Battlegrounds

"It's war like you've never seen before."

- Official Game Tagline

Battlegrounds (stylized as BG and originally known as Call of Duty: Battlegrounds) is an open world, role-playing first/third-person shooter game developed by Infinite Development Incorporated and published by Activision for Microsoft Windows, Mac OS, Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Wii-U, Imagination, and Infinite Development Inc.'s own system, the Multi-Purpose Home Entertainment System (MPHES).

Officially announced on June 23rd, 2013 by both IDI and Activision, the game was released worldwide on September 19th, 2014. It is set between the years of 2013 and 2019, and takes place during /World War III/. The game is set to be the start of an entirely new series of games. A direct sequel Counterattack, was released on October 4th, 2017.

Battlegrounds recieved largely positive reviews from critics and gaming websites around the world. Praise of the game varied from the innovative multiplayer and gripping singleplayer to the game's engine. The game recieved multiple awards at E3 2014 and post-E3 awards, including the Golden Joystick Award for "Best Role-Playing Game."

Development
Battlegrounds was the first game project ever taken upon by Infinite Development Incorporated. Initial development of the game started in late 2010 where Ethan, Byung-Seok, and Colin came together to figure out a way to implement an open-world environment with a war-based story. Eventually, all three of them managed to form the basis of a game based on those traits and dubbed it Call of Duty: Battlegrounds.

As time went on, IDI began to grow larger and gain more of a foothold in the gaming community. By 2011, work on Call of Duty: Battlegrounds halted after discovering problems in alternating between missions, interactions between AIs, and plot holes in the game's story. By October 2011, Call of Duty: Battlegrounds was being completely rewritten and the "Call of Duty" name was omitted from the title.

By 2012, the game's development exited the planning stage and entered the development stage after the completion of the Ultimate Experience Engine. By 2012, IDI reached a total of 97 employees, all of which were working on the game. On May 7th, 2012, IDI began talks with Activision to have them publish the game to which Activision accepted.

In 2013, Battlegrounds was near completion and Ethan knew that it was time to publicize the game. Both IDI and Activision began releasing statements regarding the new game and began leaking pictures and videos of the game's development.

It wasn't until E3 2014 where Battlegrounds made its first official appearance. At E3 2014, Battlegrounds was awarded 17 accolades. The game also recieved critical acclaim for the innovations it brought to the plate.

The game was officially released on September 19th, 2014 after more than four years of development. It was a critical and commercial success, giving IDI a foot hold in the gaming world.

Game Builds
A year after the game's release, IDI revealed that Battlegrounds went through a total of five pre-beta builds, two beta builds, and a single alpha build which later became the final game.

First Build
The first build of the game began on March 4th, 2011 as a test build for the game. It ran on the Blender game engine and included many features that were eventually cut from the game or redesigned. Work ended on May 19th, 2011.

Second Build
Work on the second build of the game began on August 22nd, 2011 and, once again, ran on the Blender game engine. At this point, missions and work on some of the game's features were worked on. The test provided valuable experience for future builds. Work concluded on November 8th, 2011.

Third Build
After the second build was completed, work on the third build started on June 7th, 2012. With the completion of the UEE, IDI was able to pretty much create the entire game on this singular build. According to IDI CEO, Ethan Sumner, this was the most important build of the game. Not only did it introduce the power of the UEE, but also gave IDI staff members a chance to learn how to use the new engine and created most of the final game's models and set pieces. Work concluded on December 27th, 2012.

Fourth Build
The fourth build of the game brought the sounds and effects into the game as well as fixed bugs that hindered gameplay. Work started on February 9th, 2013 and ended on March 13th, 2013.

Fifth Build
The final pre-beta build began on April 20th, 2013. This build was mainly used for fine tuning the game's mechanics, features, and models/textures. It also removed items, characters, vehicles, ect. that were deemed not to fit in with the story at the time. Work ended on June 3rd, 2013.

First Beta Build
The first beta build of the game was constructed on July 4th, 2013 and fixed sound and effect issues present in the game. The initial beta test proved satisfactory, but still required work. Work concluded on July 25th, 2013.

Second Beta Build (Open Beta)
The open beta build of the game was constructed on September 27th, 2013 for the game's presentation at E3 2014. The open beta fixed problems present in the first beta build and removed some vehicles and weapons to enhance gameplay. Work concluded on January 9th, 2014.

Alpha Build
The alpha build of the game was the final build of the game. It remained pretty much identical to the open beta, with the exception of polished textures and fluent motions from characters and vehicles. Work started on April 17th, 2014 and concluded on June 16th, 2014.

Taglines and Trailers
Battlegrounds has multiple taglines and trailers for the game. Each tagline is featured in its own trailer.

"It's war like you've never seen before."

- Official Game Tagline and featured in the A New Conflict trailer. "Crush your enemies in a real-time multiplayer experience."

- Tagline featured in the Call to Arms trailer. "Chose your loadout for combat."

