Battlefield 4

"Prepare 4 Battle"

- Battlefield 4 tagline

Battlefield 4 is the thirteenth installment in the Battlefield Series and is currently being developed by DICE. It is the sequel to Battlefield 3 and will be available for current and next-generation consoles. The game was announced by Frank Gibeau, President of Electronic Arts.

Singleplayer
The story, according to the official Battlefield website, follows American VIPs' evacuation from Shanghai and an American squad struggling to make their way back home. In the 17-minute gameplay trailer released on March 26, 2013, the player is seen engaging Russian special operators, confirming Russia's return as a faction. In addition, China is confirmed as another faction, as, at the trailer's end, an unidentified caller can be heard going toward the east coast of China.

The trailer reveal showcased a campaign mission called "Fishing in Baku," Baku being the capital and largest city of Azerbaijan, which lies on the Caspian Sea's coast.

A trailer over the mission "Angry Sea" was released, showing "Tombstone" squad escaping from an American aircraft carrier after coming under attack.

Multiplayer
Many elements from Battlefield 3 return, such as the same four class system, killcams, as well as increased destruction while many other features from past installments also return. Specializations have been changed to "Field specializations" where the squad will get different specializations as their objective earned points is increased. DICE announced at E3 2013 that, as before, current-generation copies of the game will have a limit of 24 players due to hardware restrictions while PCs and next-generation consoles will support up to 64 players. It was also announced that the game would run at 60 FPS on next-gen consoles and that squads would now have a maximum number of five players per squad. Multiplayer progress is not transferable between platforms, including current and next-gen consoles.

Classes
All classes featured in the previous installment return in Battlefield 4, although with a few changes.


 * Assault - It's rumored that the Defibrillators now have a charge time, but this is unconfirmed.


 * Support - Support no longer carries C4, and it's weapons now have an increased suppression effect compared to other classes.


 * Recon - The Motion Sensor makes a return from Bad Company 2, and Recon now carries C4. In addition, the ability to adjust scopes to compensate for distance, also known as Zeroing, has been added.


 * Engineer - The Engineer class is now equipped with PDW's to emphasize it's close quarters role, with Carbines now being All-Kit Weapons along with Designated Marksman Rifles (DMR's) and Shotguns.

Factions
In addition to Russia and the United States, Battlefield 4 sees the return of China, a faction which previously appeared in Battlefield 2.

Features

 * Levolution - Increased destruction that is based on a level radically changing in gameplay through the player's actions
 * Spectator Mode - A feature new to the frostbite engine that allows users to view all players in first-person, third-person, or roam the map with a free camera. There is also a "Table Top" view mode, which is essentially a map with every unit spotted
 * Commander Mode - Originally a feature from Battlefield 2, it allows the commander on each team from a overhead view to call in flag specific resources that are gained or lost depending on who has control of the flag.
 * Renting Servers - Players will again have the ability to purchase multiplayer Servers and customize its settings in a manner similar to Battlefield 3.

Beta
It was revealed that those who pre-ordered Medal of Honor: Warfighter would gain exclusive access to the Battlefield 4 Beta. DICE later announced that those who had pre-ordered the Battlefield Digital Deluxe edition, or were Battlefield Premium members, would also have access to the beta. It has been confirmed to be made available in the Fall of 2013, but if it will eventually become an open beta has yet to be announced.

Second Assault
On June 10th, 2013, DICE unveiled Battlefield 4: Second Assault during the Microsoft Press Conference at E3 2013. It was announced that it would be the first expansion pack to be released for Battlefield 4 and would do so first on the Xbox One. The expansion features the return of four fan favorite maps from Battlefield 3.

China Rising
On May 21st, 2012, DICE unveiled Battlefield 4: China Rising on a Battlelog post and stated that it would include four new maps on the Chinese mainland, new vehicles, and high-tech equipment. It was stated to be rewarded to players who pre-ordered the game at no extra cost.

Digital Deluxe Edition
EA announced on its website that the Digital Deluxe Edition is available for pre-order on Origin.

Trivia

 * Battlefield 4 has been confirmed to be set in 2020, but will maintain a modern day atmosphere. The current confirmed factions are Russia, China, and the United States. It is also to be set in and around China, as well as other parts of Asia.
 * The pictures in the title image show the city of Shanghai and a Chinese J-20 fighter jet.
 * On March 18, 2013, a seven second teaser was posted, depicting Type 98 tank treads beginning to move, as well as a date (March 27, 2013), which was then confirmed on the website to be when another part of Battlefield 4 was revealed. This was only available to logged-in Origin users, however.
 * On March 21, 2013, a fifteen second teaser was posted, depicting some kind of ship turbine. Additionally, an image featuring a burning aircraft carrier was revealed in the Battlefield 4 official website.
 * Battlefield 4 is being developed for next-gen consoles (PlayStation 4 and Xbox One), and is being scaled down to be compatible for the current generation consoles (Playstation 3 and Xbox 360).
 * The key art was leaked in a supposed Battlefield 4 trailer before it was officially released.
 * Battlefield 4 is the first game in the series to include gore, as evidenced by the player using his combat knife, through a quick-time event, to cut off an NPC's leg in the gameplay trailer to save him from an exploding UH-1Y Venom.
 * This is probably a non-optional choice, as the downed helicopter explodes right after the player finishes cutting the limb off.
 * The female soldier, Hanna, was seen at the end of the 17 minute gameplay trailer released on March 27, 2013, alongside what appeared to be an American soldier in the background.
 * In the description, it mentions new intense, water-based vehicle combat. Attendees of the March 26 screening events have mentioned jet skis and naval craft being included.
 * The Russian special operative soldiers in the 17 minute gameplay trailer appear to based on the Russian Army multiplayer characters from Battlefield 3. This may simply be a placeholder for future character models.
 * The US soldier on the cover art holds what appears to be a Mk14 EBR.
 * There is now an animation for countering a Knife Takedown attack, and doing so takes the dog tags as well, just as would happen if one was to successfully Knife a player with a Takedown.

Soundtrack
On March 24, 2013, a song in Battlefield 4 titled "Hanna's Theme", composed by Johan Skugge & Jukka Rintamaki, was leaked. Both composers had worked on Battlefield 3's soundtrack.