STACK October 2016 Issue 144

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One of the most anticipated games of the year releases this month.
Battlefield 1
takes the revered series back to the FirstWorldWar. Lead world games designer
Daniel Berlin spoke with Paul Jones.
There wouldn't have been many people
that picked World War One as the next
Battlefield setting. We certainly didn't.
Most people associate the conflict with Gallipoli,
trenches, mud, barbed wire and poignant soldier
poetry, but does it really make a good platform
for a first-person shooter that would appeal to a
modern gaming demographic? As the name of
the war suggests, this was a true global conflict
and the further you study it, the more apparent
it becomes that it’s indeed an era ripe for a
developer like DICE to explore. And that’s exactly
what they did.
According to lead world game designer,
Daniel Berlin, the genesis for the project came
from two men in particular at the studio:
Creative director Stefan Strandberg and designer
Martin Kopparhed.
“These guys are extremely passionate in
regards to the WW1 setting, and they are the
ones that built the concept and eventually
proved that this was not only a good fit, but
a great fit for the future of the franchise," he
explains.
“Through the project these two guys have
guided the team towards authenticity; it’s not an
understatement to say that doing a Battlefield
game within the WW1 setting is a true passion
project for us here at DICE Stockholm.”
The choice of the First World War is an
interesting and exciting prospect, but the game
still had to align with the studio’s expectations of
what makes a compelling Battlefield title. While
it must have been tempting to continue with the
successful contemporary themes from BF3 and
4, you have to applaud the studio for attempting
something completely different.
“It’s always a tricky thing trying to figure out
what the next Battlefield should be,” Berlin says.
“We have certain core pillars that we feel we
must deliver upon: A team-play focused core
History Makers
Doing a Battlefield
game within the
WW1 setting is a true
passion project
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56 OCTOBER 2016
GAMES
FEATURE