They Shall Not Pass

[Guest RET.SSG.Fire56=US=]

The new DLC for Battlefield 1 has released for everyone that doesn’t have premium. They Shall Not Pass is the theme and it introduces the French Army. A short side note for history here, when you think about the French Army, they typically are remembered for the abysmal defense in WWII,in the Great War however things were different. The French Army held the Germans until British reinforcements arrived, no small feat. So back to the game, while this author has played a few rounds of the new maps, I wanted to give my first impressions of the maps and game play.

 

Verdun Heights

This map is a rendition of the infamous Battle of Verdun. An almost year long engagement was opened up by an artillery barrage that turned a forest into scared flaming wasteland. And this is what the map looks like in the game. With a valley running thru the middle of the map and points hills running along the sides, this map played like a back and forth for the high ground. The C objective in conquest is surrounded by hills but a church offers protection if you can get to it in one piece. No planes, tanks, or cavalry makes this map pure infantry game play. Some people may be put off by that however, I found it nice not having to worry about tanks and bombers. With two good teams Verdun Heights will force each team to fight for every inch of progress.

 

Fort De Vaux

This map is a fantastic rendition of the second French fort to fall in the Battle of Verdun. Fort De Vaux is an interesting mix of tight narrow corridors of the fort, and some open spaces to maneuver around the different objectives. While this has a “Metro” feel to it, it is an assault players paradise. Just with Verdun Heights, no tanks, planes, or cavalry. However, plenty of Automatico and shotgun’s to go around. This is one of those maps that will take me some time to learn, plenty of hiding spaces, close gunfights, but no real huge choke points like Metro has.

 

Soissons

This map features a beautiful country side to be utterly destroyed by infantry, tanks, planes, and Calvary. With plenty of hills and open spaces decent coverage for infantry to move around, and roads to move tanks around. This map has little bit of everything for everyone. However, the behemoth on this map is a tank. A large slow moving hard to kill tank. Considering this map is based on the largest tank assault of the war, it seems fitting that the Char 2c is the behemoth.

 

Rupture

This last map represents an early battle in the war, taking place right after the First Battle of the Marne. This map has the same rolling countryside as Soissons with a bit more trenches, and bunkers to use. The map features a huge artillery piece that can be player controlled after certain events during a match. At the time of this writing I have yet to get behind the controls, however I have been on the receiving end of this beast, and I can tell you it isn’t pleasant. The objectives on this map are spaced out and forces infantry players to maneuver around to avoid being caught in the open.

 

 

The Conclusion

http://imgur.com/a/5gDc3',right[/img]Battlefield 1 has more depth now with these new maps. The game play is tight, well-rounded, and the two infantry only maps are actually nice to play (even the shotgun spam of Fort De Vaux). Trench warfare is actually a theme with these maps. They Shall Not Pass is a fantastic DLC addition to the Battlefield franchise. I can only hope the rest of the DLC is as nice, only time will tell. One thing that I have avoided is the new weapons, Dice have chosen to bring back assignments for weapon unlocks. This really is a step better than the war bond system used to “unlock” current guns.

[Guest CrashDummy]

Kudos Sgt! Very well written and accurate description of the latest DLC. I too love the infantry only maps.