- Tagline featured in the Weapons trailer. "Dominate with the most powerful vehicles on land."

- Tagline featured in the Armored Warfare trailer. "The sky is yours."

- Tagline featured in the Dogfight trailer. "Control the seas and support your allies."

- Tagline featured in the Naval Warfare trailer. "The war that really ends all wars."

- Tagline featured in the Total Warfare trailer. "Never forget those who have fallen."

- Tagline from the The Final Breath trailer. "The dead can't speak for themselves."

- Tagline from the Return to Hell (Zombies) trailer. "This will be the most realistic game on the market."

- Ethan Sumner at the IDI Press Conference.

Transcripts

 * For the transcript for the Return to Hell Trailer, see Battlegrounds/Return to Hell.

Gameplay
Battlegrounds follows an open world, role playing, shooter style of gameplay, with Nightfall being another one, which was made by a longtime gaming partner NINE100 Studios. Battlegrounds uses the Mk.I version of the Ultimate Experience Engine, which is common in Infinite Development Inc. games due to it being easily modified for specific game genres. It also allows the players to create their own custom characters through a unique process called "/Character Mapping/." Another feature, called "/Loadout Assembly/," allows the player to access weapons and vehicles that have been used or obtained in game and to customize, repair, or sell them.

The first and third-person modes are greatly enhanced and far more realistic than in most other FPS/TPS', such as that the HUD does not retain any reticles, mini-maps, indicators, ect. Instead, it has the feel of an actual person during their everyday life. This also allows for more diverse interactions with the surroundings in game, thus making Battlegrounds 100% open-world.

The multiplayer in this game has all of the same mechanics as in single-player. Codenamed "Mutliplayer Campaign" the multiplayer server holds all players worldwide as they fight against each other. Due to these various features, Battlegrounds is considered the most realistic game ever made and is the first game in a planned trilogy.

Characters
Battlegrounds provides a wide variety of characters that can be interacted with or seen in combat. The following list features all main and minor characters in the game. A list of background/randomly generated characters can be seen here: /List of Background Characters/.

Weapons

 * For the weapons of Battlegrounds, see Battlegrounds/Weapons.

Battlegrounds contains a large range of weapons for the player to use in-game. Through most of the start of the game, only real world weapons can be found and used, though as the game progresses, fictional weapons can be found and used by both the player and NPCs in-game. More information can be found on the weapons page.

Vehicles

 * For the vehicles of Battlegrounds, see Battlegrounds/Vehicles.
 * For comparisons between vehicles, see Battlegrounds/Vehicle Comparisons.

Battlegrounds contains a large selection of vehicles in-game. The player has full control of real world and fictional vehicles throughout the course of the game. The player and NPCs can use tanks, planes, ships, etc. to change the course of the battle. More information can be found on the pages above.

Campaign
The campaign takes place during /World War III/. Just before World War III in the year of 2013, the China, North Korea, and Iran leave the United Nations, and leave confusion and mistrust among the remaining members. Covert operation into these countries launched on May 14th, and return on May 15th with no information being obtained. Four days later, the unthinkable happens, China and North Korea launch an invasion into South Korea.

As days and months go by, countries chose sides and throw themselves into combat. Two sides, the Allies and the Separatists, are formed and World War III officially begins.

It would take six years before the war would end in 2019, leaving death and destruction in its wake.

Battlegrounds/Sparks - 2013|Sparks Battlegrounds/Retreat - 2014|Retreat Battlegrounds/Invasion - 2015|Invasion Battlegrounds/Retaliation - 2016|Retaliation Battlegrounds/Depression - 2017|Depression Battlegrounds/Termination - 2018|Termination Battlegrounds/End Times - 2019|End Times

Missions
Battlegrounds contains only four missions. After these missions are completed, the player gains access to the World Map and can chose which battles he or she wants to enter.


 * 1. Prelude: The Academy - Complete your training and trials for admission into the U.S. military through a multi-branch program.
 * 2. /Prelude: Sea Legs/ - Finish your trials with sea and air combat training.
 * 3. /Prelude: Behind the Lines/ - Take part in a covert operation in North Korea to discover the purpose of their departure from the UN.
 * 4. /Prelude: All Time High/ - You have been stationed in South Korea. Tensions between the North and South have been high, so be prepared for anything.

Asian Front

 * Defense of Gapyeong
 * Battle for Baengnyeong Island

Soundtrack
The soundtrack for Battlegrounds was composed and conducted by Ethan Sumner, who received guidance from Hanz Zimmer. Musicians included Ethan Sumner, William McKee, Anthony Gurunian, Danielle Sun, Julia Healy, Annika Smith, Colin Arscott, Byung-Seok Kim, and Parker Griep.

The soundtrack can be viewed here: Battlegrounds/Soundtrack

Zombies
Call of Duty Zombies makes an appearance in Battlegrounds as the Survival Mode. Zombies was included in the game after IDI and Treyarch agreed to share the rights to the Zombies storyline. However, instead of continuing the current Zombies storyline, IDI makes everything from Five to Origins non-canon and is, essentially, a complete revamp of the entire story.

