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The fourth installment in the famous first-person shooter franchise, now available for download on Windows

The fourth installment in the famous first-person shooter franchise, now available for download on Windows

Vote: (89 votes)

Program license: Paid

Developer: ELECTRONIC ARTS

Works under: Windows

Vote:

Program license

(89 votes)

Paid

Developer

ELECTRONIC ARTS

Works under:

Windows

Pros

  • Ambitious and effective map design
  • Large-scale environments and warfare
  • Long-term satisfying multiplayer
  • Many weapons, vehicles and customizations

Cons

  • Forgettable single-player campaign
  • Balance issues in multiplayer

Battlefield 4 is a first-person shooter that offers a single-player campaign and competitive multiplayer.

Battlefield 4 is a first-person shooter developed by EA DICE and released on October 29, 2013. The game includes both a single-player narrative game and online multiplayer. Players have access to seven distinct multiplayer modes. One of the modes is Conquest, which is generally considered to be the definitive Battlefield experience in this title and in previous titles. Although featuring notable actor Michael Kenneth Williams as the main character, the single-player experience was largely panned.

The setting for Battlefield is a fictional war set in the then-future that the game refers to as the War of 2020—which involves heightened tensions between the United States, Russia and China. The single-player campaign uses this setting as the backdrop, but the setting also provides the framework for the various multiplayer modes. Although there is not much narrative gameplay in multiplayer, there are many environments from the setting and environmental storytelling that helps establish time and place.

The Battlefield 4 single-player campaign has the player experience the game through the eyes of Sgt. Daniel Recker—who goes by the handle Reck. He is second-in-command of a USMC squad known as Tombstone. The game continues the story told in Battlefield, and takes place six years later, which makes it more of a direct sequel than is usual for the Battlefield franchise. Controlling Reck, the player will at times be solo, alongside his squad mates and with a CIA operative known as Agent W—who was in the last game. The player gets to shoot on foot as well as operate a wide range of vehicles.

As mentioned in the opener, the single-player campaign was largely panned by video game critics. This is not necessarily reflected in its OpenCritic score and similar metrics because Battlefield will always be judged first and foremost based on the multiplayer experience it delivers. Nevertheless, if the campaign is something you want to play, it was criticized for being too short and for a narrative that was not compelling and was riddled with plot holes. The campaign should at the very least be an effective tutorial that teaches you how to control the various vehicles, but most agreed it did not do that either.

The multiplayer, on the other hand, was largely praised critically; although it did seem a bit polarizing among the hardcore fan early on—but that may have been due to how well-liked the third installment was. One thing that Battlefield has always done well is thrust you into large-scale chaos where you work alongside your teammates and against other teams as you strive to win a battle. During this battle, engagements can take place on foot, on the sea, in the skies and so forth.

As mentioned earlier, Conquest is the definitive Battlefield experience: large-scale team-based multiplayer with vehicles and up to 64 people in a match. Domination is similar to Conquest but involves infantry only, which means that none of the vehicles are available. Obliteration is a new game mode for Battlefield 4 that is essentially a search and destroy mode where you have to deliver bombs. Defuse involves only infantry and forces you into tight quarters. Team Deathmatch delivers the classic team deathmatch experience—but with vehicles! Rush is a tug-of-war-style game mode, and Squad Deathmatch is just like Team Deathmatch except that it involves four rather than two squads.

Battlefield 4 features more maps, more weapons, more vehicles and more customizations than any Battlefield that had come before it. The game released with 84 guns—that number has since increased—and most guns can accommodate multiple attachments of which there are many. It also boasts more than a dozen categories of vehicles, including attack helicopters, attack jets, stealth jets, anti-air, mobile artillery, boats, battle tanks and missile launchers. Customizations are various ways you can personalize your avatar and weapons, and these are earned in various ways through gameplay.

EA released five DLC packs for Battlefield 4: China Rising, Second Assault, Naval Strike, Dragon’s Teeth and Final Stand. If you have the regular edition of the game, these must be purchased separately. There is also a Premium edition that includes it all and a season pass that collects all of the DLC. All of the DLC is multiplayer-focused and may be considered a must-have for the multiplayer player because each pack adds four maps, a new game mode, new vehicles, new weapons and so forth.

About eight months after release, DICE added microtransactions: $1, $2 and $3 battlepacks. These contain accessories, profile pics, emblem backgrounds, XP boosters and so forth. While this addition did create a bit of a stink, it is worth noting that these battlepacks are the same goodies found during normal gameplay without paying and the chance rate is that same as it was before paid packs.

The biggest knock against Battlefield 4 multiplayer on release were the bugs and glitches that were bad enough to ruin the experience for some players on multiple occasions. The good new is that most of those issues have been fixed as of this writing. Multiplayer balance, however, has never been truly sorted out. The balance issues are not game-breakers, but they do create a meta, and that means that your favorite gun may put you at a disadvantage.

Pros

  • Ambitious and effective map design
  • Large-scale environments and warfare
  • Long-term satisfying multiplayer
  • Many weapons, vehicles and customizations

Cons

  • Forgettable single-player campaign
  • Balance issues in multiplayer