EA and DICE have for many years had a successful franchise in Battlefield. It’s never had the simulation level that I really can dig my teeth in when it comes to air combat but most of the series has had some pretty exciting air combat displays – and the latest in the series is taking us back to World War I.

The original, Battlefield 1942, featured some very fun air combat with the D3A Val and A6M Zero duking it out with the F4U Corsair and SBD Dauntless. There were other aircraft in the game but these were by far the most iconic scenes of the game’s air battles. We’ve also been treated to napalm dropping Phantoms and futuristic jet dogfights in recent series.

Battlefield 1 takes a huge change in time period and goes back to World War I. From the images we’ve seen, DICE fully intends to span the war in a wider way than has been done in a video game before. The traditional Western Front with the trenches is visible in the trailer but it looks like Italy and somewhere in the Middle East, likely Turkey, are also featured.

For aircraft I spotted a Zeppelin the Fokker Dr.1 tri-plane and some hard to identify (if anyone can, please let me know!) British bi-planes as well including scouts with rear gunners. Although not a simulation, it looks like an insane amount of fun and I’ll probably do a few updates on Battlefield 1 air combat as more information is revealed.

For now… watch the trailer!