Battlefield 1 – Turning Tides Review

Hi, this is aabicus with the SPUF of Legend! Battlefield 1 came out with the second half of the Turning Tides DLC earlier this month, and I’m loving every single part of it. Now I need to mention a few qualifiers just to be fair: I didn’t try out any of the new guns because they take a lot of time to unlock and I’m playing on a friend’s account (speaking of which, special thanks to Yessirreebirb for letting me use his account again), where was I oh yeah he’s saving up his warbonds for something else so I mostly can only speak about the maps. But let’s be honest, I get like 1 kill every seven rounds, I’m too busy reviving people with the Syringe, chucking medkits, and oh yeah swimming around like a Pyroshark because the two new maps are the most aquatic maps Battlefield 1 has ever seen! Heligoland Bight takes place on the shores of a German archipelago bordering the North Sea, and both sides immediately spawn with a Dreadnought and a bunch of ships and planes, leading to some insane three-dimensional shootouts. I really enjoyed this map’s emphasis on beach warfare, with the attacking side being forced to constantly abandon the safety of their boats and push upward into the heavily-defended control points on shore, and the rocky bluffs provided decent enough cover from the airplane barrages, but not enough where you’d start feeling complacent in your position’s security. But my personal favorite of the two maps is definitely Zeebrugge, which takes place almost entirely around a massive Royal Navy Ship, leading to intense close-range combat and plenty of opportunities to flank enemy forces by jumping into the ocean. All the things that you love about Battlefield 1 are still present, but the naval element adds a whole new dimension that keeps the experience feeling really fresh. Not to mention it really makes it stand out from other military shooters, because I can’t think of any other games with this level of naval infantry combat. I was really nervous this wasn’t going to live up to the legacy of the Naval Strike DLC from Battlefield 4, which similarly reintroduced naval combat to a title that was otherwise lacking in it, but now I can finally say, after playing Turning Tides, that it’s an equally successful game changer that revitalized my interest in the title.

Speaking of DLCs, I wanted to take this opportunity to speak my thoughts about the model Dice has decided to adopt for the Battlefield 1 Premium Pass, since Yessirreebirb and I bought the premium pass specifically to get Turning Tides. I was pleasantly surprised when I learned that our purchase brought along all the other DLCs and there’s actually no way to even buy them separately. You either have all the DLC, or just have the base game, which I think is a great compromise for keeping the community all in one place. A typical problem with map-pack-style DLCs, like those Battlefield have always used, are how quickly the DLC maps tend to lose playerbases as new DLC come out and players move onto other titles altogether. By bundling all the DLC together, DICE ensures that gamers like me who bought in for the most recent DLC will be breathing new life into all the old DLC maps as well. furthermore, their prices have grown really respectable, I didn’t feel bad at all paying only $15 for the Premium pass since it came with so many maps, weapons, weapon skins, and playable armies. Is it the perfect model, no, but it’s a step in the right direction.

So in conclusion, as I sure you’ve figured out, I’m immensely satisfied with the Turning Tides DLC, and with Battlefield 1 as a whole. Thank you for listening, and as always, this is aabicus with the SPUF of Legend, have a great day.