Is Battlefield 1’s ‘They Shall Not Pass’ DLC Worth the Money?

I am a huge world war fanatic. Since I was a young boy, I have been obsessed with anything war related, especially WW1 and WW2, so you can imagine my excitement when DICE finally announced Battlefield 1: their mature take on the Great War. The game came at a time where we needed a historical world war shooter. They saw the gap and seized it and, by god, am I glad they did. I am not proud to admit I have sunk nearly 240 hours into the game prior to any DLC, and ‘They Shall Not Pass’ may see me hit the 300 hour mark.

‘They Shall Not Pass’ is the first of four expansions that DICE plan on releasing. This expansion introduces the French Republic army and focuses around the conflicts that took place on the armies homeland during WW1. The expansion adds four new maps: Rapture, Verdun Heights, Fort De Vaux, and Soissons and a new game mode, Frontline. It also adds six new firearms (although none too remarkable), four new melee weapons, one new tank, one new behemoth, a new elite class (the Trench Raider) and a new stationary weapon.

The four new maps have added an element to the game that was unfortunately lacking on release and that is trench riddled maps. I was incredibly happy to see the developers take their time to research the war and try and broaden the terrain in which we fought on but there was a massive trench filled hole. I longed for a map where you were running around like rats to each objective, randomly bumping into enemies along the way. Well with this expansion we finally get that, particularly within Rapture and Fort De Vaux and even in Verdun Heights once you are pushed out of the town.

I was eager to try the new game mode Frontline, which aims to combine Conquest and Rush, which I feel it does perfectly, creating a we push, they push feel. My first game took me into the poppy stained trenches of Rapture, rusty tanks of old conflicts litter the battlefield and trenches create a chaotic runway that opens up to fields as far as they eye can see. Bullets whiz above my comrades’ heads as we push for the objective, upon running into an open square we are greeted by seven Germans. We all open fire and by the end I am the only survivor, covered in blood and breathing heavily from adrenaline.

This is Frontline in a nutshell, it isn’t going to be for everyone, but for those that enjoy it, the satisfaction will be high. However, there is the issue of the timer (for whatever reason) being bugged which at first was pretty cool, but when one match went on for 67 minutes I couldn’t help think, “this is taking the biscuit a bit”. But I really did enjoy how a game could swing. For example, at one point, we were pushed back to our last line defending our telegraph stations. After holding off the relentless attack, we pushed and managed to have the enemy teetering on defeat. Once the timer gets fixed, this game mode is going to be fantastic.

The next map I jumped into was Soissons, the extremely open (with the occasional littering of buildings) tank focused map that sees the new tank, the St. Chamond, really thrive. Close quarter combat ensues within the towns as infantry classes bash heads over barns and houses. It really encapsulates the diverse warfare that was seen on the French front. This was followed by the CQB map Fort De Vaux, an intense yet very fun experience that has you clutching your anus waiting for someone to pop round the corner or execute you from behind.

The expansion is a much needed and much awaited element to the game and keeps Battlefield 1 fresh, It certainly has me excited for the three other planned expansions. However, one thing that really bothers me is DICE’s refusal to expand on their fantastic War Stories. Surely this would have been a perfect opportunity to expand on the campaign by adding a classic ‘over the top’ trench push story mission. It is a real shame, but nevertheless it is a great expansion with plenty of fruity content to devour.