Platform: Xbox 360, Xbox One, PS3 (Played), PS4 and PC
Developer: DICE (EA Digital Illusions CE)
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Released: Oct. 28 for PC, PS3 and Xbox 360; Nov. 12 for PS4 and Nov. 19 for Xbox One
Grade: B+
For over a decade, Swedish developer DICE has been immersing players in an increasingly realistic, explosive and awe-inspiring glimpse into military conflicts. Battlefield 4 is no exception.
Like its predecessor, Battlefield 4 continues improving the series' superlative visuals and multiplayer combat with the new Frostbite 3 engine, the return of the "Commander" mode and introduction of "Levelution." The lackluster campaign, however, drags down the experience as a whole.
Fans of the series will feel at home in what is surely the best multiplayer experience in a Battlefield game to date.
For those unfamiliar with the series or in need of some practice, the game features a test range that is filled with every vehicle in the game. It should cut down on the hilarious helicopter pilot hijinx that provided many 'only-in-Battlefield' moments in previous games.
Beyond the test range and a few new game modes like "Obliteration," multiplayer remains largely the same, with teams of up to 64 players facing off against one another in squad-based combat that encompasses land, air and sea battles on an unrivaled scale. Match size can vary depending on the game mode and platform with Xbox 360 and PS3 matches limited to 24 players across all game modes.
On top of the seemingly limitless ways to play Battlefield 4, between vehicular and ground soldier-based combat, the game is packed with class upgrades, weapons, attachments and vehicle upgrades for players to unlock and try out. This will certainly occupy most players well into the future.
The map selection is diverse and stunning, ranging from tropical islands and cities to a small prison or an old military warehouse that are all destructible in unprecedented ways through "Levelution."
On each map, Battlefield 4 features extraordinary game-changing events.
Watching a skyscraper buckle and collapse in the middle of "Siege of Shanghai" drastically changes the map's layout, sending dust flying through the city and distorting the player's view. Demolishing a small dam on "Flood Zone" floods the map, forcing players onto rooftops and making boats more valuable to the game.
Another big change over recent Battlefield titles comes with the return of "Commander" mode.
After reaching rank 10 in multiplayer, players can opt to become their team's commander. In this in-game mode, players take a tactical overhead view of the engagement, providing unmanned aerial vehicles to scout out enemy positioning, issuing orders to individual squads or designating high-value opponents for their team to eliminate.
If the commander's team captures certain objectives on the map, the player can gain access to a host of ordinances ranging from an AC-130 gunship strike to cruise missiles that can alter the course of any match.
Commander mode is fun, providing a refreshing take on a series' beloved feature, but it may leave some players wishing they were engaging in combat and not passively giving orders.
Though the game provides much of what fans have come to expect, it is certainly the most immersive and entertaining multiplayer experience in the Battlefield's longstandinghistory.
The game even manages to fix many of the pacing issues of Battlefield 3's multiplayer, which placed 24 console players on maps built for 64 PC players.
Sadly, while the multiplayer is at an all-time best, the series' single player campaign has definitely been better. This is a similar problem in Call of Duty: Ghosts, which made enjoyable improvements to its multiplayer but suffered heavily from a lackluster campaign.
Games come down to having fun. And Battlefield has finally caught up to Call of Duty's frenetic gunplay while surpassing its entertainment value with immersive large-scale action and visuals.
Battlefield 4picks up six years after the events of Battlefield 3, with military tension continuing to rise between the United States and Russia. The center of this political powder keg is "Tombstone," a U.S. Special Forces squadron consisting of the game's protagonists, Sgt. Recker, SSgt. Dunn, SSgt. Irish and Sgt. Pac, whose efforts in an escalating conflict in China could have a devastating impact on the existing conflict between the United States and Russia.
As a whole, the story lacks a well-thought-out plot, which is full of holes and rarely stops to admire the moments that truly stand out. Even the game's choice-filled conclusion - the only decision the player is allowed to make throughout the entire campaign - carries no weight because the game quickly jumps to the credits.
The biggest problem with the game's story isn't the lack of plot or lack of character depth - it's that the story rarely feels likea Battlefield game.
If Battlefield 3's campaign did one thing right, it was showing off the bolstered diversity of game play that the series has to offer - taking players from a tank assault on a military compound in the desert one minute to an adrenaline-packed aerial battle the next. These sections are missing from Battlefield 4's story, which makes its other shortcomings less enjoyable.
Without these vehicular vignettes, players spend the majority of the campaign as boots on the ground, fighting their way through droves of enemies with the game's wide variety of weaponry and explosives as they move from one objective to the next. Missions are linear, which feels unfitting for a game built around a multiplayer that emphasizes player choice.
These instances rarely feel like anything players haven't seen before and would remain mostly unmemorable if it wasn't for the set pieces and visuals that fill the campaign.
Running on the Frostbite 3 engine, Battlefield 4 looks and sounds extraordinary. Many of the visual improvements don't appear on current generation consoles, which suffer from frame rate and other visual issues that DICE is actively trying to fix, according to its blog.
With its massive multiplayer offering, the introduction of "Levelution" and the game's excellent visuals and effects, Battlefield 4 is a defining step into the next generation. Though the experience is marred by its skippable campaign and may not be as enjoyable on current generation consoles, the game is certainly one trip to the battlefield that players won't want to miss.
email: arts@ubspectrum.com
