Photon Projector (Overwatch)

It’s fair to say that Overwatch (opens in new tab)‘s Symmetra is very much a fan of order and control, so it seems a little out of character for her to be using a weapon which holds the potential for unfathomable chaos. Her photon projector emits beams of elementary particles fizzing with electromagnetic radiation, allowing her to eat through enemies using the same energy which heats up her ready meals in the microwave. Even the slightest exposure to radioactivity can be catastrophic for a healthy human, even when seemingly contained by protective materials. There’s no telling how drastically the photon projector affects its user’s health in the long term, then, or even what it’s doing to anyone within the nearby vicinity. In short, shooting out giant balls of radioactive energy is a really irresponsible idea for a weapon, and I’ll bet it’s terrible for the environment too.

Crossbow (Half-Life 2)

A crossbow that fires super-heated, armour-piercing metal bars should be great fun. Even better is one which emits its red-hot iron ammunition with enough force to leave a bad guy’s corpse dangling like a wet sock from a washing line. Half-Life 2’s drawstring weapon of choice is both of these things and more, not least because it makes a deeply satisfying “thunk” noise whenever it fires. But there’s a caveat. The crossbow’s metal bolts are heated by an electrical charge from the under-slung battery pack, but the weapon’s frame is made of metal and wood. I’m no physicist, but I feel obliged to warn Mr. Freeman that either the electric jolt should shock the user enough to involuntarily hurl the weapon skyward, or the frame’s instantly heated temperature will see it permanently fused to their skeletal structure as soon as they open fire. Frankly, Gordon, as one of Black Mesa’s top scientists, you should really know better.

Ice Beam (Metroid Prime)

We’re led to believe that Samus’ ice beam weapon is supposedly cold enough to instantly freeze any target upon impact, encasing them in a thick layer of ice. But how exactly do these bullets manage to leave the gun’s chamber without freezing up its barrel along the way? Given that metal has particularly strong temperature conducting properties, using this thing should chill up Samus’ entire suit, or at least cool it to the point of a full-body brain freeze. Though it’s possible that the heat-insulating Varia Suit might also protect Samus from cold, that still leaves the outer-materials vulnerable to extreme changes in temperature. Consider, for instance, the effect on their integrity if Samus deploys her Ice Beam immediately after she’s unleashed an immense amount of heat via her flamethrower. I’m probably overanalysing this one more than Nintendo would like me to…

Lightning Guns (Various)

Whenever someone equates a near-impossible challenge to “capturing lightning in a bottle”, they’re speaking to an imperative truth. Electricity is one of energy’s most unpredictable participants, never more in its element when leaping from point to point like a frenzied ballerina. With this being considered, there’s certainly an element of plausibility to those lightning guns with shots that can chain onto other targets. But why should we presume that the user themselves are immune to the impact? Even assuming the gun itself is made of an electricity-resistant material, the average FPS hero’s extensive utility belt is sure as hell to be packing a lot of metal elsewhere. Bullets, for a start.

Dark Matter Gun (Quake 4)

I hate to be a buzzkill, but black holes really shouldn’t be used for the purposes of ammunition. You can’t throw it, and you probably shouldn’t throw it even if you could. It is made of gravity, after all. Quake 4’s example is even more egregious than the M-940 Blackstorm found in Mass Effect 2, as its featured “Dark Matter Gun” fires balls of energy which can pull any nearby objects into its throbbing epicentre. In Quake 4’s made-up universe, gravity apparently kicks in whenever you’re a safe distance apart from any reality-distorting disturbances. In the real world, the damn thing would yank your arm off as soon as you fired it.

Gravity Hammer (The Halo series)

It’s best we keep assuming that the natural forces of the universe are on our side, because that’s precisely what Halo’s gravity hammer does. Let’s ignore for a moment the absurdly top-heavy nature of the thing, which shows little regard for the laws of motion in its very design, and instead consider its damage output. The hammer generates a kinetic charge, the impact of which is a discharge powerful enough to knock a motor vehicle so far that, upon landing, the driver will need to learn a foreign language in order to ask anyone around what just happened. With those levels of damage, there’s no way that the shockwave would have no effect on the wielder. Conversely, those herculean downward strikes are fated to generate a kickback powerful enough to turn Master Chief’s shins into raspberry jam.

