The Italian role in World War I has kind of been sidelined in popular culture. Instead, fictional depictions of the war have had the tendency to focus on Britain, France and the United States, forgetting entirely that there was, in fact, a southern front as well - one sustained almost entirely by the Kingdom of Italy following its entry to the war in 1916.
Which is why Italy's inclusion in Battlefield is so brilliant, cropping up in the title's War Stories as well as in its multiplayer. Whilst the nation's victories are represented in abundance here (a given, considering most of the title takes place in the war's closing moments), its earlier experiences in the conflict are only alluded to through narration.
One such narration makes reference to the Battle of Caporetto, which saw a superior Italian force defeated by German and Austro-Hungarian forces thanks to the heavy proliferation of modern combat techniques that the Italians were yet to explore. Putting the Italian forces on the defence would juxtapose nicely with the 'Iron Walls' operation, and add further context to the battle's overall significance in the Italian war effort.
Plus, all the factions needed are already present - all that's needed is a new map to cap it all off.
WhatCulture's very own resident movie guy, Ewan has been working in the content creation biz for over 10 years now, having started as a freelance contributor to WhatCulture Gaming all the way back in 2015. After graduating with a First-Class Honours in History from Northumbria University in 2017 (where he won a prize for a totally killer dissertation on the Watergate years), Ewan took on the role of Comics Editor at WhatCulture and quickly developed WhatCulture Comics into one of the biggest superhero-focused channels on YouTube. He followed this with a brief hiatus at Screen Rant in 2021, where he worked across the Gaming and Film sections as a writer and editor, before returning to WhatCulture as a Senior Content Producer / Presenter in 2023. He started his own podcast, We Love Dad Movies, in 2022, and has contributed several written pieces to the Eisner-nominated comics website Shelfdust as well.
In his current role, Ewan incorporates his love of cinema, comic books, and history into written pieces and video essays for WhatCulture's Film & TV channel, as well as WhatCulture Gaming and WhatCulture Horror, with a particular focus on nineties-era Dad Movies, old school Westerns, and Golden Age Hollywood Noir. John Carpenter is his fave, and he thinks Batman Beyond should never have been cancelled. If that's your vibe, you'll probably like his stuff.
