Coming from the Turing Test which was Bulkhead Interactive’s previous title – Battalion 1944 is a massive shift from what you’d expect from a developer experienced in first person puzzle games. While Battalion 1944 may just look like another shooter title on the surface, the game screams nostalgia with it’s classic FPS gameplay that reminisces games like Medal of Honor and earlier Call of Duty’s. With a massive focus on the competitive side – Battalion 1944 could possibly be the next shooter to take on the esports world.
It’s no secret that Battalion 1944 feels like what Call of Duty used to be like. From the movement to combat – dropshots, no scopes and ridiculous kills, the game is something die-hard fans wanted from Activision for many years but was never achieved. While Call of Duty went back to it’s roots of WW2 in 2017, the game is still stuck in the future forgetting what truly made the series great. Bulkhead Interactive really did their homework with what the consumer wants. You can see this in their roadmap promising players especially those on PC – a platform often forgotten today with shooters that they’ll deliver key features that major developers and publishers often miss.
Battalion 1944 roadmap showcases what the company is aiming for the rest of 2018. While the game is still in early access, very in early in fact – they’re relying on the community to help shape the game’s future. Many shooters have succeeded in bouncing feedback back and forth like Rainbow Six Siege which gradually developed their title into a successful shooter. The roadmap shows lots of promise especially for the esports side of things.The game has launched with dedicated server support which is an important feature that lots of developers/publishers forget for a shooter title on PC. Competitive gamers (even casuals) hate peer-to-peer hosting and it’s never something that works especially if you’re pushing a competitive edge for the game – however Bulkhead has addressed this day one by allowing players the freedom to join and hire their own dedicated servers. This feature is great for the community as well to build an esports competitive side to the game. This allows companies to host their own tournaments allowing the ecosystem for the game to grow naturally rather than restricting it.
Bulkhead are really keen to jump into esports side of things when the game comes out of Early Access which is targeted at Q2 2018. The roadmap showcases a competitive map coming in the works and the first official LAN tournament for the game. Studio lead, Joe Brammer has already tweeted a photo of him visiting ESL UK planning something in the pipeline with the massive esports organisation. Locally, we’ve seen CyberGamer already promoting an open ladder with over 260 players registered, 25 complete teams with 52 others registered awaiting full rosters.
Speaking to Matthew ‘Judge’ Brand; CyberGamer‘s Commercial Manager, he mentioned that “CyberGamer is proud to be working directly with Bulkhead Interactive in developing esports not only in ANZ, but also in EU and NA. This game was developed to bring FPS esports back to its roots of titles like Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare – where quick reaction times and precision movement rewarded the upper echelon of players. The title has great potential as an esports mainstay, as in my personal opinion Bulkhead have been one of the most active developers with regard to launching an early access title that I have ever seen. Quite simply – they get it.”
We know that the dev team is also working with ESL UK as their tweets have shown, and we are excited for what both ESL and CG can develop as the esports landscape for this title.”
While the game a little rough around the edges, it’s only in the Early Access stage and with what the developers have already pushed so far – Battalion 1944 is looking promising. If you give the tools needed to make your game grow, then it will grow and I can see Battalion 1944 a title to look for in the next line-up of esports titles.
Battalion 1944 Early Access is available now on PC via Steam. The game is due to come out on PS4 and Xbox One as well.