No Holds Barred Review - Battlefield 4 (PC)

Battlefield 4 (PC)

            Coming into this review I can’t help but get the unsettling feeling that I’m about to throw myself onto a fire but needs must  and I’ll be damned if I let the time I’ve pushed into this game go to waste and so with that said…

Welcome ladies and gentlemen. I’m the Guardian and this is the No Holds Barred review of EA/DICEs latest offering to Modern Military FPS - Battlefield 4.

            Now just so you all know, I’m a story gamer first and a multiplayer gamer second. That’s not to say however that I never play multiplayer but rather the single-player is what will get me to buy a game. In the instance of Battlefield 4 though; this situation is reversed.

In the case of Battlefield 4 if find my usual cause for buying a game reversed as it was the multiplayer that pulled me into the game (or rather this review pulled me in and the multiplayer ended up becoming my reason to stay) and as such I have spent my time mostly on that and so far from what I’ve seen of said multiplayer I can conclude this; for all the bugs, crashes, dodgy frame-rate and laggy servers I can quite honestly say that I enjoyed playing the Battlefield 4 multiplayer. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that I don’t have my problems with it but I will say that I have had a lot of fun playing it. Be it running around randomly or actually amercing myself into the massive 64 player maps, feeling like I’m in the middle of a full on warzone as I dodge between abandoned buildings or crawling through the brush to silently take out an enemy sniper or even plant C4 onto a tank in order to blow it to hell I’ve had fun, and if that gets boring then I can just flick into Commander mode and take control of the battle. Also the game itself has a fantastic set of colour-blind options, which for me is an absolute must considering I severely struggle to play the game otherwise, but sadly it seems DICE has failed to give this same consideration to their “BattleScreen” mode on BattleLog or their new Commander App on iOS & Android. As I played through the multiplayer, I couldn’t help but strongly suspect that one of the things that make the Battlefield 4 multiplayer feel so strong is the simple fact that it is basically a carbon copy of the Battlefield 3 multiplayer with updated graphics, more destructibility and a few extra gameplay modes added on to make it look shiny. However, with that being said, Battlefield 3’s multiplayer was hardly bad and this is just an updated version of it so I can’t really make much of a complaint about it. On the other hand however, the servers are laggy, matchmaking is picky over whether it wants to connect you to a server or not, frame rates are all over the place which leads you to being killed even if you have successfully retreated behind cover, the game has a habit of crashing randomly during gameplay and then there’s the loading time into matches which is an absolute joke and has you waiting for what feels like an age as you just sit there staring at a black screen while waiting for the match to start - apparently though, this is only for the first time you load into a map and all consecutive load ins are much faster, I have yet to see this though.

As for the multiplayer game modes, Battlefield 4 hosts 10 game modes in the full game such as classic conquest, rush classic, domination and team deathmatch with the addition of obliteration and defuse as an brand new game modes for the franchise. DICE have also promised that new game modes will be coming in future DLC releases. In terms of maps, Battlefield 4 boasts 10 multiplayer maps in the full game with an addition of 8 more maps in the DLC releases – these releases being China Rising and Second Assault.

Commander mode has also made a triumphant return to the Battlefield franchise after a leave of absence from Battlefield 3. Setting you in a top down strategic view of the map, commander mode allows one player from each side to take control of several tools that will help their team gain the upper hand in the match. These tools include launching UAVs & EMP UAVs to revile enemy positions on the map or to disrupt enemy communication, ordering specific squads to a single location on the map, launching a cruise missile at enemy locations or even dropping in supplies and vehicles for their team to use in order to keep the battle going. Not all tools are available straight off the bat however as in some game modes such as classic conquest, some of the tools such as the AC-130 gunship or the cruise missiles can only be unlocked by your team taking control of certain objectives on the map. As for squad items such as supply drops, these can only be used by paying a set amount of commander points that you will earn as you play through the match. The ability to play as commander isn’t just tied to PC or console though as DICE have released a Commander App on iOS and Android which allows players to link up to a live game server and take command of a match. As I have mentioned previously however, you won’t have access to any colour blind mode on the App so if you’re like me and struggle to tell the difference between the squad and enemy colours you may struggle a bit. All in all, the entire Commander mode is a fantastic addition to the game and one of my all-time favourite roles to play.

