in modern years. What happened though to DICE? Were they working on anything outside of Star Wars: Battlefront? That was a question much of the gaming community had asked. No, they weren’t, they were focusing on Battlefield 1.
To succeed as a new portion of the series, Battlefield 1 had first wave farewell to the modern day military aesthetic the series has seen for almost a decade. Doing so has allowed the developers to prepare the franchise for something new, something unique, and ultimately something that would help re-define the series as we know it now. The game so precisely and carefully weaved itself into a brilliantly crafted masterpiece, one that has been so carefully crafted that even the developers shared this intensity within the game itself.
Unlike previous shooters, Battlefield 1 brilliantly bids farewell to the one-man-long campaign, and instead, it brings forth multiple stories that across multiple theaters of war with many different tones in narration. Instead of continuing on with the one-man-hero story that Call of Duty has done across multiple installments, DICE approached the game differently by creating a finely tuned anthology, each one telling three completely separate stories across the events of World War I. The game telling the stories of multiple men and women within the theaters of war that take place across Europe.
While many would question how the game offers up a movie-like experiences, it’s quite easy to discuss when it comes to how well the narrative spans across multiple sequences even outside of the campaign. DICE does this quite well by bringing in a new mode named “Operations”. The Operations mode is what one would expect. It’s multiple battles that take place across several scenarios within a single area within a single battle. Each of these ones are told through the eyes of troops or leaders that players encounter within these missions. To fill in the need for cinematics, the game offers this up across multiple occasions to carry on the movie-like experience that takes place across the game.
Much as one would expect, there’s always a question about where a game may go as it begins to unfold. Does it ignore the costs of war? Does it ignore that the terror’s that those in it will not have some mental anguish caused by it? Do they remain silent about what they go through in all tonal challenges made possible by the costs of war? No. In a unique way, Battlefield 1 provides the real-life costs of what such a war would be like.
This move sets Battlefield 1 apart from all the rest. This makes it one of the largest departures within the military genre. The first chapter of the game captures this perfectly as players take on the role of a tank driver in “Mud and Blood”. In this chapter players are forced to enjoy a rather unique trip through Europe in a tank named “Big Bess”. In this mission players are given the option to approach the enemies in two manners. One is stealth, eliminating them with brutal melee finishers, and using silenced weapons that can be found scattered across the battlefield.
The landscape, as you can imagine, is unique as players will sneak across mortar-blasted lands covered in mud that are filled with German forces. In the second story, players will become adept in using the games flying mechanics. In the second story titled “No Man’s Land”, players fly their way throughout the battlefields of Europe before taking to the grounds where machine-guns have cut almost everything down to size, tanks that have been demolished are littered across the trenches, and even mortal created holes that decorate the ground.
Let alone does the authenticity of the stories help portray the realistic costs to each character in Battlefield 1, the weapons help this authenticity seem even more plausible due to how each weapon has been carefully crafted in order to give a realistic response to its uses. Let alone do the weapons look, sound, and “feel” real, they offer a depth of realism never seen before within their customizations. This goes for combat as well in both single-player and even multiplayer.
Unlike previous Battlefield titles, sneaking, maneuvering, and flanking didn’t feel as needed in order to progress through each multiplayer session as it does now. The newest portion of this mechanical design worked well in Battlefield Hardline where players would find themselves cautiously sneaking across each map. They also found themselves using every bit of their terrain to provide themselves a tactical advantage. Much like Hardline sneaking and careful maneuvers serve as an important role to the game. This further proves that the need to shoot at enemies sometimes isn’t quit the best idea.
Unlike previous titles, Battlefield 1 isn’t some dull experience that players will find boring as they find themselves storming across landscapes as a Bedouin horseback resistance fighter, an Italian shock trooper, an ace pilot, or even a tank pilot there wasn’t an inkling of boredom coming from me. While it does suffer from rather well known issues of any shooter franchise, y’know, idiot A.I., players crashing friendly planes into me, and the occasional tank driver who decides to drive us off a cliff. With those issues aside? The game has vastly approved upon many of the underlying issues from previous titles.
