The move to WW1 surprised many when DICE and EA announced Battlefield 1 this week. Â The initial image that fluttered around the internet got everyone wondering if this was going to be an alternative take on history.
But DICE have clarified their vision for the new game and the reasons why they’ve chosen to go right back in time to the first of the modern wars.
In an interview with Eurogamer, DICE’s producer Aleks Grondal explains why they decided to go further back while other companies are looking further into the future.
“We wanted to portray the dawn of all out war. All out war is what the franchise is all about. That’s been the case since Battlefield 1942. We also wanted to say this is the genesis of modern warfare. We felt that was an appropriate title for it.”
Clarifying THAT picture and the rumours going around the web about alternate timelines, Grondal confirmed that this really was an authentic World War 1 experience and not an alternate timeline, though there is a little room for artistic licencing. “…speaking about the key art, that actually recreates something very authentic. The stuff he’s wearing is all authentic to the era. We also wanted to signal that this is a fresh take on The Great War. We’re not making a documentary on The Great War. This is a fresh take. This is a take we’re applying our DICE flavours to the era and the setting. That’s really just a backdrop for what the game is in the end. The game should be awesome by itself. It just happens to be World War 1.”
Another focus of the trailer was the use of melee weapons, particularly the huge spiky stick and the bayonet. “They had all kinds of weird, bizarre and really brutal-looking melee weapons they used. Players will be able to choose from all of those.
They made their own and they utilised things that weren’t meant to be a melee weapon. Like most of these weapons, they came to be out of necessity. They created them out of necessity, which I think is cool. It’s a unique flavour.”
With horses, bi-planes and other vehicles rarely seen in an FPS, Battlefield 1 is already looking like a much needed fresh take on first person war games.
