Additionally, the game offers multiplayer gameplay marked by large-scale ground battles and intense aerial dogfights.
[12] The game's world designer, Daniel Berlin, said the campaign mode has larger and more open environments than those in previous installments in the franchise, with more options and choices in terms of paths to completing levels and how to approach combat.
Unlike previous campaigns in the series, Battlefield 1's single-player story mode is composed of six separate "War Stories", each shown through the eyes of separate Allied soldiers from different nationalities: The prologue, set in 1918, sees players take control of different members of the Harlem Hellfighters as they defend their positions against a German offensive in France during the Meuse–Argonne offensive.
If the player survives the attack, an artillery barrage will rain down on them and then the game's perspective will shift to another soldier, who is manning a Vickers machine gun.
Set in the Autumn of 1918 during the Battle of Cambrai in the Hundred Days Offensive, players assume the role of Daniel Edwards, a former chauffeur who enlists in the war as a British tank driver.
The crew must penetrate German lines to reach the French town of Cambrai and help capture strategic positions and destroy artillery batteries.
In this story, set in the Spring of 1917 during the Battle of Arras players control Clyde Blackburn, an American pilot and gambler with a habit of deceitful behavior.
Early on, Blackburn cheats George Rackham, a pilot of British nobility, in a game of cards and steals the latter's Bristol F.2.
Although Wilson is reluctant to show the photos to British Command out of fears of being accused of insubordination, Blackburn cajoles him into doing so with the prospect of winning medals.
He notes that mixed accounts of his exploits may arise due to the confusing nature of the war, but suggests that his version of events is the truth.
Taking place during the autumn of 1918, on the Italian front in the Dolomites of Northern Italy, players assume the role of Luca Vincenzo Cocchiola, a member of the Arditi unit.
Set during the Gallipoli Campaign of 1915, the player takes on the role of Australian messenger and Second Boer War veteran, Frederick Bishop.
Bishop finds the rear CP deserted, and discovers that the British intend to retreat and cover the withdrawal with artillery fire.
Bishop attacks the fort to cover the withdrawal, but tells Foster to fire a flare when the retreat is completed so that the former can make his own escape.
Closing subtitles state that the Ottomans eventually won the Battle at Gallipoli, and several notable survivors went on to found a new postwar Republic of Turkey.
The closing subtitles indicate that although the Ottomans lost the war, the Allies refused to grant the Arabs full autonomy and that conflicts in the region continue into the 21st century.
[25] According to creative director Lars Gustavsson, the setting was a concept for a very long time, and it had been the "dream" for the team to create a game based on that period.
[27] Patrick Söderlund, the executive at Electronic Arts responsible for overseeing DICE, originally rejected the idea of having a World War One shooter as he thought that it would not be fun to play.
Despite his personal penchant for colored visuals, his self ascribed "big inspiration" was Blueprint for Armageddon, a six-part audio documentary by Dan Carlin for the latter's Hardcore History podcast series.
[30] In January 2016, EA announced that Titanfall 2, Mass Effect: Andromeda and an unannounced video game set in the Battlefield universe would be released prior to the end of the company's fiscal year.
[34][35] The game's Collector's Edition includes items such as a statue of a Harlem Hellfighter, a code for exclusive downloadable content (DLC) of the Doughboy M1911 Pistol, and a Steelbook case.
[36] Pre-order bonuses include early access to a DLC map named Giant's Shadow which takes place in the Battle of the Selle, and the Harlem Hellfighter Pack.
[39] The open beta allowed the team to ensure that major technical bugs, glitches, and crashes can be patched prior to the game's official launch.
[41] In December 2016, DICE announced the first major expansion for Battlefield 1, They Shall Not Pass, which was released on March 14, 2017, with a two-week exclusivity period for Premium holders.
The cover art for this downloadable content expansion features Vendela Lindblom, the Playmate of the Month for the January 2019 issue of Playboy, as a female soldier.
DICE released the first half of the expansion to Premium Pass holders on December 11, 2017, containing 2 maps set during the Gallipoli Campaign: Achi Baba and Cape Helles.
This expansion adds six new infantry weapons to the game, as well as a new "Infiltrator" elite class, which is equipped with a heliograph spawn beacon gadget, signal flare gun, and the Martini-Henry Grenade Launcher.
For the second half of the expansion, released on January 30, 2018, Turning Tides: North Sea brought more locations involving naval warfare from the Great War.
[47] The three infantry-based maps of Apocalypse reflect three of the bloodiest battles of World War I; Caporetto set in present-day Slovenia, Passchendaele in Belgium, and River Somme in France.
DICE and the Battlefield team also added a number of other components to the game, including vehicles, gadgets for various infantry classes, and the stationary Livens Projector/Gaswurfminen, located on each of the three infantry-based maps.