Battlefield 1 – PC, PlayStation 4 (Reviewed), Xbox One
Developer: DICE
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Cost: $59.99
Release Date: Now Available
Battlefield 1 is a departure from what we knew the series as. It forgoes the idea of the long ran approach to single character designs. It breathes what the title is through and through. It benefits itself from embedding the games core elements throughout the title. Whether it’s players storming across each map in combat in Rush, Domination, Team Deathmatch or even players storming across each operation that takes place in each multiplayer session. Something I can contest to after the dozens of hours I’ve already put into the game.
The game goes back to the days of what makes Battlefield 1 a classic Battlefield title. While some would assert that the game is slower in many aspects, others would carry on to say that the game is much faster paced in many ways. It serves as a reminder that the franchise has moved to grow as semi-automatic and bolt-action firearms fit perfectly with the era they came from. While the shooter genre moves forth into the distances of humanities future, Battlefield 1 will always be behind them as it remains very alive in its very unique way by departing from the competitive edge in ways the previous titles ventured into.
For now, it’s safe to say that Battlefield 1 pushes the boundaries into emotional depth and grasp. It’s a game that will push the FPS genre in a direction that it needed to go without underplaying the importance of building the single player into all aspects of the game and allowing that narrative to drive the games overall design.
Our review is based upon the release version of the game we purchased for review. For information about our ethics policy please click here.
About the Writer:
Dustin is our native console gamer, PlayStation and Nintendo reviewer who has an appetite for anything that crosses the boarders from across the big pond. His interest in JRPG’s, Anime, Handheld Gaming, and Pizza is insatiable. His elitist attitude gives him direction, want, and a need for the hardest difficulties in games, which is fun to watch, and hilarity at its finest. You can find him over on Twitter, Google+, and or you can find him on PSN with RaivynLyken.
You’ve probably already read it all over the internet. You already know what I’m about to say, but if you haven’t? It never hurts to find out more.
Many of you know that I’m a huge fan of Battlefield, it helped me stay close to some of my longest time friends, and even helped me become family with one of the guys from my old group. Recently there had been leaks stating that “Battlefield is going back to World War I” and that the game would once more take the franchise to what it has always done best – historical wars.
As of recently? D.I.C.E. and E.A. have confirmed that Battlefield 1 will be launching October 21ss, 2016 world wide. A collector’s edition for the title has been announced at Amazon (20% off with Prime) for $219.99 and will feature the following below:
The Early Enlister Edition can be pre-ordered for $79.99 at any local retailer and includes the following:
For more regarding Battlefield 1, stay tuned or head on over to the Battlefield Blog for more information!
About the Writer:
Dustin is our native console gamer, PlayStation and Nintendo reviewer who has an appetite for anything that crosses the boarders from across the big pond. His interest in JRPG’s, Anime, Handheld Gaming, and Pizza is insatiable. His elitist attitude gives him direction, want, and a need for the hardest difficulties in games, which is fun to watch, and hilarity at its finest. You can find him over on Twitter, Google+, and or you can find him on PSN with RaivynLyken.
It’s no surprise that EA had a lot to worry about when it comes to their developer DICE’s upcoming title Star Wars Battlefront. With the title being well received by critics from all sides of the game, it’s no surprise that it was enjoyed by quite a few people, like 9 million users as that quite a few.
“‘Impressive. Most Impressive.’ Yesterday, the Star Wars™ Battlefront™ beta surpassed a major milestone: more than nine million players logged in and played. That makes this the single largest beta in the history of EA. We could not be happier that so many of you wanted to come in to get a small taste of what our passionate team has been working on,” stated Sigurlina Ingvarsdottir, Senior Producer of Star Wars Battlefront.
Recently the Star Wars Battlefront team over at EA announced the games Ultimate Edition priced at $119.99 USD as well as the games Season Pass for $49.99 USD. Information regarding the season pass can be found here. The game is set to launch on November 17, 2015 in North America, and November 19, 2015 in Europe.
