First-person shooters are among the most popular genre of video games.
While there are many great titles to choose from,
there are an elite few that blast all others out of the water year after year!
With over a dozen successful mainstream releases and multiple amazing spin-offs,
one particular franchise is staking its claim to be the best first-person shooter series of all time.
This is the evolution of Battlefield!
The beginning of the Battlefield franchise can be traced back to DICE’s acquisition of Refraction Games in the year 2000.
DICE, or ‘Digital Illusions CE,’ is a Swedish video game developer
that bought Refraction Games after the latter’s successful release of the title, ‘Codename Eagle.’
That game, released in 1999,
was an open-world first-person shooter with vehicles the player could use to traverse air, land, and sea.
Codename Eagle is often referred to as the spiritual and technological precursor to the Battlefield Series,
as DICE inherited the Refraction engine that enabled them to build expansive maps and develop the vehicle warfare gameplay,
which remains a key part of Battlefield’s identity and success to this day.
Battlefield’s main competitor and long-time rival is, of course, Call of Duty.
While there are many obvious similarities between the franchises,
there are also clear differences in terms of style and gameplay.
A 2021 article on thegamer.com compared several aspects between the two
and ultimately determined that, while Call of Duty was a fast paced experience with a more rewarding multiplayer mode,
Battlefield offered larger-scale interactive environments with a wider variety of gameplay,
intense innovation, a more immersive soundtrack, and a stronger focus on teamwork.
This teamwork approach was evident in the very first installment of the series, Battlefield 1942.
Released in 2002 for PC, its arrival signaled a shift in FPS mentality.
Rather than just shooting the enemy, players were required to hold various "control points" around the map
while playing a multitude of different classes, each equipped for special roles.
The game was set during World War II and took place across various Pacific, European, and North African theaters.
With Allied and Axis forces pitted against each other,
there were five classes within each faction for gamers to get to grips with.
These were ‘Scout,’
‘Assault,
‘Anti-tank,’
‘Medic,’
and ‘Engineer.’
In-game maps were based on actual battles from the war, and on those maps, you could play a range of game modes,
such as Conquest,
Capture the Flag,
or Team Deathmatch,
all of which were centered around working as part of a team.
IGN awarded Battlefield 1942 its ‘Game of the Year’ award for its innovative approach, giving it 9.3 out of 10.
Metacritic, meanwhile, recorded an aggregate review score of 89.
2.5 million copies of the game were sold,
and despite having to overcome some technical issues, it was very well received by critics.
GameSpy called it
and described it as,
In March 2004, Battlefield took the fight to Vietnam.
Developed for Windows PC, Battlefield Vietnam was again based on real battles from history,
covering events that took place in the North and South of the country.
It featured many improvements over its predecessor,
providing players with a variety of weapons, traps, and vehicles from the Vietnam War era.
Radio music from the 1960s was also introduced in vehicles, as well as players now being able to fire from the passenger seat.
A new class system added more variety as the weapon kits looked and functioned according to the faction the player used.
This made the North and South Vietnamese armies feel unique and different, as well as the US Army and Viet Cong factions.
There were just 4 classes this time around,
those being Assault,
Engineer,
Heavy Assault,
and Scout.
However, each class had 2 loadouts compared to the singular loadouts for each class in Battlefield 1942.
Reviewers praised the improved graphics,
the game’s vast selection of maps, vehicles, and weapons, plus the online multiplayer.
However, the AI in the single-player game was deemed to be a bit dumb, to put it kindly!
In March 2005, the game was re-released under the name ‘Battlefield Vietnam: Redux.’
The newer version featured patches for the game, as well as new weapons, vehicles, and maps.
Metacritic gave it a score of 84,
and 1.4 million copies of the game were sold.
Fun Fact
A TV show based on the Battlefield games is being developed by Anonymous Content,
produced by EA and Paramount Television.
Executive Producer, Michael Sugar, has stated that
The next major release was Battlefield 2, which came out for PC in June 2005.
This was also the first installment in the series to take place in a modern fictional setting
and was also the first to use DICE’s improved Refractor 2 game engine.
