Battlefield 4

Editor's Notes

Xbox One version reviewed. Server issues and various bugs detracted from the launch-week experience, but it is expected that these issues will mostly be corrected within a few weeks.

Introduction

DICE aims to raise the bar with the latest installment of their first-person shooter, vehicular combat, team-based 'Battlefield' series as 'Battlefield 4' is brought to bear on five separate platforms. Without a spinoff or odd expansion in between the new game and 'Battlefield 3,' the pressure is higher than ever to deliver a next-generation playground of wonton destruction. That guy on the cover of the game half alit with orange- well he's ready, but are you?

The Game Itself: Our Reviewer's Take

Jumping into a 'Battlefield 4' match online means a couple of things. You're going to choose a class – Recon, Assault, Engineer or Support. You're likely going to die, multiple times, at the gun of somebody employing a tactic you hadn't considered, to which, you will (eventually) adjust accordingly. But more importantly, you're going to be taken by surprise. A jet might crash-land at your very feet. A tank shell might narrowly miss your head and take out a jeep ten meters behind you. A skyscraper might fall. You might see that last one coming, but it's still a sight to behold and each map has its own massive twist of the sort, so don't roll your eyes too far at the much-touted "Levolution" gimmick. Despite the market-speak, 'Battlefield 4' really does evolve at the whim of your gun. No other shooter connects you to the environment so easily and with such lasting impact.

That said, 'Battlefield 4' is in many ways more of a refinement of 'Battlefield 3' and less of a leap forward. The class system works virtually the same, though progression has seen a few meaningful tweaks, and the best online modes of the 'Battlefield' series are back with two extras that couldn't be further apart in their impact. Before delving into the nuances, and with a savory deep intake of air, one thing must be highlighted. It must:

The maps. Oh my, the maps.

These are maps of a world, not a box full of props, and they glisten and break and crumble like the world you know. The water bounds and troughs, viciously striking at attack boats, while buildings simply break and buckle, soldiers buried within. The destruction from the 'Bad Company' spinoff series is married with the visual clarity and overwhelming expansiveness of 'Battlefield 3.' You have Golmund Railway, an absolutely massive vista upon which the tanks may play and the jets can streak over, littered with buildings ripe for demolition. Rogue Transmission is similarly expansive, though with an enormous radar dish sprawling across the middle. Players can choose to zip across in an ATV or Jeep, or push on beneath towards varying objectives, depending on the game type.

Most other maps have their own sort of breathtaking quirk, but they can't go mentioned without recognition of DICE's most permeating addition to the Frostbite Engine. That's the water, of course, which has been transformed from a flat and sterile road for ineffective boats to a raging and rolling battleground for tanks on water. Paracel Storm, in particular, enables absolute power for players willing to embrace nautical warfare, especially when the map transitions from a set of islands floating peacefully on tranquil waters to the aforementioned battleground with speckled oases in between. Flood Zone sees previous footpaths turned into zip-lines for jet skis after a levee breaks and the titular flood ensues. As likely the most divisive map among current players – it's a bit intricate – it's also one of the best examples of DICE's desire to take map design to a new level.

But all the map flourishes would be for naught if the gunplay and vehicular warfare didn't mesh perfectly with the game modes on demand. And for the most part it does, though for any an avid fan of vehicle-based maps in 'Battlefield,' modes like Team Deathmatch and the new Defuse, which forgo vehicles altogether, skew negatively towards 'Call of Duty' style play. One map, Operation Locker, similarly shoots for corridor warfare in a game that, for the most part, is designed exactly for the opposite. The run and gun side of things work well, and the cramped hallways of Operation Locker are tense in the flurry of advanced particle effects and wonderful sound design, but being confined in such a way doesn't feel fresh. Infinitely more important, however, is that DICE seems to have taken many lessons learned from 'Battlefield 3' vehicular balancing and applied it successfully to its predecessor.

First off, attack helicopters are no longer a bane for every defenseless soul below, despite more intuitive controls. It's arguable that the scout choppers, those more nimble but less overtly powerful, are the more dangerous flier now, which brings down the bar of lethality from above a considerable amount. A good pilot is going to find his or her mark, but anyone without positional awareness and knowledge of the various anti-air systems is going to find a quick death. The same sentiment can be extended to armor on the ground. Tanks pack a punch, but new weak points along the top and sides make it more vulnerable than before. Jets are split into two categories, one equipped with default air-to-ground missiles and the other designed for aerial combat, a welcome variety.

And, of course, the new attack boats are absolute beasts, which makes trekking water less a chore and more an opportunity. Most of these changes positively enforce vehicular combat while keeping those interested in infantry play capable of doing their own kind of damage, though Golmund Railway is one map that has infantry at distinct disadvantage. The one exception, which favors anyone on wheels or in the air over anyone on their feet. (Infantry types, be prepared to blow up.)

While Conquest works largely the same as before, Rush is a mode heavily dependent on intelligent placement of bomb sites along the maps and happily sees a bit of a comeback in 'Battlefield 4.' The matches feel much more fluid from section to section this time around, while the improved vehicle balance means you won't feel like fish in a barrel on the defending side.

As for the new game modes, Obliteration is absolutely worth a try. Defuse is absolutely not. While the latter slows gameplay down to a crawl by eliminating respawns and sectoring a match into rounds, the former sets 'Battlefield' loose in all the best ways. A bomb is set in the middle of the stage, opposing teams required to wrestle over its control and plant it in one of three locations on the opposite end of the map. Destroy all three and you win. This is DICE's way of focusing the combat into one mobile point on the map while avoiding common annoyances with capture-the-flag. The unpredictability and all out chaos that follows the bomb keeps the adrenaline pumping and emphasizes squad play more than Conquest or even Rush. You absolutely need your teammates to come away victorious, which unfortunately means if you're stuck with a squad that cares only for their kill/death ratios you might find the experience a little taxing.

One last small yet significant change to the series' formula is the way you unlock guns and advance your classes. Before, when guns unlocked at various points along each classes' progression, it wasn't hard to find a favorite setup early on. Now, guns are unlocked along their own progression within a certain gun category and separate from the overarching character class. Specifically, this means in order to get the second assault rifle, you absolutely have to use the first one. Long-term, this doesn't change much, but early on the game is forcing you to use weapons you might not find suitable. In particular, early Assault and Engineer weapons feel weak and useless. Admittedly, it's a minor and fleeting annoyance, but one that DICE is requiring everyone to go through. As for the Squad Perks system, it rewards specific squad actions (like repairs and revives), but it is a slight system that can be slightly distracting.

There's another minor and fleeting annoyance and it's called the single-player campaign. Bravado, heroism and worldwide conflict ensue, but DICE seems absolutely set on ignoring the dynamism seen in multiplayer in favor of a by-the numbers, linear and pointless set of infantry-heavy missions. The few times you do step into a vehicle, you're set down as narrow a path as ever and forced into a lineup of predictable conflicts. The net effect is to add a check in the single player campaign box in the list of game features, which makes perfect sense for a lot of other shooting games that aren't named 'Battlefield.'