Peacemaker Carbine (Bulletstorm)

Under normal circumstances, the peacemaker appears as nothing more than a bog-standard assault rifle. Activate its alternate mode of fire, however, and the gun launches every single bullet in its clip as one deadly cluster. The resulting shot is so hot that it instantly sears enemies down to the skeleton, reducing their bones to barbecue fuel within seconds. Based on theories of thermodynamics and human physiology, we might logically conclude that this effect places the cluster’s temperature somewhere between volcanic and atom-splitting. The force of expelling such a shot, then, would do much more than make the weapon briefly glow, as it does in the game. Instead, I can only imagine that the thing would do nothing less than instantly explode, spewing molten metal all over protagonist’s Grayson Hunt’s smug face.

Experimental MIRV (Fallout 3)

Simply put, it’s a rocket launcher which fires mini nukes (emphasis on the plural there). I would warn that even one nuclear bomb is enough to flatten the user and fry their skin to a radioactive crisp, but dealing with eight? Now you’re just trying to show off. Unless you keep a vast amount of nuclear ordnance on your person at all times, then you might as well forget this thing being useful on a regular basis anyway, or even an irregular basis at that. An expensive, unwieldy weapon which is just as likely to kill you as it is the poor fella you’re pointing it at – you’re better off just stocking up on Nuka Cola. 

Energy Sword (The Halo series)

The problem with an infinitely sharp sabre of bone-cleaving electron gas is that you have to be really, really sure where the blade’s edges are at all times. Spontaneous combat with this thing – hell, even carrying it across a room – would be nigh-impossible without inadvertently leaving bits of one’s own thighs and knees behind on the floor. As for the fact that the blades encircle the user’s hand with about an inch to spare, how did that design flaw get past Covenant QA? This is to say nothing of the risk of hurriedly picking the hilt up from the wrong direction and slicing your arm off at the elbow the instant you fire up the blade. The fatality rate for Covenant military training programs using energy weapons must be sky high, not to mention the number of dropouts due to unintentional self-dismemberment.

2mm Kolibri (Battlefield 1)

This one isn’t so much a problem of overkill as it is one of underkill, if such a concept even exists. You can forget all about Yoda’s talk of “size matters not”, because the pathetic kolibri pistol from Battlefield 1 (opens in new tab) is living proof of precisely the opposite. Yes, it’s cute, travel-friendly and great for showing off at dinner parties, but it’s also totally ineffective as a military weapon, delivering about as much damage as a low-grade pea-shooter. The primary purpose of any weapon is that it needs to be, well, weaponised, but the kolibri barely even passes this foundational criteria. If you try sporting this dinky antique in the trenches of Battlefield 1, you’re a dead man walking. 

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But it’s not all poison gas and flamethrowers deep underground. Back on the surface, players will be able to take part in “massive French tank assaults” inspired by the Battle of Soissons near the end of the war. The new set of maps will show the push and pull over tactically significant bridges over the Aisne River, and it sounds like a new behemoth type might be on the way as well: “something big lurks around the village of Fismes”. Or maybe it’s another giant shark.

Here are some more pieces of concept art that should give you an idea of what DICE is going for with They Shall Not Pass (opens in new tab). You’ll want to wear your flame-retardant uniform.

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Melee weapons are a much bigger deal (opens in new tab) in Battlefield 1, and it looks like EA is leaning into that by letting players build their own. It does make me wonder if the melee weapons assembled with these parts will be more powerful than their vanilla cousins or if they’ll just look more exotic. Ooh, speaking of exotic, they could even have cryptic flavor text like in Destiny (opens in new tab)! “A jeweled shovel better suited for digging royal graves than our ignoble purposes.”

According to Battlefield 1’s official site (opens in new tab), you can earn Battlepacks by playing multiplayer matches, which is pretty standard. No mention was made of optional microtransactions to buy fat stacks of ‘packs, though that was an option for both 4 and Hardline, so I’d be surprised if it wasn’t one here. Especially since the Premium Pass (opens in new tab) comes with 14 of them.

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Fortunately for us, the ESRB (opens in new tab) doesn’t give a hoot about carefully crafted narrative reveals. The ratings board laid out four roles that players will take up in the single-player campaign: a “fighter pilot, armor crewman, rebel fighter, and message runner”. Cross referencing that info with everything else we already knew about Battlefield 1, here’s my bet for the historical heroes you’ll get to play as.