Set during a global war around the year 2007,
it saw the United States and the European Union face off against China and its People's Liberation Army,
as well as the fictional Middle Eastern Coalition.
A single-player mode allowed players to play on multiplayer maps with bots on either Recruit, Veteran, or Expert difficulty.
The multiplayer featured twenty-one ranks.
It also introduced awards, such as Medals, Ribbons, and Badges
that are obtained by completing objectives that award experience points.
Seven different classes with their own unique roles were available to pick from,
namely; Assault,
Medic,
Anti-Tank,
Engineer,
Support,
Special Forces,
and Sniper.
Players could also take command of numerous vehicles in Battlefield 2,
all of which were based on real-life vehicles used by the militaries of various countries.
You could commandeer an M1A2 Abrams tank,
pilot a Knight Hawk helicopter, or captain a Rigid Inflatable Boat.
The availability and number of certain vehicles depended on the map,
and its size, in addition to the control points captured in-game.
DLC packs titled ‘Special Forces,’ ‘Euro Force,’ and ‘Armored Fury’ expanded the number of maps, weapons, and vehicles available,
thus prolonging the life and enjoyment of Battlefield 2.
The game received an impressive score of 91 and became the highest-rated Battlefield game of all time!
It also earned an ‘Editor's Choice Award’ from GameSpot.
The publication said,
2.3 million copies of the PC version were sold.
Fun Fact
Originally, there was supposed to be a set of falling kit parts; items such as helmets could be shot off.
A console spin-off titled ‘Battlefield 2: Modern Combat’ was released for the PlayStation 2,
Xbox, and Xbox 360 the same year.
It used the RenderWare video game engine and was considered a standalone expansion to the PC game.
Modern Combat was supposed to be multiplayer only, but DICE decided to also add a single-player campaign.
It didn’t fare as well with critics, though, registering a much lower score of 80 compared to 91 of the original.
1.6 million copies of Modern Combat were sold,
and it was still considered a decent console debut for the franchise overall.
PC users got their next taste of action in October 2006, with the release of Battlefield 2142.
It was set in an "ice age" period of Earth in the 22nd century,
where the Pan-Asian Coalition and European Union forces
were at war over the remaining pieces of habitable land in North Africa and the Middle East.
Notably, it was the first game in the Battlefield series to not include the United States as a playable faction.
There was a new game mode called Titan, and despite only being able to choose from 4 different classes,
there was a wealth of futuristic weapons and vehicles to play with.
Squad leaders could even equip themselves with an SD-8 Accipiter sentry drone!
Downloadable content titled Northern Strike extended the fun,
adding 10 unlocks, 3 maps, 2 new vehicles, and a new game mode called Assault Lines.
The DLC came out in 2007 and was later offered for free.
In spite of all the additional content, Battlefield 2142 sold the least amount of copies by far,
selling just 220,000 units.
It still received favorable reviews with a Metacritic score of 80.
CPUGamer, who gave a score of 6.5, said,
Well, fans of the growing franchise wouldn’t have to wait long for a shake-up of the series.
The hotly-anticipated Battlefield: Bad Company hit store shelves for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 owners in June 2008.
Showcasing the new Frostbite game engine,
the game took a leap forward in terms of better graphics, sounds, and realism, including destructible environments.
The setting for the game was the ‘near future.’ For the first time, it featured a war between the United States and Russia,
mainly taking place in the fictional country of Serdaristan.
The so-called Bad Company was a gathering of "all the insubordinates,
hell-raisers and troublemakers that won't fit in any other unit" in the US Army.
Rather than playing the good soldiers,
the members of Bad Company set their sights on collecting enough gold to become rich beyond their wildest dreams.
Battlefield: Bad Company's multiplayer could support up to 24 players.
Maintaining a focus on large-scale vehicle warfare with a variety of maps, weapons, and vehicles.
All maps were almost completely destructible and drastically changed over the course of a match.
Interestingly, it was the only Battlefield game not to initially feature a Conquest mode in its multiplayer
because DICE wanted to promote their new Gold Rush game mode.
