Battlefield 1 Video Discusses Changes to Melee Combat
By Derek Nichols 25 September 2016
YouTuber Westie discusses many of the new changes and features like the bayonet charge and weapon classes coming to melee combat when Battlefield 1 launches in October.
With less than a month to go before the highly anticipated Battlefield 1 arrives on store shelves, EA and DICE have begun to release a ton of new information about the game. Fans have gotten a good look at all the upcoming multiplayer modes and maps, and tomorrow the single player will finally be getting detailed. One of the many changes coming to the franchise is with hand to hand combat and while these games have always embraced stylish melee kills such as the knife take down from Battlefield 3, DICE is aiming to have the deepest and most varied hand to hand combat of any game in the series to date.
Considering the change in time frame to World War I where weapons and technology were not as advanced as they are now, DICE is placing a greater emphasis on melee combat using such tools as the bayonet, spiked club, and even the simple shovel. As DICE revealed last week, three new melee classes, each with their own strengths and weaknesses, will be available once Battlefield 1 launches later in October. YouTuber Westie has taken the detailed changes and new information to melee combat and analysed them a bit further through gameplay.
Of the three classes, the knife will be the one that most Battlefield veterans will instantly recognize. While it does the least amount of damage, it has the longest take down radius from the sides and back of enemies and is currently the fastest swiping weapon available. Club style weapons rest mostly in the middle, dealing moderate damage, a lower take down radius, and a slower swiping speed. Special melee weapons like the shovel or pick ax deal the highest level of damage but they are much slower and have a much smaller take down zone than the other melee class types.
These melee changes also have a number of effects on player characters as well. Thanks to the recent and very popular open beta test, players were also able to check out new melee mechanics such as the bayonet charge. Guns with a bayonet attachment will cause an increase in recoil and a very minor penalty to aiming after a sprint. The trade off here is that these players gain access to the bayonet charge, a new move where characters enter a semi-rage mode as they yell and sprint forward at an enemy with the goal of spearing and finishing them off. Even with a minor boost to damage resistance thanks to a rush of adrenaline, missing the target leaves players vulnerable to counter attack, placing this move squarely in the high risk/high reward category.
What do you think of the new changes come to melee? Are you a fan of the expanded focus for hand to hand combat, or do you prefer the old ways? Let us know what you think down in the comments below.
Battlefield 1 launches on October 21, 2016 for Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC.
Source: Westie YouTube Channel
