Battlefield 4 Review

My first review of many will be of Battlefield 4 for the Playstation 4. To start off, it is necessary to share some background on myself. While I am familiar with the Battlefield series, I did not actually play every game to there extent, so you should read this review knowing that I have little experience with the franchise before this game. Also, my review is of the PS4 version and that version alone.

Battlefield 4 is a first person shooter developed by DICE and published by EA. With a known legacy for having tight shooting coupled with engaging multiplayer, this game is something many have clamored for, and it attempts to prove the might of the Frostbite 3 engine.

Single Player

We should begin by talking about the single player. Veterans know that this part of the review is going to be the most pointless, as this franchise is known for it's robust multiplayer. For the sake of thoroughness, however, I will share my thoughts on the campaign. For warning, there are some specific story events mentioned, but they are minor and occur early in the game.

Story

The campaign leaves a lot to be desired, and should only be played for it's introduction to the game's main mechanics, which will prove useful in multiplayer. Everything else the story has to offer will only leave you with confusion and disappointment. The actual story itself is very poor, if you can understand it in the first place, that is. Essentially your name is Recker, and you are a silent character who is part of the rough and tough American squad named 'Tombstone'. You guys are part of a skirmish with China, who was in the midst of an election, only to have the popular and well-liked presidential candidate assassinated. For some reason, Russia backs Admiral Chang of China, so they are in the war against the Americans as well. Tombstone comes in when they are sent on a covert mission to rescue a few VIPs on Chinese soil, only to be met with death, betrayal, and some other war movie cliches. Honestly, I didn't catch a lot of the plot, because it's so vague. The story feels very "me too", almost trying to check off a laundry list of war story situations, and it goes on to seemingly take situations from the Call of Duty series under it's wing. Anybody who has played the prison break levels in Call of Duty: Black Ops will understand exactly what I'm talking about. The characters themselves are equally as uninspired. Irish is a smart-mouthed, reckless soldier in Tombstone whose heart is bigger than his head, and for better or for worse, you will be with him for almost the entire game. Your other squad-mates are Pac and Dunn, who are devoid of any personality whatsoever and are only there to serve for some important plot-points. And your character? Not much of a character at all. You supposedly lead the squad in some missions, but really it's everyone else in the story that tells you what to do. Really, there isn't much else to say about the story. It's boring, uninspired, and just devoid of really any life in general.

Irish. Better get used to this guy...

Story Gameplay

The gameplay is a little bit better, at least, but not by much. The game starts by dropping you in a tense situation in which you and your squad are trapped in a car sinking into the sea, and the only way to escape is to shoot the window, letting in a rush of water only allowing for a few precious seconds to swim out. What I just described sounds exciting, and worthy of play, but the sad news is that you will be seeing a lot of these types of events on the sidelines. Your only action in this sequence is to, "press R2 to shoot window". This is the main problem with the campaign. They try to make you think you are doing something spectacular when you really aren't, and it diminishes the little value this story has. In another situation, you are supposed to run onto a chopper as the building underneath you crumbles. Out of curiosity, I decide to stop running, only to find my AI squad-mates standing still with me, and the chopper still hovering like nothing is happening. Isn't the building supposed to be falling apart? Aren't we supposed to be dead now? I realized these events were basically just scripted movie sequences that waited for you to trip their wire.

Thankfully, those scripted events aren't the whole game, and are only sprinkled in between the shooting segments. In order to differentiate themselves from other shooters, the game implements the spotting mechanic, which allows you to point to enemies in mid-fight and direct your AI companions to engage them. While it feels novel at first use, it quickly becomes pointless. Shouldn't your AI be smart enough to engage enemies when they see them? They are, as I've seen, so why add the spot button in the first place? Supposedly it's there to add a strategic element, giving you the ability to send your troops to enemies you can't engage with while you're trying to pick off others. Also, I noticed some events don't start until you give the go ahead, allowing you to get into an advantageous position before engaging an enemy. This mechanic could thrive, if only your troops weren't such bad shots. Every skirmish seems to end up with you shooting everyone yourself. Plus, not a lot of the game requires such tactical engagements, and really could be finished with players going in guns blazing every time. It's an admiral attempt to change things up and add a wrinkle in an otherwise glorified shooting gallery, but it largely fails. Another effort to differentiate itself comes in the form of choice in weapons. Throughout the campaign, you unlock gadgets and guns that can be used for later missions. So by end-game, you essentially can tackle the missions with a huge assortment of weapons, ranging from assault rifles, to shotguns, to sniper rifles, to RPGs and everything in between. This is very welcoming, as you will quickly become fond with a particular gun's play style. Of course, some missions favor different types of weapons more than others, but for the most part, it gives you a lot of freedom in this regard. Unfortunately, that doesn't save the game from being a bore. Playing on normal difficulty, the game was easy and didn't require much of the player's intelligence. You just shoot the bad guy and move on.

The single player campaign tries to inflate itself by having showy set piece moments and implementing an artificial sense of strategy, only to show it's drab story, characters, and mundane gameplay. At least you can use your own gun...

Taken from title sequence

Multiplayer

The main attraction, indeed, is the online multiplayer. This is the part of the game that is actually worth the money you spent, and it surely does prove it. Multiplayer consists of a variety of modes that range from conquest, to rush, to deathmatch type objectives. You and your team are basically either trying to kill the opposing team, take their base, steal their flag, or plant a bomb on their territory. All these game modes are fun in their own way, and are really subject to player preferences. One thing is for sure though, they have their bases covered when it comes to multiplayer modes. It should be mentioned that Conquest mode is really the core experience, and is where Battlefield is best played. Conquest starts off with both teams having 800 tickets, and the objective is to take bases and make kills in order to drain the opposing teams tickets to 0. This is also the mode with the biggest maps and highest player count, and allows for excellent flexibility when it comes to how a player can participate in the skirmish.

