The Battlefield series is known for ridiculous moments like tanks accidentally shooting down jet fighters, but Battlefield 1 is finally getting serious. At Gamescom EA revealed that it's working on a full-blown competitive mode for the online shooter series: a special 5v5 mode called Incursions that will be playable in closed alpha starting next month.
How do you make Battlefield competitive without losing all of its chaotic charm? Very carefully. That's why it's starting in alpha, and also presumably why Incursions borrows some familiar elements from that most competitive of genres, the MOBA (as in League of Legends, Dota 2, and Heroes of the Storm). Players choose from eight set "kits" instead of the usual classes during a draft at the beginning of the match, and after that you're stuck with whatever you picked. The MOBA-ness deepens as you rank up to earn better weapons and abilities through each match.
It's still Battlefield 1, of course, so you'll shoot enemy players and capture points instead of farming creeps and pushing towers. There are even tanks! But each team only gets one, so try not to get your tank hopelessly stuck in a trench. If you want to take Incursions for a spin yourself ahead of its full rollout, head to Battlefield 1's official site and sign up for the closed alpha. You have until August 26 to register for a chance at the great Competitive Battlefield Experiment.
Oh, and if this new mode has you wanting to branch out a bit from the ol' Battlefield, you couldn't go wrong with our list of the best FPS games.