            Graphically Battlefield 4 is a step up from that of Battlefield 3 in the aspects of models and environments but this is only a marginal step up considering that I needed to do a side-by-side comparison between Battlefield 4 and Battlefield 3 in order to figure out the changes DICE had made. This is not to say that the graphical updates present in BF4 serve no purpose as the newest additions to Frostbite 3 include a massive update to environmental effects which are particularly staggering when actually noticed. This includes graphical updates to the games particle, lighting and shadow effects. As for the Frostbite 3 engine itself, I’m a tad taken back by its power as it doesn’t disappoint in its ability to render the mass destructibility we have all come to expect after the success of the previous Frostbite engines. It is also often forgotten that the Frostbite engine doesn’t just create destructible environments but also creates the graphical environments seen in-game, a feat that Frostbite 2 did very well and feat that Frostbite 3 has done exceptionally well as the game looks and feels as good as ever with more lifelike environments than before. I suspect however that Battlefield 4’s patchwork nature, brought on by how many patches and bug fixes are attached to its programming code due to its legendarily bad launch, has affected the games optimization on PC somewhat.

            Sound wise the game seems to be lacking in the area of soundtrack, or at least any memorable soundtrack, as the only pieces of soundtrack I can remember hearing during my play through of the game are the Battlefield main theme, which surprisingly enough is much improved from the rendition we got in Battlefield 3, and a stupid variation of said theme where somebody though it would be the epitome of good ideas to mix a colossal amount of feedback into the mix which left me wanting to slice my speakers up with a katana. These where only heard in the campaign however as there isn’t much, if anything, in the way of soundtrack in the multiplayer. As far as soundtrack goes in the multiplayer, all that plays is the ambient in game sounds of players shooting each other in the face. Mentioning shooting, or to be more specific; gunshots, the sound assets of the game are pretty good, even down to the sound a helicopter makes as I try to take off and instantaneously get reminded why I never pilot in Battlefield as it flies over backwards and crashes rotor first into the ground - or the dam underneath it. On a side note, I can’t help but wonder just how many of these assets where inherited from Battlefield 3.

            
         As for Battlefields gameplay, characters and vehicles control exactly how they did in Battlefield 3. The rest of the gameplay however has received a new jolt of life in the form of a new mechanic to the game that DICE have christened “Levolution”. Levelution is a new dynamic system that utilises the power of the Frostbite 3 engine as well as map assets to create dynamically changing maps based around player actions such as raising bollards to block incoming vehicles, closing shop shutters to stop enemy fire, knocking down walkways or blowing up walls to create new paths, or setting off car alarms or blowing out the electricity of a building to disoriented enemies to help change the tide of battle and open up new ways to play and to win. The new Levolution system doesn’t just stop with changing the map layout however as it also dynamically changes the look and feel of the map throughout matches by changing the weather and lighting in real time and bringing with it a further level of challenge to the player such as navigating through fog, parachuting though strong winds or even sniping through a torrential downpour. Finally there are the massive scripted events that players will be able to trigger during the course of the game which will change the field of battle dramatically. These include collapsing a skyscraper to move a capture point to an easier to reach location, destroying a dam to flood the entire map or crashing a massive ship into a small island to create a choke point between 2 sides of the map. Personally I think this is a brilliant system and very welcome addition to the franchise so here’s hoping that DICE will be able to keep going strong with this and take their Levolution system to the next level with future instalments.

