After months of waiting, Battlefield 1's Open Beta has finally arrived. The wait was definitely worth it.
Background
The game will be set during the First World War.
Objectives and gameplay
The player can control various vehicles and approach the objective in the various ways that are available: One player can support his comrades by bombing tanks and trucks on the battlefield from his airplane, while the other ground troops are advancing towards the flags in Conquest mode or the telegrams in Rush mode.
There are 4 infantry classes: Assault (a class designed to eliminate tanks and trucks, the spearhead of the offence), Medic (a class aimed at providing medical support and revival for injured and fallen comrades), Scout (The sniper class, which caters mostly for sharpshooters and spotters) and Support (A heavy class, which provides support by way of flanking and setting traps). All classes can be customized by the player.
There are also various vehicle classes to choose from, mainly between light and heavy classes.
Infantry classes
Assault is basically the new/old Engineer class of the previous Battlefield games, with the absence of the ability to repair a vehicle. These units are equipped with an automatic rifle, pistol, grenades, and anti-tank weaponry.
The medic class is the new Assault class, where the unit is equipped with a semi automatic rifle, a pistol, grenades, medkit and bandages.
The scout class is the old Recon class consisting of a long range rifle, pistol, a spotting scope and a grenade.
The support class is outfitted with a light machine gun, tripwire grenades, normal grenades, a pistol and an ammo pouch.
*Each class also has a gas mask, to counter the effects of mustard gas that can be deployed.
Vehicles
When a player chooses to spawn inside a vehicle, they are equipped with a basic semi automatic weapon, a grenade and a wrench in order to repair the vehicle.
Tanks are either light or heavy tanks, with the heavy tanks equipped with shells and machine gun turrets, while the light tank is equipped with a machine gun and an extra turret.
The truck is basically a buggy with an open machine gun turret, a passenger side and a driver side.
The player also has the option of mounting a horse, equipping him with a pistol and a saber.
Airplanes are available in the form of attack planes, heavy planes and a bomber. Dogfights are fun.
Special weapons
Special weapons are scattered across the battlefield.
The player will be able to pick up flamethrowers and anti-armor rifles while stationary gun emplacements are also found at tactical locations.
In the Sinai desert map, players will be able to take control of an armored train's turrets, while the train is moving across the map. This provides a substantial advantage to the team in whose control it falls, for it isn't very easy to destroy the train - which requires each of the six turrets to be destroyed individually
Graphics
The graphics and looks of this game, seeing as it is a beta, is insane. I was amazed by how optimized the game is. My computer didn't even heat up as much as it did while playing Witcher 3. This looks on par with Battlefront's graphics, which were also amazing.
Gameplay
The game is near completion and the entire purpose of the beta was not only to give players a chance to experience the game but also test server stability and squash a few bugs.
I did encounter a bug where my entire team started off with no weapons at all, and another bug where me and other passengers of a light tank suddenly were left vulnerable when the tank itself vanished, leaving us running over the dunes in fear of sharpshooters.
There are a couple of balancing issues as well: One player noted that the weather effects differed between him and one of his friends, leaving him covered in a sandstorm while his friend was able to see clearly, with no sandstorm at all. Vehicles such as tanks and horseback-riders are seriously overpowered as well.
Conclusion
The beta was fun and I did enjoy it. I'm a bit cautious to buy the game just yet, with the track record of the previous Battlefield games, the game first has to see a couple of updates before I'm convinced on buying it. Another thing to keep in mind is how populated the servers will be in a month or two's time. Only time will tell.
If you weren't able to play the Beta yourself, here's a gameplay video I did below:
Background
The game will be set during the First World War.
Objectives and gameplay
The player can control various vehicles and approach the objective in the various ways that are available: One player can support his comrades by bombing tanks and trucks on the battlefield from his airplane, while the other ground troops are advancing towards the flags in Conquest mode or the telegrams in Rush mode.
There are 4 infantry classes: Assault (a class designed to eliminate tanks and trucks, the spearhead of the offence), Medic (a class aimed at providing medical support and revival for injured and fallen comrades), Scout (The sniper class, which caters mostly for sharpshooters and spotters) and Support (A heavy class, which provides support by way of flanking and setting traps). All classes can be customized by the player.
There are also various vehicle classes to choose from, mainly between light and heavy classes.
Infantry classes
Assault is basically the new/old Engineer class of the previous Battlefield games, with the absence of the ability to repair a vehicle. These units are equipped with an automatic rifle, pistol, grenades, and anti-tank weaponry.
The medic class is the new Assault class, where the unit is equipped with a semi automatic rifle, a pistol, grenades, medkit and bandages.
The scout class is the old Recon class consisting of a long range rifle, pistol, a spotting scope and a grenade.
The support class is outfitted with a light machine gun, tripwire grenades, normal grenades, a pistol and an ammo pouch.
*Each class also has a gas mask, to counter the effects of mustard gas that can be deployed.
Vehicles
When a player chooses to spawn inside a vehicle, they are equipped with a basic semi automatic weapon, a grenade and a wrench in order to repair the vehicle.
Tanks are either light or heavy tanks, with the heavy tanks equipped with shells and machine gun turrets, while the light tank is equipped with a machine gun and an extra turret.
The truck is basically a buggy with an open machine gun turret, a passenger side and a driver side.
The player also has the option of mounting a horse, equipping him with a pistol and a saber.
Airplanes are available in the form of attack planes, heavy planes and a bomber. Dogfights are fun.
Special weapons
Special weapons are scattered across the battlefield.
The player will be able to pick up flamethrowers and anti-armor rifles while stationary gun emplacements are also found at tactical locations.
In the Sinai desert map, players will be able to take control of an armored train's turrets, while the train is moving across the map. This provides a substantial advantage to the team in whose control it falls, for it isn't very easy to destroy the train - which requires each of the six turrets to be destroyed individually
Graphics
The graphics and looks of this game, seeing as it is a beta, is insane. I was amazed by how optimized the game is. My computer didn't even heat up as much as it did while playing Witcher 3. This looks on par with Battlefront's graphics, which were also amazing.
Gameplay
The game is near completion and the entire purpose of the beta was not only to give players a chance to experience the game but also test server stability and squash a few bugs.
I did encounter a bug where my entire team started off with no weapons at all, and another bug where me and other passengers of a light tank suddenly were left vulnerable when the tank itself vanished, leaving us running over the dunes in fear of sharpshooters.
There are a couple of balancing issues as well: One player noted that the weather effects differed between him and one of his friends, leaving him covered in a sandstorm while his friend was able to see clearly, with no sandstorm at all. Vehicles such as tanks and horseback-riders are seriously overpowered as well.
Conclusion
The beta was fun and I did enjoy it. I'm a bit cautious to buy the game just yet, with the track record of the previous Battlefield games, the game first has to see a couple of updates before I'm convinced on buying it. Another thing to keep in mind is how populated the servers will be in a month or two's time. Only time will tell.
If you weren't able to play the Beta yourself, here's a gameplay video I did below:
Uncle of 5
ReplyDelete