World War I is to World War II the same way "Bad Boys" is to "Bad Boys 2." Not a lot of people talk about the original, even though it set the stage for a conflict everyone is familiar with.
Coincidentally, I have found myself recently fascinated with "The Great War" as a whole recently. If you’re interested in other "Great War" games, check out the free to play "Verdun" on the PC, or the Ubisoft title "Valiant Hearts: The Great War" on multiple platforms. On historic side, try beginning your research at "The Great War" YouTube channel, a chronological series that covers in depth reporting of the war and its progression.
It won't take you long to discover his war was horrible. Disease and artillery barrages fired from miles away took most of the lives lost. No room for heroism or intrepid acts of valor if a soldier plans on coming home in one piece.
How can a video game adaptation of such a static war fought over a century ago be successful?
"The Great War," as it was initially called, was an incredibly miserable conflict. It was marked by waves of men charging to their death for petty land gains, and outdated tactics against emerging modern weaponry.
We’re talking slow bolt action infantry weapons, trench clubs, prototype machine guns (sometimes one gun operated by a whole squad) alongside cavalry charges led officers of royal heritage. Not to mention gas! This war was the reason so many treaties were made prohibiting the use of gas in conventional warfare. It’s an indiscriminate killing force guided by whatever direction the wind blows. Also, gas masks are extremely uncomfortable and obscure your senses.
Not a lot of room for entertaining the masses with that kind of material.
How many "Great War" movies can you even name? I only know a few, and I’m more interested in this part of history than the average Joe.
Dice has answered the challenge for this untapped market.
The trailer showed a man clubbing another to death, a woman on a horse charging with a sword, and dogfights with planes looking like they were built by the Wright brothers. All of those scenarios hint at an experience where the player is much more vulnerable to the world around them.
The mechanics will no doubt be different from any other Battlefield game ever made. The melee system will need an overhaul, considering the wide range of rifle mounted bayonets, bludgeons, and spikes used in those battles. Luckily, Dice had a chance to explore some of these take-down mechanics in their latest release of “Battlefield: Hardline.” The tank shown in the trailer will also be a dramatic shift from the state-of the-art war machines gamers have been used to driving, and the complexity will likely demand more skill.
Honestly, I do not know how Dice is going to pull this off, but I sincerely hope they do. It was a bold move for "Call of Duty" to move away from the World War II theater. However, with the establishment of "Modern Warfare" in 2007, Infinity Ward reached unmatched success. This could be the start of a new and exciting franchise, sparking a new interest in a unique time in history. Or it could crash and burn and be used as an answer as to why no one else has pursued this topic.
I can’t wait to get my hands on it.
