Battlefield 1 Open Beta: 5 Ups & 5 Downs

2. The Terrible Announcer Voices

There's a lot to be said for a multiplayer announcer that pumps the player up and makes them want to kick as much a** as possible: the likes of Quake 3 Arena and Unreal Tournament remain the best examples from the genre.

It's clear from the beta that Battlefield 1 has announcers so utterly uninspired that DICE shouldn't have bothered at all. The default female voice is robotic and bland, and you'll probably struggle not to laugh as she calls out "Operation Butter".

Even if you change your voice to the male equivalent, it still sounds immensely dull and clashes somewhat with the intense action you're watching unfold on-screen. It really needs to be a case of go intense or go home, but at least the game does give you the option to disable the announcers altogether (which causes your character to announce things organically in-game instead).