It’s been almost five years since the last large-scale World War 1-themed shooter took center stage back in 2016, in the form of Battlefield 1. But by no means did it cater to its most hardcore fans - many of whom found it much too focused on automatic weapons and explosives in lieu of era-appropriate guns and gritty trench combat. Those hardcore fans are just in luck, however, because that’s the exact niche that Beyond the Wire fills. And even though it’s only in Early Access, it’s already coming together.
That’s because it already features two game modes, nine complete maps plus a shooting range, server support for over 100 players (in 50 vs. 50 player skirmishes), and a decent collection of weapons and class types that each have their own role on the battlefield.
And those aren’t just bullet points. In its current form, Beyond the Wire is masterful at making you jump out of your seat. Hyper-precise gunshot sounds ricochet off of surfaces around you at all angles, mixing with an orchestra of booms and yelps. Its low interface and muted visual direction combine to create a tense environment that inspires constant wariness; it’s nearly impossible to tell where enemies even are, unless you’re paying very close attention, and it’s necessary to deliberately plot your next steps if you want to survive.
It being a World War 1 sim that aims for historical accuracy, your weapons are rudimentary. Except for a very small selection of players in designated roles, you and most others on the field are armed only with a revolver or a bolt-action rifle, a melee weapon, and very little ammo. Getting into a battle can easily sap your scarce resources, and even if you win, it still feels like a desperate struggle for survival. Most weapons can kill in one shot; likewise, you have no clue if your bullet even landed since there are no hit markers.
Unpleasant as all that may sound, it clicks together to create a unique and challenging experience that demands that you coordinate within teams, which is great fun when everybody is on the same page. Compared to the relatively casual Battlefield games that inspired it, Beyond the Wire’s increased difficulty arguably makes you feel more connected to your squadmates, even when you get wiped out by an enemy squad.
Beyond the Wire’s two existing modes don’t differ all that much right now, but you can’t go wrong with either one if you’re looking to jump into some WW1-themed action with your squadmates. Assault sets up one team as an invading force while the other team needs to hold them back and avoid losing territory. Frontlines, on the other hand, is more like tug-of-war, where both teams can gain or lose ground based on the flow of the battle.
Don’t worry about dying in either game mode either - you can always respawn at the front of your faction’s territory, but you might find the respawn timings a bit slow if you’re used to faster-paced shooters like Call of Duty. It’s still pretty convenient that Beyond the Wire gives you the option to spawn on rally points set by your team’s Command unit, or spawn on your squad leader. All things considered, those little conveniences go a long way in making Beyond the Wire feel more approachable.
There’s a class system here, but it’s entirely regimented around the way squads are set up. Each team has a preordained number of slots for each squad type, like Infantry or Engineering, and there are a limited number of class slots within those squads. When somebody’s picked up the kit you want, you have to wait for them to leave before you can claim it. Some
This is all fantastic if you want player roles to be decided by the needs of the team, but you won’t get too much of an opportunity to choose a class for yourself in most cases; most often, you’ll be a standard-issue Infantry Rifleman. What that entails right now is that you simply don’t get a ton of choice in how you customize your character, but that’s bound to change as Beyond the Wire moves through its Early Access period and into its final release.
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You can’t level these classes up or get rewards for playing with them across battles as you would in other popular military shooters, but it’s forgivable since each one is meant to fulfill a fundamentally different role in a complete team. It makes sense that you can’t just have 50 Machine Gunners on one team, but at least the system incentivizes learning every class so that you’re not completely useless if your favorite position is taken.
I ended up jumping into the Medic role quite often in my test run, given that it seemed like the one non-Rifleman role that was constantly open to try out with minimal competition from other squadmates. The first thing I noticed about playing that class is how much faster I was able to revive my downed teammates, a feat that came in handy since I always happened to be the one person taking the effort to revive everybody in my team.
Engineer was also something I got to play with a little bit. I noticed that there were several different classes within the Engineer section, but the one that I chose came equipped with sandbags, barbed wire fencing, and duckboards to build impromptu ramps with. The Engineer is absolutely a support class here, making up for what they lack in firepower with sheer utility. And the developers at Redstone Interactive have already confirmed with me that they will be receiving vehicle support (and repair) tools once those are added to Beyond the Wire.
If squad-based combat and World War 1-style gritty realism are your thing, Beyond the Wire has plenty in store. Even though it’s in Early Access, it already features a complete World War 1 battlefield experience that’s much more punishing than your average Battlefield game. It’s also subject to change - according to the developers, thoroughly missed features like vehicles and expanded class kits are already on the way.
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May 28, 2021 at 06:07AM
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Beyond the Wire: Early Access Hands-On Impressions - IGN - IGN
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