Video game developer DICE writes a blog post explaining how the melee combat system works within its forthcoming first-person shooter Battlefield 1.
Since the release date for Battlefield 1 is a little more than a month away, the developers for the World War I shooter not only want fans to be excited for the upcoming title, but also wish to explicate as much as possible before Battlefield 1's launch. With this being the case, DICE recently published a blog post focusing on the FPS' melee weaponry and how the bludgeoning objects will be incorporated into the final version of the game now that its open beta has ended.
According to DICE, Battlefield 1's melee combat is set to be "deeper and more varied" than any of the previous entries in the shooter franchise. As a matter of fact, players should expect to wield more than just a single weapon when it comes to melee, for the developer has now revealed that there will be several different classes under the descriptions of knives, clubs, and bladed/specials.
Firstly, one melee move DICE plans on having in Battlefield 1 is the bayonet charge, which will have players sprinting for a few seconds toward their targets. Should it be properly executed, enemies won't have a chance to block. Plus, when performing a bayonet charge, soldiers will be faster and will take less gunfire damage. Interestingly enough, this move won't be completely foolproof, as the character yells mid-charge, alerting nearby players, and it adversely affects weapon recoil while also impeding how quickly one can get guns into a firing position.
DICE went on to explain that Battlefield 1's knife-based combat has progressed even more so since it was introduced in Battlefield 3. Regarding the matter, the developer wrote, "We also wanted to address feedback from earlier games, where players could get locked for some time when struggling for the knife before a frontal assault, so these types of struggles are removed from the game."
Aside from the bayonet charge and knife, the other melee weapons included in Battlefield 1 will be objects such as maces, hatchets, shovels, pickaxes, and even cavalry swords — some of which were featured in the game's reveal trailer. Furthermore, along with being divided into the aforementioned sub-sections, they will differ by how fast players can swing them, their deadliness, and the ease at which they can be used to "perform a brutal takedown." For instance, knives deal very little damage, but are speedy and can be used in rapid succession, while clubs deal "medium damage at medium speed," and the bladed/special melee weapons deal the most damage, but are the slowest.
As far as the progression with melee weapons in Battlefield 1 is concerned, when beginning the game, fans start with a plain club, shovel, and knife. Once players start gaining ranks within the multiplayer classes, better ones will unlock, including some that can cut barbed wire, destroy wooden barricades, or even inflict damage upon light vehicles. Taking all of this into consideration, it will be interesting to see if Battlefield 1's intricate take on melee with old-school weaponry will be able to give it the edge against its competition in the more futuristic Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare this fall.
Battlefield 1 is set to release on October 21, 2016 for PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.
Source: Battlefield (via GameSpot)