About the Writer:
Dustin is our native console gamer, PlayStation and Nintendo reviewer who has an appetite for anything that crosses the boarders from across the big pond. His interest in JRPG’s, Anime, Handheld Gaming, and Pizza is insatiable. His elitist attitude gives him direction, want, and a need for the hardest difficulties in games, which is fun to watch, and hilarity at its finest. You can find him over onTwitter, Google+, and or you can find him on PSN with RaivynLyken.
In a galaxy, not so very far away, we’ve been sitting down on PC’s, PlayStation 4s, and Xbox Ones holding our controllers in our hands, and blasting each other across the battlefields of Hoth and Tatooine. On these planets we’ve discovered just how close to real that D.I.C.E. and EA have made this game. With sound effects blasting from T.V.s, headphones, and even surround sound systems in both Dolby Digital 5.1 and Dolby Digital 7.1, Star Wars Battlefront has finally landed a beta on all the mentioned platforms. We’ve taken to flying Tie Fighters, Tie/IN Interceptors, X-Wings, A-Wings, AT-ST’s, and even manning the guns to the gorgeously as well as terrifyingly large AT-AT. But much has and has not changed since the days of Battlefront 2 where fans were fighting of both droids, clone troopers, and even Jedi heroes.
What’s most iconic about this game isn’t the fact it’s a minor departure from a series we grew up to love, but rather the fact EA has decided to take what them and DICE have perfected with Battlefield and mold it into the Star Wars universe in order to give us one of the most graphically astounding games to date. I don’t say that with a grin on my face to upset the fanboys or to bring myself to the culling due to my stance on the game, but even with games such as Bloodborne, Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes/TPP, and even Killing Floor 2 sitting around; I have to state openly that Battlefront is one of the best looking games I’ve honestly played to date even in its Beta test, which seems to be a stress test for the servers. In doing so they invited us to try out three modes such as Drop Zone where you will capture escape pods for your team by holding them for a set amount of time, Walker Assault, which many will feel is a perfect representation of Battlefield’s Rush mode, and last, but not least the games weakest mode (at least to me) Survival, which can be played with a group of friends or solo in order to hone in your skills.
Star Wars Battlefront – PlayStation 4 (Version Tested), Xbox One, and PC
Platforms: Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC
Publisher: EA
Developer: DICE
Release Date: November 17th, 2015
But why did we find Survival so weak when that is supposed to be one of the strong suits of the game? Well the truth is that it felt underwhelming and poorly executed. When being shot at by Storm Troopers who felt like they were straight out of the movies you’ll find yourself cringing just a bit. When playing with the enemy shooting blasters at your team that should be hitting and not? It was almost as if the game was purposely programmed to give that movie authenticity, which lead us to quickly departing from this horde-like mode, which is all about surviving for an allotted amount of waves until an AT-ST pops up and decides to blast away at everyone.
This lead us to switching over to the multiplayer where we were introduced to the game mode Drop Zone, which places us in an undisclosed location on Tatooine. While this mode may seem familiar to others the mode is very much an attack and defend mode where players will be fighting over Escape Pods and even power-ups that will allow them to make it a bit harder for the opposing team to slow them down. While this mode did prove a bit more challenging than I had hoped for it was equally enjoyable when played with friends.
When grouped with friends any of the modes tend to be fun, but as we all know, there are challenges that came come up at any time. Where the game seems to shine the brightest in both graphical prowess and even player stability is the games largest mode called Walker Assault. This mode can easily be referred to as Battlefronts version of “Rush” from DICE’s other franchise known as Battlefield. In the Walker Assault mode we were pitted in the battle for Hoth where the Rebel Alliance is attempting to fight back the Imperial march on their home base for hoth. Here we see the Rebel’s taking action against the might of the Imperial forces on both ground and even air assault. In much of my time with this mode I spent a fair amount of time testing out the games aerial combat, vehicular combat on ground, and as a foot soldier utilizing my blasters, grenades, jetpack, my personal shield perk, and even the turrets that were pre-placed on the map. The goal as a Rebel? Fight back Imperial soldiers while trying to capture two Communication Relays in order for your team to call in Y-Wings to bring down the shields protecting the AT-AT’s. While doing so the game mode isn’t just chaotic, it’s a warzone – quite literally a Star Wars battlefield where implosion grenades, ion grenades, turret fire, rockets, cannon fire, and the likes are always going off.
