I've put more hours into Battlefield 1 than any post-CoD: MW FPS, save the original Titanfall. I can't really explain why. There are things that I really like about the game (visuals, scale, variety), and several other things that I really don't. However, it's managed to grab my friends and I in ways multiplayer shooters rarely do these days. I had honestly almost given up on the genre entirely, and I feel like it may be giving the game too much credit for "revitalizing" it, but there's definitely something here. Still, this is becoming my DOTA, Destiny, et al., the kind of game to dump countless hours in pursuing some not-particularly-rewarding grind while only sometimes enjoying myself in the process. I swore I'd never fall in this trap; that I'd stop playing a game when I felt like I was beating my fists against an intentionally constructed wall purposed only with gating me. And yet, here we are.

Complaint paragraph: EA has made some frankly baffling choices with the menus and progression that I absolutely despise, much of which disappointingly hasn't improved from Battlefront. That you can't adjust your loadout during the LONG load times is fucking insane. You get a few moments on the second load screen, but not typically enough to do anything meaningful. Quitting from a game lobby seems to somehow take even longer. Also, don't even try to open a battlepack to pass the time. If the game actually loads mid-opening of the battlepack, you can very well lose your battlepack to the ether. And honestly, the battlepacks are shit anyway. It's virtually always a weapon skin, and it's usually a shitty one for a shitty gun you don't use. My personal "highlight" of using this system was scrapping a duplicate lame skin for enough scraps to exchange for a new battlepack, only to receive the exact same skin I scrapped. Fuck you, too, game. Furthermore, the progression moves at a seemingly glacial pace. That goes for both the random battlepacks (which are so infrequent that I'm legitimately surprised every time I get one) and the leveling up, which gives a paltry amount of war bonds that will buy you roughly one weapon. Which brings me to another point. There is no way (at least that I've found) to really try out a gun other than to buy it. I've got a pile of shit I'll never use after finding out the hard way that it's not my style. Also, all of the melee is somewhere between bad and awful. Finally on my shit list, the tanks are OP as fuck. Conquest is basically a "where's the tank" mode, which is some awful balance. I'm not at all excited that the first DLC contains an even beefier tank.

That said, there are some real highlights. Gameplay-wise, sniping is appropriately difficult and easy enough to spot that it discourages camping. Sniping can be effective, but you have to earn it, and I'm good with that, because it otherwise would have broken the whole game. The machine guns are mostly awkward pea-shooters. Pistols are well-done. Medic class is dope (Team Selbstlader Optical for life). The shotguns seem a bit too rangy, but aren't overly useful outside of a select few maps, so that's cool. The gas and incendiary grenades are great crowd control. Visually, the game is a marvel, with some terrific environments and animations, and those rare "Battlefield moments" when a plane crashes into the map and levels a building or some shit really are awesome. I think there's one thing that keeps me coming back, though, and it's War Pigeons. I've long been a team deathmatch guy with the occasional domination/CTF in there, but War Pigeons is typically an absolute blast. I love how dumb the name is, I love the anarchy/intensity of it, I love the teamwork it requires as everyone tries to build a perimeter around the pigeon, and I love that you can blast the pigeon out of the fucking sky to kill the hopes and dreams of the opposition as feathers rain from the heavens. It's fantastic. (Cool move: Toss an incendiary grenade when they're about to release it and roast that birdie.) I still excitedly yell "GOOOO PIGEON!!!" every fucking time we're releasing one because I'm an idiot, but let me have my fun. Finally, spectating games is more fun than it reasonably should be, and makes for a nice break sometimes.

Given the love/hate relationship I have with this game, I was recently put to a decision. Buy the DLC and go all-in on this thing, warts and all, or stay strong. I am weak. I bought the whole damn premium pass thing, partially so I could play the new shit now instead of in two weeks (again, another practice I don't really like supporting). In truth, they mostly reeled me in with the upcoming "In the Name of the Tsar" expansion, because I have a Scanlon-esque fascination with old Russia. FWIW, I like most of the new maps, with the exception of Verdun Heights. While perhaps the coolest-looking map yet because it's on fucking fire, it seems to be a sniper's paradise, as several areas force you to head through a trench into a hail of bullets from waiting enemies permanently aimed down that very trench, which isn't great. Overall, though, it's pretty good as far as DLC goes. $50 good? Well, we'll have to wait and see on that one. So now, I'm "Destiny guy" with this game. I'll say things like "the gameplay is mostly really good!" or "look how pretty it is!" to defend my questionable decision. I refuse to purchase battlepacks, though. That's the point where I'll know that they've truly broken me. Until then, I'll continue burning pigeons and wrestling with whether it's hate or love that blooms on the battlefield.

I have being playing battlefield of and on since battlefield 1942 and i have to say that BF1 is one of the better ones i really enjoyed my time with it. Also the only rifle modes they have add over the last few months are fun if your into that thing.

Very well written! I don't even play Battlefield (or any other military first person shooter for that matter), but I found your assessment of the game very entertaining. Good read duder!

Good write-up. War Pigeons is great. I wish it didn't drop me into an empty match like 75% of the time I try to play Pigeons or Operations. They seem to have mastered splitting the playerbase. Tons of modes, paid map DLC, then the problem with Operations "Want go join an operation? Well pick from this list" instead of just throwing me into any operations that has players. My 2 favorite modes right now have no players. Frontlines is real fun, but after a 2-hour match the other day, it's hard to select knowing it could take so long.

I love so many things about this game, which makes its negatives that much more of a bummer.

I have a Battlefield crew and this was the one that finally brought us up to date. We didn't like 4 or Hardline and had been playing BF3 up until this game came out. War Pigeons is great and I also love Operations. I am also really into the Codex. That they appeared to have some real respect for the historical context of everything going on was refreshing, especially when they didn't need to for the game to sell.

BF1942 was great. BF1 reminds me of parts of that game, for better and worse. I played some of the BF series off and on until this one, but it never really grabbed me for whatever reason. I always felt like they were close to something special. In many ways, they still haven't fully capitalized on the potential, but BF1 is the closest they've gotten yet, IMO.

Much obliged, man. Cheers.

I haven't had much trouble finding a game of War Pigeons on the regular maps, but I'm yet to successfully play in a pigeons game on the DLC maps, which is a shame. I don't know if the playerbase simply isn't there or if those who bought the season pass just aren't into the hot pigeon action (or both), but it's disappointing nonetheless. (As an aside, I'm getting wrecked on the DLC maps.) I'm 100% with you on (mostly) loving this game in spite of its flaws, though. It's more painful because much of the game's issues could be fixed SO easily. At least they apparently made a fix to the ribbons to allow for quicker progression, so credit where credit is due there. The game desperately needs a host of UI improvements, though.

I need to do more Codex stuff. I should probably branch out beyond my usual medic class anyway. I enjoy that kind of stuff (I'm the weird guy who actually reads the historical info in Assassin's Creed games and the like), so the reminder that I need to start doing some work on that is much appreciated.