Everything we learned from the Battlefield 1 livestream
What we saw in three rounds of tank combat, dogfights, and airships falling from the sky.
Update: EA still hasn't posted the full livestream, but Eurogamer grabbed it. Embedded above!
After the EA Play show today, the publisher showed off several rounds of 64-player Battlefield 1 with celebrity players including Terry Crews (who uses mouse and keyboard, nice) and Snoop Dogg. They still haven't posted an archive of the stream (we'll update if they do), but there are a few player-made videos up and you can see one of them above.
Below we’ve pulled out all the relevant details we could find in the commentary. Also read Phil's hands-on preview for direct impressions.
- When one of the fully-controllable airships (i.e. massive blimps) come down, they can crash into and destroy any part of the map, and the carcass stays put, becoming a new part of the environment.
- All (or at least nearly all) of the buildings in the map shown could be destroyed.
- Tanks can also self-repair, though you can’t move or get out of the tank when it’s happening.
- Individual tank parts have damage modeling, so you could take out the treads, for instance. On airships, guns mounted to the bottom can be taken out individually, and snipers can shoot the gunners themselves.
- Snipers can use anti-vehicle rounds.
- According to the commentators, the weapons have “a lot of kick.”
- The spawn map is no longer a 2D representation, but an actual overhead view of the game.
- A dynamic weather system means rain or fog can roll it at any moment, giving snipers and pilots a hard time, and allowing for stealthy advances.
- There are some new movement systems, including a high vault over taller obstacles. You can also charge through doors.
- Flying looks pretty forgiving—multiple times throughout the stream, planes collided with the ground, the windmill, and other planes, only to tumble a bit and quickly recover.
- Melee weapons include a hatchet, entrenching tool, and bayonets.
- If equipped with a bayonet, you can use a special charge move to tackle enemies or get to safety faster than sprinting.
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Tyler grew up in Silicon Valley during the '80s and '90s, playing games like Zork and Arkanoid on early PCs. He was later captivated by Myst, SimCity, Civilization, Command & Conquer, all the shooters they call "boomer shooters" now, and PS1 classic Bushido Blade (that's right: he had Bleem!). Tyler joined PC Gamer in 2011, and today he's focused on the site's news coverage. His hobbies include amateur boxing and adding to his 1,200-plus hours in Rocket League.
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