I got to be honest, when EA/Dice announced it I really didn't think WW1 was going to work in the Battlefield type of play or environment, but after getting a taste in the beta, then continuing in the last 4 days of playing every mode, and the first 3 Chapters of the SP campaign... I was wrong, it does work... and it's pretty damn awesome IMO... now understand, it's still Battlefield... but it works.
I purposely decided to not share screens or videos, so anyone who might want to play without spoilers, could... and this opinion post is also without spoilers.
First off... the Single Player Campaign is broken down to 6 chapters, about 4 acts each, the first being like a tutorial so you play that as soon as you boot it up, quick and easy one.
Now for the rest, you don't have to play in order... each Chapter tells ones soldiers story... and it's pretty good. It actually contains actual locations, battles, etc etc... you just play a character.
The first was a tank driver... some great visuals and actions... don't worry, you spend a pretty good amount of time out of the tank, stealth mode, stealing parts... tanks were very unreliable back then.
The second was the airman story, again pretty fun and the airship battles are pretty good.
The only thing wrong with the campaign, IMO, is sometimes I wasn't sure what I was suppose to be doing. If you missed a order in all that combat, your stuck wondering? Huh? oh, and of course the ridiculous amount of hits, damage, and fire... cool effect, constantly being shot but hell we would be dead in 5 minutes if it was realistic.
Multiplayer. I tried all 5 modes, the new one and my favorite is operations, it's a long one 2 hrs give or take... it's a big map with objectives to keep pushing or defending, then you win or lose and move on to the next area of the map... it's the closet thing to a full battle, and cut scenes and real war info is broadcast between each map section.
The other ones, conquest, rush, (which I didn't like in BF4, but love the one I played... woods and trenches.), team deathmatch (for weapon testing, building), and pigeon, I thought was going to be dumb, but was pretty awesome and fun... get to the pigeon, capture it, write a note, send it, if it makes it...artillery coming in. Other teams doing the same thing, kinda like VIP. and Domination, which is capture the flag with just infantry.
Maps are beautiful, awesome, and well done for combat.
Weapons, not a fan of unlocks, skins etc etc... but I play for the teamwork. Good selection... but ridiculously reliable, (in WW1 you had more of a chance of a weapon malfunction then firing it, lol.) and as usual, Snipers can ruin a good game, they come in handy when they are supporting a team, but when you see 4 or 5 out on the edges of the maps, getting kills... defeats the purpose, but a game problem not a BF problem.
I do not like the specialty units... too powerful, good for fun gameplay... I did notice a option in the server settings to turn them off, nice.
Tanks are awesome but too fast and reliable. Airplanes, well their airplanes... very maneuverable, more then should be, and easy targeting.. no lead.
So, IMO... and to my surprise I actually thing BF1 is pretty damn awesome, and probably the best in the series... fine tuned to perfection, very fun and different while still being a Battlefield game.
Highly recommended if you like the series...either for the SP or MP... both well done.