As in the year before last, players have the opportunity to get a sneak peek at the new Battlefield before release. Our guest author Lucas has once again convinced a friend to join him in the battle of Battlefield 1.
A few words about gameplay and scope of the open beta
When starting, the UI immediately catches the eye, as it bears a suspicious resemblance to the UI of Star Wars Battlefront. Generally, the similarities do not end there. You no longer take off from the ground with planes, as in Battlefront, but simply select them as a spawn point and you are immediately in the air. Besides the obligatory planes and tanks, you can also charge into battle as a mounted soldier with a musket and saber.
In the open beta, you have the choice between the two game modes Conquest and Rush, which are played on the same map, with Rush being set on a smaller version of it. In Conquest, you capture specific points on the map and win if you have collected the most points when time runs out or if you reach the point limit. In Rush, one team must defend points while the other team must destroy them with a bomb to advance.
Sandstorms and mounted soldiers
The map “Sinai Desert” is large and allows for various playstyles, with the open areas providing the ideal environment for snipers. Proper use of cover is therefore essential. In the desert, there is also an armored train that one team can gain control of. It follows a predetermined route and has numerous weapons that can mow down careless players, similar to the AT-AT walkers in Battlefront.
The majority of the map is filled with sand, which is realistically portrayed. You can see every grain of sand. And the map changes during a match: tanks blow holes in the ground, cause houses to collapse, or a sandstorm sweeps across the map and limits visibility.
Speaking of blowing up: At the moment, tanks are still much too strong. This may be realistic, but players still lack ways to disable a tank from a distance. Dynamite and anti-tank grenades are nice and well, but most of the time you kiss the ground before you can get within attack range.
And how are the servers running?
The servers are running surprisingly well. During the test, I had no connection issues; only the ability to join a game with friends was a bit buggy. We had to form a new group and search for a game multiple times before it worked for all players.
On the internet, there is also a lot of talk about hackers. But I didn’t really have problems with that. Unless it is intended that you can shoot players through thin walls. Another significant plus: Battlefield 1 runs surprisingly smoothly in the open beta and is technically well optimized.
I was really positively surprised by Battlefield 1. I like the setting, and I find it extremely clever that DICE adopted the UI from Star Wars Battlefront. Let’s hope that Battlefield 1 has diverse maps, a great campaign, and generally enough content at release in October.
This article is by our reader Lucas Kaczynski.