The maps give an incredible sense of scale

Classes

With that, it makes sense to dive into the game's class system. There are 4 classes that the player can choose from before they go into battle. Each one totally customizable, and permit the player to change things like weapons and attire to their preference. However, to differentiate the roles of each class, their gadget selection is restricted. The first class is the assault class, which requires the player to be in the thick of battle with light weapons and med kits to revive players. The second class is the support class, which is a little more involved with shooting than the assault class. They specialize in suppressing the enemy when making pushes towards objectives. They tote heavy machine guns and grenade guns that pack a punch in ways the other classes can't. The engineer is the third class, favoring in weapons designed to destroy and repair vehicles. If you want a ride, it's best to ride with an engineer. And lastly, my personal favorite, the recon class likes to use sniper rifles and spotting equipment to help their team with intel on enemy locations and vehicles. Each class is unique and offers players a nice slate of choices that compliment each other very well. Be warned, though, their is quite a bit of a learning curve if you're not used to a game like this.

Online gameplay

When you choose your role, you can finally engage in the massive, up to 64-player battlefield.
Unlike some other shooters, this one embraces teamwork. You work best, and gain the most rewards, when you are working together with your squad. Your squad is a handful of randomly chosen teammates, and by working together, your squad can earn more points for your team. Not only does this make your team happy, it raises a squad meter that rewards your group with bonuses like increases running speed and stealth for each new tier reached. The customization menu allows you to personalize your rewards by category, further demonstrating the flexibility the game offers you.

In some modes, you can further your experience by controlling vehicles like tanks, planes, and boats. All methods of transportation have the potential to turn the tide of battle. Yet, as fun as most vehicles are to drive, aircrafts come with a steep learning curve, so it's wise that the game implements a test range for you to practice on.

As evidenced by the squad mechanics, the game requires you to be helpful and supportive of team members in order to be successful. I can say first hand, that if your teammates play selfishly, your faction will be dominated quickly and mercilessly. While it feels very challenging at times, the satisfaction you get upon victory will almost always feel amazing. Not only will teamwork get results, but being tactful and patient with your squad will net you an immense feeling of accomplishment. This aspect of the game is why players keep coming back to Battlefield, and there really aren't a lot of shooters that can replicate this multiplayer experience.

Progression

When you're not thinking about the team, you have to think about yourself. After each battle, you reap the experience you earned in-game and unlock rewards. These rewards range from attachments, to whole guns, to paint jobs. While some games tend to make you grind for the things you want, the generous points system allows for quick leveling in classes you play most. The system is very balanced from what I've seen. Someone could earn an attachment within a couple games fairly easily, but would have to work harder for the bigger rewards. The progression system makes sense, and it plays fair.

"Levolution"

A new feature called, "Levolution", is added to the fray, making the maps just as dynamic as the battles. Upon certain triggers, some maps will have events that change the landscape, like incoming storms or collapsing skyscrapers. While they are impressive at first, the shock value does go away. That in itself isn't a bad thing, however. It might not be a 'wow' moment anymore, but it still doesn't change the fact that your strategy will be altered when an event happens, so it still has a sense of freshness to it. While having your planned ruined sounds annoying, successfully switching tactics on a dime feels extremely rewarding.

Crashing ships are quite normal for "Levolution" events

Presentation

Presentation-wise, the game looks astonishing, and the Frostbite 3 engine on the PS4 puts other games to shame in terms of the graphical fidelity. What's also impressive, is the sheer size of the game. All the maps are extremely large and detailed, giving the player the impression of fighting in something bigger than themselves. Seeing 64 players shoot, drive, and sneak all at once provides a sense of surrealism not many other shooters can emulate. Other than that, there isn't much else to the presentation other than dynamic visuals. The soundtrack just feels a little bit off to me. Hopefully you're into synth beats, because boy does this game have it. There are some hiccups like clipping and maybe other glitches, but all in all, there isn't anything game-breaking that I've come across. A lot of people have experienced frequent crashes when booting up the game, while others have reported losing progress made in campaign and online modes. This is something I haven't come across in my play-throughs, but it has happened enough to others for DICE and EA to acknowledge the mishaps. Apparently, it is so bad that EA announced they will stop production for future additions to the game until the current problems are fixed.

Some other thoughts

I would lastly like to point out that the actual shooting itself feels rock solid. Each gun adds an appropriate amount of weight, and character movement feels right. Also, while this is just a matter of personal taste, the blue and orange aesthetic they added to the game's menus and box art just doesn't do it for me. It feels like they were trying to add a personality to the game that just doesn't belong. This really isn't much of an issue for me though, as it doesn't seep into actual in-game environments.

Overall

The game is incredible and well worth your time. If you like deep, online experiences, there isn't really any other game like this one. It's a shame a game such as this one has plagued many with crashing systems and lost progression. Hopefully EA and DICE can sort it out soon. Also, it really is too bad the single player lacks any sort of soul. Despite the problems, I can't help but still feel amazed by the game. As long as you have an internet connection, there is plenty of enjoyment to be had.

RATING: 9/10

All screenshots were taken by ito007 in-game. Battlefield 4 is a game developed by DICE and published by EA (Electronic Arts). Screenshots were taken from the Playstation 4 version.