EA releases stirring Battlefield 1 trailer showing off its single-player war anthology

EA has released a stirring new trailer showing off upcoming shooter Battlefield 1's single-player campaign. While fans have seen and heard quite a bit about the World War 1 game's multiplayer aspects, the new trailer gives players a sense of the various roles they can expect to take on in single player.

Set in "various locations" during the Great War, players will take on what EA calls "War Stories" that focus on four different protagonists, each with their own unique backgrounds and skills. The four unique characters include a fighter pilot, a rebel fighter, an armour crewman and a message-runner.

According to EA, these war stories are more "about people rather than history or battles".

Players will get a chance to experience other real-life historical figures in the single-player mode including The Red Baron and Lawrence of Arabia. Gamers will get to play as Lawrence's right hand man, who "needs to use her resourceful playstyle to scout out enemy encampments, liberate the equipment needed, and draw an armoured train out to a final confrontation".

"The Great War is diverse," EA's Jonas Elfving and Eric Holmes wrote in a blog post. "We knew we wanted to embrace that diversity. There were so many different perspectives and characters in World War 1 and we wanted to cover as much ground as possible."

One part of the campaign's anthology format is called Through Mud and Blood. It takes place later on in the war and revolves around a British Mark V tank crew, focusing on a young soldier assigned to the crew as the tank's driver.

"Our protagonist has no experience of these modern war vehicles and need to learn - and learn fast," the duo wrote. "Our hero is also struggling with earning the trust of his fellow crew members, so there's a social dynamic in the story, making the whole thing something personal."

While previous Battlefield titles had players experience the single player story through the eyes of one main character, the EA team wanted to include multiple, stronger characters in its next entry to the Battlefield series by "embracing systematic gameplay and the freedom that makes Battlefield the high-agency game that it is".

In Through Mud and Blood, there is a part called The Fog of War where playersfind themselves in a misty forest, moving ahead of your tank on foot and clearing enemy camps.

"If you like, you can use explosives to blow up the enemies' anti-tank weapons, or you can sneak up and do melee attacks," the blog post reads. "Eventually you'll come across a relatively large base with field guns you can either destroy to protect your tank – or use against the enemies.

"You'll also have the option of taking out an enemy tank crew, which suddenly gives you access to an enemy vehicle that you can seize for the encounter. This is all designed to encourage players to play it their way – just like in multiplayer."

Battlefield 1 is set to release on 21 October for PS4, Xbox One and PC.