We have never had a AAA game that tackled the First World War- loads that did the Second World War (actually, not that long ago, the Second World War setting was as overplayed in shooters as the modern day setting is now- and the modern day setting was considered a breath of fresh air after that), but World War 1 remains virgin, uncharted waters.
That changes with this year’s Battlefield 1, where DICE will take the battle back to the original Great War- and when asked by GameReactor how authentic they hoped to be with this game (since because of its very nature, it is difficult to make an authentic game set in the World War, and have it be fun as well), DICE’s response was, surprisingly, that they would try to be as authentic as possible.
“We’re trying to stay true to it,” DICE Software Engineer / UX Designer Nathalie Ek said. “We want it to feel authentic and look authentic. We’re trying to stay true, with respect, of course.”
But what is the point? Especially since most people aren’t even familiar enough with the War to know when DICE are and are not staying true to it?
“But I think it’s part of it, even if people don’t know that much about it they will maybe learn something from it. It wasn’t that we need to do something that people know about, it was more ‘let’s teach them about this and make them curious, read up on it and find out more things about it.'”
Which is a stance I can certainly appreciate and respect- and which makes me even more excited to play Battlefield 1, and see how DICE have met this challenge.