During my time it wasn’t uncommon to be blasted by squads of Stormtroopers that were spawning on one another in order to keep their partner system available (this is very reminiscent to Battlefields spawning system with the Uplink devices that soldiers would place). After having spent my fair share of time being blown up, respawned, shot by snipers, and even doing my fair share of the same, it was time to take to vehicular combat. First up was my run with the X-Wing. Much like in the movies the Tie Fighter is an excellent airship at maneuverability, firepower, and even aerial support. Unlike past Battlefront titles I didn’t get to just run up to an available vehicle and grab it – I had to hunt it down. After spending a matter of seconds jet packing around the map I was able to find my power up lying beside a blown up X-Wing that was all, but destroyed. Hitting my L1+R1 together my character knelt down, called for X-Wing support, and I was on my way into the battlefield as a member of the Rebel Alliances “Crimson Squad”. As I adjusted to the controls they came rather easy to learn having spent a lot of time piloting planes in Battlefield 4. Much like any title I found my left thumbstick for rotation to rotate side to side, front and back for speeding up and speeding down, and the right thumbstick for pitch and yaw. My D-Pad buttons offered evasive maneuvers for when under enemy fire, which most of the time was used to break missile lock. L1 was to activate shields while R1 was to launch a torpedo. In the game I commonly found myself holding onto L2 in order to lock onto enemy aggressors in the air only to start shooting at them while pursuing them. Much like ground weapons, vehicle weapons of all sorts overheat and must cool down if they are constantly fired.
On both ends of the stick each vehicle felt unique from the evasive TIE Fighter, TIE Interceptor clear down to the Rebels A-Wing and the T-47 Snowspeeder/Airspeeder. The most interesting part of vehicles was not piloting them, but even combating against them as they proved both lethal and at times quite clumsy when taking fire from the ground. Though the primary thing to take away from the battlefield of Hoth? The graphical prowess as well as scope of audio is immersive. Thanks to the use of sound effects straight from the movies such as the mechanical clumsiness of the AT-ST’s, the breach alarms of the AT-AT, the whine of the TIE Fighters flying sounds to the sound of their cannons, the game is overall very unique to how true it has stayed to the Star Wars franchise. To be quite honest? It feels as if DICE has spent hours on end sitting at the Lucas Studios in order to make the game true to the franchise. The musical score itself is quite impressive as it quietly plays behind the scenes during combat scenarios while more prominent songs strike a chord when something large scale occurs. While this is something that will strike a bit of nostalgia for some, the game stays true to what Star Wars is known for such as design, realism, graphical prowess, and its story telling elements. Thanks to DICE this has been fully possible within Star Wars Battlefront with a Beta test that could quite easily be called a success after downloading an 8GB file (rounded up from 7.8GB or so). The truth? If this game follows through like the beta did? Star Wars Battlefront could easily set itself up for a game of the year.
Though as much as I would love to continue with the stroking of egos there were some underlying issues that would make developers cringe. One of these is trouble with partying up with friends. While the use of what felt like an Origin launcher within the menu’s, I found it almost troublesome to group up with friends as the game constantly reported that I had no friends online on Saturday and Sunday night for PlayStation 4. To ensure it wasn’t just me? We took our PS4 to multiple locales (friends who allowed us to invade their internet) in order to test this. To be honest? It was the servers quite possibly, but regardless it had been admitted by EA and DICE that they were stress testing the servers, which quite easily could have cause this issue. Another is minor audio cut-in and outs when navigating menus between matches. This having occurred on both of the B.A.T.G.R. PS4’s using our 100+ MBPS downstream internet with a 15.8 MBPS upstream. Another underlying issue isn’t just these small flaws, but instead there were a few that had been noted on the P.C. side by B.A.T.G.R. writer Ms. Helseth who noted that people had already been cheating to the point that one player in a lobby she had attended sat at 256 kills with 8 Deaths. Something that pales my 78 kills and 32 deaths in comparison. While this is an issue it only brings the question to whether or not Battlefront on P.C. will have an anti-cheat system in place to keep such things from happening.