Remember When... Storyline

 * /Schule für die Untoten/
 * /Platzieren aus der Tod/
 * /Kirche der Verrückt/
 * /Die Blutige Krankenhaus/
 * /Haus der Geist/
 * /Einen Schmerzhaften Tod/

Years DLCs (Single-Player and Multi-Player)
Due to the expansiveness of the game, in order to keep the game running smoothly, Ethan decided to release the single-player and multi-player aspects of the game based on the years of World War III. The game comes standard with the year of 2013. Each Year DLC is released every three months.

/Steel Wall Pack/ - Vehicle DLC
Details to be added.

/Extra Munitions/ - Weapon DLC
Details to be added.

/Cold Front/ - World Map DLC (Single-Player and Multi-Player)
The Cold Front DLC affects all previous DLCs by adding in the continent of Antarctica, the region of the Noth Arctic, the Arctic Front, and missions related to them. With the release of this DLC, new weapons, accessories, vehicle upgrades, and vehicles in general are included.

Future's Fortune - Zombies DLC
The first Zombies DLC released for Battlegrounds, Future's Fortune takes a sharp turn away from the current Zombies storyline and follows the original canon of the Black Ops trilogy from the perspective of brand new characters. All information can be found on the main page linked above.

Easter Eggs and Cut Content

 * Main articles: Battlegrounds/Easter Eggs and Battlegrounds/Cut Content.

Battlegrounds contains excessive amounts of easter eggs and cut content for the player to discover. Easter Eggs can be found in-game by either completing tasks or as little surprises that usually go unnoticed. Meanwhile, cut content can only be found in the game's files, but some do have the ability to be brought back into the game.

HBO-IDI mini-series
On August 14th, 2015, the first of a thirteen-part series based on Battlegrounds premiered on international television. Following Lieutenant Williams and members of International Task Force 1, The Battlefield follows the same plot as the original game, but with carefully selected paths. The mini-series recieved generally positive reviews.

Reviews
Battlegrounds recieved universal acclaim, obtaining a total of 40 perfect scores from gaming publications, just two shy of The Last of Us' record 42 perfect scores. The game holds a score of 100 on Metacritic and a 93.50% on GameRankings. The review aggregator Metacritic rated it as the number one game of 2014 and an amazing launch title for the Multi-Purpose Home Entertainment System. Battlegrounds is also one of the highest rated games on GameRankings.

Edge gave the game a perfect 10/10, stating that "IDI has managed to create a game that simulates the realism of modern warfare set the backdrop for a gripping story full of emotion, sacrifice, motivation, and suspense. Taking full advantage of the ideas and tools given to them, IDI has made a name for themselves and have set the bar for games that follow it." Game Informer rated Battlegrounds a 10/10, stating that "As action games began getting repetitive and no game could seem to match what was previously given to us, Battlegrounds emerges from the ashes and shows us otherwise. It's epic story combined with the realism of combat and an innovative multiplayer. It has become a beacon for what seemed like a dying genre." Good Game's hosts Steven O'Donnell and Stephanie Bendixsen both gave the game a perfect score of 10/10, the tenth game on the show to do so.

GamesTM gave the a perfect 10/10, saying that "Despite being a first-time developer, IDI has given us the best game they could and it's marvelous. By mixing realism with a deep storyline gave Battlegrounds the best gameplay for any action game made in 2014." PlayStation Official Magazine gave the game a 10/10, stating "Battlegrounds has a level of authenticity and originality that most developers just couldn't match. With its unique multiplayer, amazing single-player, and stellar graphics, IDI created a fantastic game." IGN gave another perfect score of 10/10, stating, "The amazing graphics and stellar story writing made Battlegrounds one of the best games of the year."

Though still largely positive, Polygon's Philip Kollar was more critical about the game, such as the realism of warfare retracting somewhat from the story and the way conversations were handled. Though he praised the game for having intelligent AI that acted like people, having the ability to switch between third and first person, and the overall style of gameplay. Computer and Video Games rated the game a 9.4/10, also stating that the combat removed some aspects of the story.

Sales
In the United States, the game debuted at number one in the sales charts, just beating Call of Duty: Iron Wolf, and was there for five weeks straight. Battlegrounds also topped the charts in Russia, Germany, Italy, Spain, China, Ireland, Sweden, and Finland, but lost in the United Kingdom, France, Belgium, and the Netherlands to Call of Duty: Iron Wolf and Downfall. The game sold 1.8 million copies in the first week, and 5.4 million copies worldwide in three weeks.

Trivia

 * Due to the use of the Ultimate Experience Engine, the developers were able to create the largest open world first/third-person in history.
 * Because of this, Battlegrounds greatly outclasses and overpowers such games as Mass Effect, Fallout, and Saints Row.
 * The only game that can compare to Battlegrounds is Planetside 2.