Battlefield 1’s armor crewman

This young man staring fondly at a tank is a pretty safe bet for our “armor crewman”. And it looks like that fellow standing on the top and shaking hands could be the seasoned tank expert to show him the ropes. Well, as seasoned as anybody could be with a piece of military technology that was invented just years beforehand.

Battlefield 1’s pilot

The handsome fellow in the dark scarf appears to be our fearless pilot, while his rounder companion is an aerial photographer. Airplanes were extensively used for reconnaissance in World War I so expect to do some scouting missions with this duo in Battlefield 1 – scouting missions that inevitably turn into desperate dogfights, naturally.

Battlefield 1’s rebel fighter

Both the woman and the man wearing keffiyeh get similar amounts of screen time. But I’d say the woman is likely the main character for Battlefield 1’s Arab Revolt missions, since she’s previously appeared in Battlefield 1 screenshots on horseback with saber aloft. The guy looks an awful lot like T.E. Lawrence (aka Lawrence of Arabia, the British emissary and adventurer) as well… Update: EA’s website (opens in new tab) confirms you’ll fight alongside Lawrence himself.

 Battlefield’s 1 messenger 

Here we have another dynamic duo who appear together multiple times throughout the trailer. They kind of look like younger and older versions of each other, right down to the hat. But ruling out any BioShock Infinite style dimensional manipulation, my money is on playing as the younger man. And I’m just spitballing here, but I’m pretty sure that means the wise old rough rider is going to perish tragically in the process of saving your life at some point.

Battlefield 1’s mysterious Hellfighter

Even though he’s the star of Battlefield 1’s box art, this striking Harlem Hellfighter only shows up very briefly at the end of the campaign trailer (also very briefly about 20 seconds before, where he’s loading his gun, and he could be the narrator). I wonder why he has such a small role in the trailer, and why he doesn’t seem to be referenced at all in the ESRB rating. Could his part of the campaign be a capstone for all the others, or perhaps the through line that connects it all? We’ll find out soon enough.

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Brit2 pays proper tribute to the best new feature of Battlefield 1: on-demand bayonet screaming.

Here’s trevroak (opens in new tab) narrowly avoiding death by recreating the opening scene from Star Wars.

Merkgruber4 (opens in new tab) knows the most powerful weapon is your enemy’s own curiosity.

GrouchyGrech (opens in new tab) discovered that this is how most people got around before seatbelt laws.

Esbenjd (opens in new tab) witnessed the literal collision of modern and archaic warfighting methods.

Mike804 (opens in new tab) was avenged by architecture’s most unpredictable killer: stairs.

USS_DJMarv12 bore witness to a strange, yet beautiful, victory celebration.

There’s nothing like a Battlefield beta for generating exhilarating and goofy moments in equal measure. I can’t wait to see the weird crap that happens once it opens up to the general public.

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The Battlefield 1 open beta will feature two modes set in the Sinai Desert map. Conquest mode will have 64 players battle for control of objectives littered across the map, with combatants able to fight on foot, in vehicles, or in the air. Rush scales things down to 24 players, split into two teams of Attackers and Defenders. Attackers will try to destroy the other team’s Telegraph Posts, while the Defenders will, of course, try to stop that from happening.

Still not sure if you want to participate? I suggest watching this Gamescom 2016 (opens in new tab) trailer. It certainly helped make up my mind: 

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Don’t miss out on anything by following all our Gamescom 2016 (opens in new tab) coverage all the news, previews and info from the show. Or, watch all the Gamescom trailers (opens in new tab).

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DICE is trying hard to make Battlefield 1 (opens in new tab)’s equipment and, er, battlefields look as historically authentic (opens in new tab) as possible. But chances are very slim that you ever actually saw any of the Great War in living color. Maybe that’s why, when game photography enthusiast berdu drained the color out of these carefully composed Battlefield 1 screenshots (on top of a few other subtle photo tricks), it started looking not just authentic but eerily real (opens in new tab).

Seriously, if you snuck a few of these pictures into the Powerpoint presentation for a World War 1 history lecture nobody would notice. Actually, if any teachers/professors/students want to give that a try, you should definitely drop us an email at the address below and let us know how it goes. Note: GamesRadar+ accepts no responsibility for failing grades, professional censure, or removal from tenure track status.

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