Similar to its predecessors,
Battlefield 1 is a
first-person shooter game that emphasizes teamwork. It is set in the period of World War I, and is inspired by historical events. Players can make use of
World War I weapons, including
bolt-action rifles,
submachine guns,
automatic and
semi-automatic rifles,
artillery,
flamethrowers, and
poison gas to combat opponents.
Melee combat was reworked, with DICE introducing new
melee weapons such as
sabres,
trench clubs, and
shovels into the game. These melee weapons were divided into three groups: heavy, medium and light. Players can also take control of various armored vehicles, including
light tanks,
landships,
heavy tanks,
armored cars,
cars,
torpedo boats,
bi- and tri-plane aircraft,
armored trains,
reconnaissance vehicles,
dreadnoughts,
M-class zeppelins, as well as
ride horses to use in battle.
Destructible environments and weapon customization, features present in the previous games, returned in
Battlefield 1 and are more dynamic. The game's world designer, Daniel Berlin, said the campaign
mode has larger and more open environments than those in previous installments in the franchise, with more options and choices in terms of paths to completing levels and how to approach combat. Players can control several
characters in the campaign. If the player dies in the prologue, they will then take control of another
soldier and role instead of reloading from a
checkpoint. These roles can range from tank gunner to
rifleman. Unlike its predecessors, the game features a collection of war stories, similar to an
anthology. The game's multiplayer mode supports up to 64 players. The new squad system allows a group of players to enter and leave
game servers together. Multiplayer
maps are based on several fronts of WWI around the world, including the
Middle East, the
Western Front,
Gallipoli, and
the Alps. Further expansions introduced the
Eastern Front and
Russian Civil War, as well as
naval battles in the
North Sea. The game launched with nine maps and six modes, which include Conquest, Domination, Operations, Rush,
Team Deathmatch, and War Pigeons, a mode in which players must secure
war pigeons and use them to call for an artillery strike.
Multiplayer modes Battlefield 1s multiplayer mode features numerous game types seen in previous entries in the franchise, as well as new modes; •
Conquest: One of the standard game modes in the
Battlefield series. Teams capture objectives across the map, earning points based on the number of objectives they hold and eliminations they get. If a team is suffering from a major point deficit, a Behemoth-class vehicle (such as a
Zeppelin L 30, an
armoured train, a
Dreadnought, or a
Char 2C) becomes available for their use. •
Conquest Assault: similar to Conquest but one team starts with all objectives captured, and the other must take over all the objectives to win or surpass the number of points that the defending team has. •
Domination: a version of Conquest with a smaller map, no vehicles and only 3 control points. •
Rush: another standard game mode in the series, played between a defending and attacking team. An attacking team with a limited number of respawns must attempt to plant bombs in two
telegraph stations located within a sector of the map, while the defending team must protect the stations and defuse planted bombs before they explode. If the attackers are successful, their respawns are replenished and the defending team falls back to the next sector. The game ends if the defending team exhausts the attackers' respawn tickets, or the attacking team captures the final telegraph stations. Unlike Rush modes in previous
Battlefield games, the telegraph stations can also be used to call for artillery fire against the attackers. •
Operations: A new mode which takes place across multiple maps to simulate a campaign from the war. An attacking team controls a battalion with limited respawn tickets; similarly to Rush, they must progress across sectors of a map by capturing their control points. If the attacking team exhausts their tickets, they lose one of their three battalions, and must try again. If the attackers are successful, the teams move onto a different map. The attacking team wins if they successfully clear all maps without running out of battalions, while the defenders win if they eliminate all three of their opponents' battalions. The attacking team can be granted a Behemoth vehicle if they lose a battalion. Conversely, if the defending team lost all sectors in a map without costing the attacking team one battalion, they will be granted a behemoth to even the odds on the start of the next map in the operation campaign. •
Team Deathmatch: a standard game in which teams compete to reach a target number of kills, or the highest number of kills before time expires. •
War Pigeons: a new,
capture the flag-like mode in which two teams must attempt to capture a
messenger pigeon used to signal artillery fire. After the pigeon is captured, the player must be defended while they prepare the message to be sent, and the pigeon must be released outside. However, the opposing team can still shoot down the pigeon. The first team to successfully release 3 pigeons wins the game. •
Frontlines: A new mode added in the
They Shall Not Pass DLC, described as a "
tug of war" combining aspects of Operations and Rush. A map contains five control points along a linear path connecting the bases of the two teams. Beginning at the centre of the map, a team must progress towards their opponents' base by capturing each successive control point. If the point is captured by the opposing team instead, they are pushed back towards their own territory. If a team reaches their opponent's base, they must then destroy the two telegraph stations within to win the game. As in Rush, the defending team can use the telegraph stations to call for artillery fire. If the attacking team does not destroy both stations before they run out of tickets, they are pushed out and must capture the final objective again before they can make another attempt. •
Supply Drop: A new mode was added in the "In the Name of the Tsar" DLC, inspired by the vast areas of the Eastern Front in World War 1. In this game mode, teams fight over supply drops that provide various resources, including ammo, health, vehicles, and pickups for Elite classes. The team that captures more points wins. While ammo and health are more commonly found in the supply drops, vehicles and Elite class pickups are designed to give the attacking team an advantage, potentially turning the tide of battle. •
Air Assault: The newest multiplayer game mode, added as part of the
Apocalypse DLC. This game mode, only available on two maps, features "frantic dogfights" and centers on aerial combat. Each opposing vehicle destroyed gains your team points. On the map "Razor's Edge,", only single-seat planes are available, while in "London Calling", a wide variety of planes—and a zeppelin—are at each team's disposal. •
Shock Operations: A new mode added in the 2018 June Patch. Shock Operations are like Operations but instead these are shorter, faster with 40 players per server unlike normal 64 players per server and only play on one map. There are only five available maps in this game mode. These maps are called Giant's Shadow, Prise de Tahure, Lupkow Pass, Zeebrugge and River Somme. •
Back to Basic: A game mode in which you can only use standard-issue rifles as main weapon, all other weapon classes are disabled. The vehicles and elite kits are also unavailable.