Conquest was later added in a free patch, along with new multiplayer maps based on single-player levels.
Players could climb through 25 ranks online with unlock points available to spend on weapons or gadgets.
Trophies, Patches, and Wildcards made up the awards and were earned by completing specific tasks.
Classes were revised to be made up of Assault,
Demolition,
Recon,
Specialist, and
Support soldiers.
Overall, Bad Company was a commercial and critical success, with 2.6 million copies sold.
It received high praise for its deformable environments, large maps,
high-quality audio, humorous characters in the single-player mode, and diverse array of vehicles.
Metacritic calculated a score of 84 for the game.
IGN, who gave an 8.6 out of 10, noted,
Fun Fact
If the storyline of Battlefield Bad Company seems familiar to you,
that may be because it’s based on the 1999 satirical war movie, Three Kings,
starring George Clooney, Mark Wahlberg, and Ice Cube.
The seventh installment in the Battlefield Series was a free-to-play game developed by both DICE
and Easy Studios named Battlefield Heroes.
Launched in June 2009, it was the first to use EA's "Play4Free" service.
With its fun cartoon-style graphics, customized matchmaking,
and non-stop action, the game catered to players of all skill levels.
It was developed to run on all kinds of computers so that everyone, regardless of their PC setup, could enjoy the game.
Gamers could pay to buy certain weapons and customizations if they wished.
As for the game’s plot, it’s a parody of World War II, revolving around the Royal and National Armies,
both of which are based on British, American, and German soldiers.
Once, great friends, the Royal Nation, accused the National Homeland of cheating during track cycling contest in the Olympics.
In response, the Nationals made fun of the Royal King's mustache,
resulting in the Royals declaring war against the Nationals.
The core gameplay was familiar to Battlefield regulars but introduced its own unique elements.
A matchmaking service made for a more even playing ground,
and unlike previous installments, the game was in third-person view.
Players could create their own "hero,"
choose a faction and a class, either Commando, Gunner, or Soldier.
Using Play4Free Funds,
gamers could acquire items to alter their hero's appearance and their weapons, gadgets, and special abilities.
Metacritic scored Battlefield Heroes a 69 out of 100,
but the game was wildly popular online.
In 2011, it was announced that 7 million users had registered.
Unfortunately, it’s now too late to join, as all servers were shut down on July 14, 2015.
Many felt it was ahead of its time when Fortnite became incredibly popular just two years later.
Fun Fact
In 2011, a hacker group LulzSec announced they were able to hack into Battlefield Heroes
and steal the passwords of 550,000 users.
As a result, the Battlefield Heroes website was taken offline for further investigation.
Luckily for the players, all accounts were restored.
Battlefield 1943 was a digitally distributed title that was available to download on Xbox 360 and PlayStation as of July 2009.
It was the first in the series to use the upgraded 1.5 Frostbite engine,
improving upon destructible environments and allowing entire buildings to be destroyed.
Set against the backdrop of World War II,
it cast players as either Marines with the United States Marine Corps or soldiers in the Imperial Japanese Navy.
Up to 24 players could engage online in three different maps:
Wake Island, Guadalcanal, and Iwo Jima.
After all, players had collectively reached 43 million kills,
they received access to an additional map, too, Coral Sea.
Gamers could take up one of three classes, either Rifleman,
Scout,
or Infantry,
and they could drive or pilot a jeep,
a landing craft, a tank,
or an airplane specific to their faction.
Two game types were available,
Conquest and Air Superiority.
A new feature called the bombing run allowed players to directly control three medium bomber airplanes
to conduct a Carpet Bombing of an enemy-controlled area.
Battlefield 1943 was warmly welcomed by reviewers,
with GameSpot giving it an 8 out of 10 and explaining,
On Metacritic, the game holds a score of 84.
Battlefield 1943 became the fastest-selling download-only game after its first week
and was the top-selling Xbox Live Arcade game of 2009.
In total, it was sold 3.6 million times!
In the next episode, we’ll discuss some of the most exciting Battlefield games ever released.
Click the video onscreen to continue watching the evolution of Battlefield.