And now it’s time for us to look at the single-player portion of Battlefield 4 and OH what fun this will be. The overall play of the campaign isn’t that bad as it has the definite feeling of being built on top of the finished multiplayer with the surprising addition of the scoring mechanic which left the campaign feeling a lot like a classic arcade shooter which I personally think was a very nice touch and I would be lying if I didn’t admit that the campaign also had some pretty good cinematic moments along the way left me giving a nod of appreciation to the designers of the game but these moments were sadly few and very far between. Another plus point I can give to the Battlefield 4 campaign is that the story is better than the story in Battlefield 3, mostly because this story didn’t feel like a ‘BLACK’ rip-off and made a touch more sense. Once again presented with an enemy that’s out to destroy America but for once the enemy, in a nice change of pace, isn’t shown to run away with its tail between its legs with no other reason than “because America” but rather we see a country that has been led astray by the lies of a madman and will one day come to peace with itself and possibly become a strong ally once said madman is gone, it’s just a shame that the final resolution felt a bit rushed. That being said though, the mission leading up to it is a surprisingly tense situation, for a FPS of the CoD generation, which left me leaning into my screen unsure of what could happen. DICE has also added a couple of new additions to gameplay to try and switch up the stale formula that we usually see in these games, this includes a command mode (I’ll get to that in a moment), a targeting system so you can mark enemy location on the map and two types of supply cache with one allowing you to change your weapon loadout mid game and the other allowing to change gadget loadout, items such as RPG’s and AT mines, mid game.

Sadly these few points are the only glints of good in the single-player campaign as the rest, for the most part, is pretty bad. The voice acting is pretty flat throughout the story, the Russians are once again an enemy for no reason other than wanting to fight America for the 2 billionth time, the AI seems to only want to shoot straight when you use the new command system - which is basically just pressing Q every 2 minutes - otherwise they will stand around shouting or just shoot in random directions around the target, you are constantly told “you are squad lead” and “you give the orders” when in actual fact you are nothing more than a glorified cameraman who stands around and shoots when the game tells you to while the rest of the characters play out the story for you with the occasional ‘Press – Q’ or ‘Press – E’ button prompt to continue the story, you are once again a silent protagonist who has no personality or emotion other that gasping for breath or grunting in pain OH and lastly we have the campaigns greatest sin which is quite simply this, the campaign is really BORING! I can’t even begin to tell you how boring and how much of a slog I found this campaign too be to get through. It’s a real shame as well because for all my complaints about the campaign, the story wasn’t bad, it was far from brilliant; but it wasn’t bad. As for what went wrong with the campaign (other than the acting) we look at the execution of the story which gives us this answer, the story was horribly executed and done it such a way that they turned what would have been a good story into a mindless corridor shooter that had the mind numbing ability of chilled aesthetic. One of the main causes for this is that the campaign would have been so much better if DICE had taken a leaf out of Treyarch or BioWare’s book and implemented branching dialogue options and more choice into the game rather than making it a corridor shooter in all the worst ways. As I sit here writing this review I can’t help but also wonder if DICE originally planned to implement more dynamic conversations into the campaign but ran out of time to put it into place for the full game release. Maybe I’m just looking to deeply into all of this but planned or not I still maintained that with some more flashing out in the gameplay, and using Black Ops 2 as a guide of sorts, Battlefield 4 could have had something good as a campaign, it’s just a shame that it didn’t come to fruition.

Lastly, before I move onto my final verdict I just want to say that I can’t place all the blame on DICE for the bug and server related problems with Battlefield 4. In fact I think it goes without saying that the true cause behind all of this is more than likely EA and their continual method of pushing unfinished games through to release, at full retail price, long before they are ready while making promises of patching and bug fixing post release as if it’s some kind of get-out-free excuse to just push the matter aside as if there is no problem at all. Well just for the record EA, and I know I’m saying the same things as so many other people but, this is a practice which desperately needs to stop. Why the hell can’t you look past your sodding bank account and think of the fans for once? This is why you are a subject of so much hate and mockery you know, because you keep doing all this bullshit and then go along your merry way thinking that it is perfectly alight to keep screwing the fans over and that they all still love you but guess what, it isn’t alright and the vast majority of the fans do hate you. I know you’re not going to listen to any of us though; you’re much too busy listening to the change jingle as it goes to the bank rather that to hear the sound of your very own death knell.

And there you have it, my full no holds barred review of Battlefield 4 (and rant at EA as well it seems) so with that all that’s left to do is pass down my final verdict of the game.             Now if I look past all the problems it suffered at launch then I could quite happily award this game with a 6/10. However, in all good conscience I can’t do that (not to mention I’d be a pretty bad reviewer if I did) so when I take into consideration all the bugs, server problems and the awfully executed single-player campaign I hereby award Battlefield 4 a solid…

5/10 – Average

            And with that ladies and gentlemen, I am the Guardian and I thank you dearly for reading. Goodbye and be safe.