Battlefield 1‘s first expansion, They Shall Not Pass, is just around the corner. It’s not about 32 Gandalfs fighting 32 Balrogs for 32 eternities, unfortunately, and instead focuses on the long-awaited French army.
The expansion introduces the French army with four maps set on the Western front of World War 1. Fort de Vaux is a close-quarters-focused map with intimidating forts and plenty of trenches, Soissons is green, open, and great for vehicles, Rupture is dotted with red flowers and bloody bunkers, and Verdun Heights — easily the most immediately arresting map — is a series of sloping hills that are on fire.
Two new operations accompany the maps: The Devil’s Anvil, which is all about getting up-close and uncomfortably personal, and Beyond The Marne, which is a tank-centric vehicle-fest. I got to try them during a recent event at EA’s Redwood City, CA studio, and they’re both chaotic fun.
Beyond The Marne is about what you’d expect from tanks and planes colliding on verdant hillsides, but The Devil’s Anvil is more subtly impressive. Hunkering down with your squad in some bombed out ditch as smoke and inevitability closes in all around you, and you know you’re about to get skewered from all sides, but you’re gonna give ’em hell anyway — it’s thrilling. Devil’s Anvil exceeds at creating great moments before Moments, sights and sounds that signal shit is about to go down, and it’s gonna be ugly.
There’s also a new game mode, Frontlines, that mixes Conquest and Rush. Then, of course, there are a handful of new vehicles and weapons, as well as a new elite class, the club-wielding Trench Raider.
It’s a decently sizable package, and there’s a lot of variety in the maps and operations. It will be out on March 28 for regular folks and March 14 if you’re a dedicated BattleFan (TM) who spent BattleBucks (TM) to buy a BattlePass (TM).
Here are some pictures:
Comments
16 responses to “What To Expect From Battlefield 1’s First Expansion”
Picked up Battlefield 1 and Titanfall 2 for $64 last week digitally….
Was that on XBL? I saw that deal last week and was like…. “DAMN! THAT’S A GOOD DEAL!”
Unfortunately I already own Battlefield and it’s so good that I don’t have time to play Titanfall 2, so it made no sense for me to take it.
Those are some great games for that price though.
I think Titanfall 2 by itself was about $35, which is also pretty good. But, like you, I don’t really have time for it and BF1 is already meeting my multiplayer needs.
Yep. Poor Titanfall, I loved the first game and in any other year for the past decade I would have lapped up the sequel.
I just don’t play that many shooters and Battlefield is great. Can’t justify playing two at once….
Yep same here. Utter stupidity on EA’s part to release them so close together. Should have held Titanfall back until this year – they could alternate between BF and Titanfall each year rather than having a single annual shooter franchise like COD.
It’s funny because last year’s COD seems as underwhelming as they have been for a while. I’ve never been a huge fan of the series but I downloaded the 2016 game (I can’t even remember their names anymore) during a free trial weekend and it did nothing at all for me.
EA gets the opportunity and shoots itself in the foot by cannibalising its own market! Normally it’d be funny to see one of those big companies harm itself by releasing two “samey” shooters, but in this case both games are actually interesting and deserving of success in their own right.
It’ll be interesting to see if they can improve significantly on next year’s Star Wars Battlefront (I think they’ve announced one… either way I expect one) or there’ll be a gaping hole EA could have filled with something as good as Titanfall 2.
I think the new Battlefront is this year. Maybe Titanfall 2 could have fit in mid-year rather than being a Xmas game.
Yeah…. The only bad thing is I suck FPS on controller…
But my PC is aging so I went with the less hassle version.
SO Titanfall 2, BF1 and FIFA17 for $92. Learning to wait although always a risk with online shooters.
Can’t wait!! Battlefield 1 just gets better and better, they really out did themselves with this version.
Come join in on the crazy chaotic fun on PC!
If SW: Battlefront has shown us anything it’s that this kind of DLC format does not work for large multiplayer games. All it does is splinter the community and causes DLC maps to have a short life.
I have no problem with additional paid content, but all new maps should be free.
Yeah, I bought the season pass for BF3 and BF4, but never got my money’s worth out of it. People play the new maps for a week or two then everyone goes back to the original maps and you can’t find a game on the expansion ones.
I’ll just go play something else for a couple of weeks when a DLC pack gets released then come back once everyone goes back to the originals.
Is BF1 healthy? I love BF1 but have stopped playing because of overwatch. I’m tempted to buy the season pass but not if its dying
Around 8+ full servers of 64 players most nights, plus numerous smaller number servers with 25 player game modes. Definitely going strong.
Certainly no shortage of players on PS4 where I play it. I assume the other platforms would be similar.
Yeah I’m on Ps4, I had the pass for Bf4 and i got it quite late but it was still great
I’m just surprised including the French in a game about ww1 didn’t happen in the first place.
Edit: spelling