We can only wait and see when Battlefront launches on November 17th, 2015 for PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One for $59.99 USD. Recently new modes and a season pass have been announced.
About the Writer:
Dustin is our native console gamer, PlayStation and Nintendo reviewer who has an appetite for anything that crosses the boarders from across the big pond. His interest in JRPG’s, Anime, Handheld Gaming, and Pizza is insatiable. His elitist attitude gives him direction, want, and a need for the hardest difficulties in games, which is fun to watch, and hilarity at its finest. You can find him over onTwitter, Google+, and or you can find him on PSN with RaivynLyken.
If you’re like the millions of other players who have been cramming 60+ hours in since the beta launched, you’re no doubt extremely excited for the game, and a bit curious to what is to come out of it. Today on the official Battlefront Blog, DICE and EA announced several things including three new game modes, a season pass, an Ultimate Edition as well as the fact the Beta will end tomorrow October 13th, which gives you an entire day more to play if you haven’t been already.
In the announcement, EA announced that there are several modes that haven’t been announced till today and both of them honestly sound quite enjoyable. First up is the newest mode called “Droid Hunt”, which will pit teams of players against each other as they attempt to capture the GNK droids (those trash can things) and bring them back to safety in order to gain points. Simple right? Not necessarily since there are multiple droids scattered across these smaller maps for players to hunt down. This mode will be playable on all 4 planets at launch and Jakku when it launches in December for those who pre-order the game.
Next up is the game mode called Cargo. This mode is Battlefronts equivalent of Capture the Flag where teams will work together to capture “flags” in order to win. The upside? This mode will not require your “flag” to be at your base in order for you to win. Scoring works in points of ten for a team with five total. Scoring starts with each team having five points. Scoring will increase your count while also lowering down the opposing teams points for teams to win. Matches will last 15 minutes and only will end if you run out of time or when a singular team manages to deduct points completely from the other team.
The last mode is basically a “Tag” game mode where a player will spawn as one of the franchises iconic heroes (Boba Fett is in there, right?). As players play they will work together and against each other in order to eliminate the hero and allowing the player who killed the hero to take that players spot as the hero character, which allows the cycle to begin again. The assumption? The hero character earns points by wiping out those whom are chasing them down and eliminating them.
Lastly, the Ultimate Edition will include the season pass, which will include all future content containing new planets, new modes, and we are assuming probably new characters as well as customization. The Ultimate Edition will include all the content from the Deluxe Edition, but also the games season pass, which can be purchased separately from this edition for a price that has yet to be announced by EA. We are sure the Season Pass will run you between $35-$50 USD, which isn’t all that uncommon these days. Let alone does this edition include the season pass, it also includes a unique “Shoot First” emote that can only be obtained by those that purchase this edition.
Star Wars Battlefront is set to release on Nov. 17th for PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One for $59.99 USD for the base game. Stay tuned for our hands-on impression of the beta as well as our thoughts on the creative direction at this point.
About the Writer:
Dustin is our native console gamer, PlayStation and Nintendo reviewer who has an appetite for anything that crosses the boarders from across the big pond. His interest in JRPG’s, Anime, Handheld Gaming, and Pizza is insatiable. His elitist attitude gives him direction, want, and a need for the hardest difficulties in games, which is fun to watch, and hilarity at its finest. You can find him over onTwitter, Google+, and or you can find him on PSN with RaivynLyken.