Even today this game is still active, maybe not as popular as Battlefield 4 right now, but it is more popular than 2042. If you are going to purchase this game DO NOT expect a realistic experience, instead think of this game as a fun showcase of World War 1 weaponry, vehicles and more. That said the game does look very realistic, the graphics have definitely held up over the years, it looks absolutely beautiful and mixed in with the desolate barbwire-filled wasteland of fire, mud, blood and tears it looks extremely cinematic (all of this is without ray tracing or DLSS). In multiplayer artillery is constantly going off, explosions and chaos everywhere, it is a constant ride of fun and destruction. What is extremely memorable though is when you take down a zeppelin airship, it crashes down and burns up with a fiery explosion and you can even fight amongst the wreckage which is pretty cool. However this would not be a proper review if I did not gush about the opening level you play as soon as you launch the game, it contains everything I mentioned above and beyond, and you may even shed a few tears from the emotional themes and monolithic scale.
Customisation is quite limiting but there are plenty of fine weapons and vehicles to choose from, there are about seven kinds of tanks you can drive, four types of planes, and a few different boats, ranging from attack boats to dreadnaughts, airships, armoured trains with massive guns on it (it is just as fun as it sounds) and more! Furthermore, the kinds of firearms you will be wielding are quite varied, ranging from the classic standard issue bolt action rifles up to experimental weaponry that never saw the front lines. You can unlock versions of these weapons with optics (not realistic but fun), along with new skins you can unlock from crates. One of the best parts about this game is the bayonet charging. Your character will scream as he gets a speed boost sprinting through the wastes impaling some unlucky bastard on the other end of your blade. The rest of the melee is even better, where your character will stick a trench shovel into someone’s collar listening to their blood-curdling screams. And also the music is absolutely amazing! The orchestral soundtrack gives you the feeling you are fighting in a monumental war of great scale and proportion, with mixed feelings of greatness and also horror. I highly recommend listening to it on Spotify if you have it.
In short, this game is a dark, gritty and fun depiction of the First World War, even if it does not strive for realism. I would say this game is what got me interested in World War 1 in the first place and now I research it for fun all these years later. I wish we had more games and movies that gave this part of history a shot because after all, it is the dawn of modern combat (albeit quite messy and brutal), it was a fascinating time to be sure.