Classes Battlefield 1s multiplayer features four main classes, three spawn-based vehicle classes, and five pick-up based Elite classes:
Infantry-based: •
Assault: The primary CQB/anti-vehicle class. Assault players have
submachine guns,
machine pistols, and
shotguns at their disposal. They contribute using explosives such as
dynamite or
anti-tank grenades to destroy vehicles such as tanks and armored vehicles. Their AA Rocket guns deal considerable damage to aircraft. •
Medic: The Medic class is primarily focused on reviving teammates and healing them. The primary weapons in this class area are
semi-automatic rifles, and some
fully automatic rifles. One semi-automatic rifle can also be used in bolt-action mode. •
Support: Support troops have access to
light-machine guns and semi-automatic carbines. In addition they have access to smaller explosive devices, such as
mortars,
limpet charges and crossbows which launch grenades. They also contribute to the team by replenishing their teammates' ammo and repairing stationary weapons and vehicles. •
Scout: Scouts use a variety of
bolt-action and
lever-action service rifles. The unique contribution to the team of the scout class is spotting enemies either by firing a
flare gun, which spots nearby enemies in the vicinity of the flare on all teammates' mini-map, or by using a
periscope, which makes spotted enemies' whole silhouette visible even through walls ("3D spotting").
Vehicle-based: •
Tanker: Players choosing to spawn into a tank automatically spawn as the tanker class. The class is new to the series, and features a hammer wrench that can repair allied vehicles and damage enemy vehicles, in addition to self-repairings. •
Pilot: Players who spawn into a plane automatically spawn as the pilot class. Outside of tanks and planes, tankers and pilots have access to
pistol carbines and a
sawed-off shotgun. •
Cavalry: Players who choose to spawn on a
horse spawn as the cavalry class. The cavalry class is equipped with a
cuirass granting them extra defense, a
Russian 1895 cavalry rifle, a cavalry
saber or a cavalry
lance as well as the ability to replenish health and ammo to both themselves, their horse and their teammates through the use of medical packs and ammunition packs.
Elite Classes: •
Flame Trooper Kit: Players who pick up the Flame Trooper Kit automatically equip a
Gas mask, a
Wex flamethrower, and three
Incendiary grenades. They are also equipped with a trench club. •
Sentry Kit: Players who pick up the Sentry Kit gain
plate armour and a
MG 08/15 or
Villar Perosa, as well one Frag grenade and a trench club. The plate armour includes a helmet which prevents headshots to the player, but leaves them unable to don a gas mask. •
Tank Hunter Kit: Players who pick up the Tank Hunter Kit equip both a
Mauser 1918 T-Gewehr, capable of doing massive amounts of damage to vehicles and infantry, and a
sawed-off shotgun. They also gain access to a
periscope and
Geballteladung anti-tank grenades. Furthermore, the player dons a respirator and goggles, granting them a permanent Gas Mask, while being able to aim down their sights without obscured vision. Their armor remains the same as that of a normal soldier. •
Trench Raider Kit: Players who pick up the Trench Raider Kit wield a
Trench Club that kills enemies in one hit, Smoke Grenades, a Medical crate, and a
No. 3 Revolver, and three Frag grenades. This kit is exclusive to the
They Shall Not Pass expansion. •
Infiltrator Kit: Players who pick up this kit receive a
Martini-Henry Grenade Launcher, a
sawed-off shotgun, a spawn beacon in the form of a
heliograph, and a
signal flare gun that calls in artillery strikes. The player's helmet is exchanged for a scuba mask, allowing them to swim further underwater than the average soldier, but (as with the Sentry) unable to don a gas mask. This elite class is exclusive to the
Turning Tides expansion. ==Campaigns==