Battlefield 1 makes it a point to look at the Great War from a variety of perspectives. “Through Mud and Blood” focuses on a British Mk. V tank crew before shifting to a very unlikely point of view. You can view the whole scene below, as captured by MathChief.
The single player mission recounts the 1918 Battle of Cambrai, as seen through the eyes of a chauffeur turned tank operator named Edwards. Driving a tank towards Cambrai, Edwards and his crew destroy field gun positions before getting caught in the mud. Trapped and surrounded by the enemy, the crew releases a messenger pigeon to signal for help.
You control the pigeon in a brief sequence and sail over the battlefield. The moment gives a very stark sense of the war’s scale. Trenches and scorched earth extend for kilometres. To some extent, the cynic in me wants to dismiss the sequence as overly maudlin, but it feels suitably effective in the moment.
I continue to approach Battlefield 1 with some scepticism but the campaign has largely surprised me with its emotional substance. The opening sequence was refreshingly brutal in its depiction of war. It remains to be seen how the rest of the campaign composes itself, but this bird’s eye view of the war was definitely memorable.
Comments
5 responses to “Battlefield 1 Lets You Play As A Pigeon”
Press X to pay respect to quality gaming.
Also the signal was to fire on their position not for help. That was the whole point of the argument.
Someones cutting onions in the office again >_<
I didn’t read the article but I’m not too impressed that the title contained a very minute spoiler, perhaps you might consider changing this Heather? Cheers
Reminds me of Operation Flashpoint. If the option was activated on the mission then when you died you would become a seagull. You could then fly over the battle and watch on. It was great.
Gee thanks for the spoiler. Especially when the title and picture says it all. I guess now I know the thing other RESPECTFUL people have been alluding to for the last few days. So many thanks. Grrr.