Battlefield 1 makes it a point to look at the Great War from a variety of perspectives. “Through Mud and Blood” focuses on a British Mk. V tank crew before shifting to a very unlikely point of view. You can view the whole scene below, as captured by MathChief.
The single player mission recounts the 1918 Battle of Cambrai, as seen through the eyes of a chauffeur turned tank operator named Edwards. Driving a tank towards Cambrai, Edwards and his crew destroy field gun positions before getting caught in the mud. Trapped and surrounded by the enemy, the crew releases a messenger pigeon to signal for help.
You control the pigeon in a brief sequence and sail over the battlefield. The moment gives a very stark sense of the war’s scale. Trenches and scorched earth extend for miles. To some extent, the cynic in me wants to dismiss the sequence as overly maudlin but it feels suitably affective in the moment.
I continue to approach Battlefield 1 with some skepticism but the campaign has largely surprised me with its emotional substance. The opening sequence was refreshingly brutal in its depiction of war. It remains to be seen how the rest of the campaign composes itself but this bird’s eye view of the war was definitely memorable.