Revisiting Battlefield 1 in 2022

I played a few rounds of Battlefield 1 today. It was a great experience. It got me thinking, how did DICE go from making a game as good as Battlefield 1, and follow that up with Battlefield V and Battlefield 2042?

A pristine looking Arisaka rifle

Weapon has cosmetic degradation as the round progresses

Fantastic atmosphere

The atmosphere, maps, weapons in Battlefield 1 were so good. It really makes me wonder how things went so wrong with the franchise. DICE had the perfect formula. There was no reason to make sweeping changes across the board, there was no reason to reinvent the wheel, and most importantly, there was no reason to subject us to their political agenda in the name of being on "right side of history".

If they focused on making a good game, and not have contempt for their player base, we wouldn't be in this situation. Battlefield V is the worst Battlefield game I have ever played. Everything about the game was offensive to me, and I am not talking about the liberties they took with history. The mechanics, the weapons, the vehicles were all poorly implemented. Its baffling. They had the perfect game in Battlefield 1. All they had to do was fix minor bug, change some of the UI elements, and make a WWII game with the existing technology. That's it. I simply do not understand how they failed at it.

But coming back to Battlefield 1, going back to it now, it is a real treat. I thoroughly recommend this game to anyone wanting to try Battlefield. It frequently goes on sale, and its available on Steam.

Here is a video I uploaded in 2018 before the release of Battlefield V. I had such high hopes for it, but it wasn't meant to be.

As I look back, its rather sad. Will Battlefield 2042 survive another year? Will the next Battlefield ever recapture the magic of the Battlefield 4 and Battlefield 1? We shall see.