No edit summary Tags: Visual edit apiedit |
No edit summary Tags: Visual edit apiedit |
||
| Line 9: | Line 9: | ||
|genre = First-person shooter |
|genre = First-person shooter |
||
|platform = [[wikipedia:Microsoft Windows|Windows]], [[wikipedia:Xbox One|Xbox One]], [[wikipedia:PlayStation 4|PlayStation 4]]<br>[[wikipedia:PlayStation 3|Playstation 3]]<br>[[wikipedia:Xbox 360|Xbox 360]]<br>[[wikipedia:iOS|iOS]] (Testing) |
|platform = [[wikipedia:Microsoft Windows|Windows]], [[wikipedia:Xbox One|Xbox One]], [[wikipedia:PlayStation 4|PlayStation 4]]<br>[[wikipedia:PlayStation 3|Playstation 3]]<br>[[wikipedia:Xbox 360|Xbox 360]]<br>[[wikipedia:iOS|iOS]] (Testing) |
||
| − | |image = [[File:Battlefield 4 Cover.jpg| |
+ | |image = [[File:Battlefield 4 Cover.jpg|275px]] |
|caption = |
|caption = |
||
|released = PS3/X360/PC: <br/><sup>NA</sup> October 29, 2013<br/><sup>EU/AU</sup> October 31, 2013<br/> PlayStation 4: <br /><sup>NA</sup> November 12, 2013<br/><sup>EU/AU</sup> November 29, 2013<br/> Xbox One: <br/><sup>NA</sup> November 19, 2013<br/><sup>EU/AU</sup> November 22, 2013|music = [[File:Battlefield_4_Main_Theme.ogg|center]]}} |
|released = PS3/X360/PC: <br/><sup>NA</sup> October 29, 2013<br/><sup>EU/AU</sup> October 31, 2013<br/> PlayStation 4: <br /><sup>NA</sup> November 12, 2013<br/><sup>EU/AU</sup> November 29, 2013<br/> Xbox One: <br/><sup>NA</sup> November 19, 2013<br/><sup>EU/AU</sup> November 22, 2013|music = [[File:Battlefield_4_Main_Theme.ogg|center]]}} |
||
Revision as of 13:14, 2 January 2017
— Rear cover of Battlefield 4 box art
Battlefield 4 (also known as BF4) is the thirteenth installment in the Battlefield Series developed by DICE and published by EA. It is the sequel to Battlefield 3 and was released on the Xbox 360, Playstation 3, and PC on October 29, 2013. It is the first game in the franchise also released on eighth generation consoles, being released for the Playstation 4 on November 12, 2013 and the Xbox One on November 19 of the same year. Battlefield 4 is also available for unlimited play for EA Access members on the Xbox One as one of the service's launch titles.
Achievements and Trophies
- Main article: Battlefield 4 Achievements and Trophies
Overview
Many elements from Battlefield 3 as well as other past installments return, such as the same four class system, a similar heads-up display, kill cams, as well as increased destruction. Players can now use dual-scoped weapons, including weapons with different firing modes (e.g. single shots, automatic fire). Players now have more survival capabilities, such as countering melee attacks from the front while standing or crouching, shooting with their sidearm while swimming, and diving underwater to avoid enemy detection.
Battlefield 4/Singleplayer
Battlefield 4/Multiplayer
Downloadable Content
China Rising
On May 21, 2013, DICE unveiled Battlefield 4: China Rising on a Battlelog post and stated that it would include four new maps on the Chinese mainland, ten new assignments, new vehicles, as well as the Air Superiority gamemode. It is available to those who pre-ordered the game at no extra cost. It released on December 3, 2013 to Premium members and was released on December 17, 2013 non-premium members.
Second Assault
On June 10, 2013, DICE unveiled Battlefield 4: Second Assault during the Microsoft Press Conference at E3 2013. The expansion features the return of four fan favorite maps from Battlefield 3 and introduces Capture the Flag as a new gamemode. It released on November 22, 2013 on Xbox One as an timed exclusive to Premium owners on the platform. Premium members for other platfos gained access to the expansion on February 18, 2014 while non-premium members obtained access on March 4, 2014.
On August 20, 2013, DICE unveiled Battlefield 4: Naval Strike at Gamescom 2013. The expansion focuses heavily on naval combat, introducing Carrier Assault, a reimagined version of the Titan gamemode. The expansion features four naval centered maps as well as new weapons and vehicles. It released for Premium members on March 25, 2014 and due to technical difficulties, released for Xbox One Premium members on March 27, 2014 and PC Premium members on March 31, 2014. Non-Premium members obtained access on April 15, 2014.
Dragon's Teeth
On August 20, 2013, DICE unveiled Battlefield 4: Dragon's Teeth at Gamescom 2013. Taking place in the urban environments of war-torn cities all across Asia locked down by the People's Liberation Army, it features four new maps as well as new weapons and gadgets. It became available to Premium members on July 15, 2014 and was released for Non-Premium members on July 29, 2014.
Final Stand
On August 20, 2013, DICE unveiled Battlefield 4: Final Stand at Gamescom 2013. The expansion is a throwback to Battlefield 2142, taking place toward the end of the War of 2020 and setting the stages for the eventual war of the future. The expansion includes four maps as well as futuristic weapons and vehicles. It was released on November 18, 2014 for Premium members and December 2, 2014 for Non-Premium members.
Operations
Battlefield 4: Operations is a series of free content released in 2015 following the release of the Final Stand expansion. This was done following the announced from DICE that they would continue to support the game following the release of Battlefield Hardline. The Weapons Crate Pack was released on May 26, 2015 and included five new weapons and reintroduced the Gun Master gamemode from Battlefield 3. Night Operations was released on September 1, 2015 alongside the Summer 2015 patch to introduce Zavod Graveyard Shift. Community Operations was released on October 27, 2015 alongside the Fall 2015 patch to introduce Operation Outbreak which was developed from heavy collaboration from the Battlefield community. Legacy Operations was released on December 15, 2015 alongside the Winter 2015 patch to introduce a modern version of Dragon Valley. On March 11, 2016 DICE announced that the Community Test Environment would no longer be recieving updates, as DICE was moving forward on the development of the next Battlefield. This effectively put an end to the Operations DLC.
Battlefield Premium
Battlefield Premium returns, functioning similar to its Battlefield 3 counterpart. It grants owners access to all expansions at no extra cost as well as exclusive content and events. It became available at launch, with a Premium edition later released on October 21, 2014.
| ||||||||
Novel
Battlefield 4: Countdown to War is a novel written by Peter Grimsdale and is set before the event of the game's singleplayer campaign. The novel centers around Agent Kovic, providing a back-story for Tombstone. It was released on October 24, 2013.
Soundtrack
- Main article: Battlefield 4: Original 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.
Development
Electronic Arts President Frank Gibeau confirmed the company's intention to release a sequel to Battlefield 3 at the University of California where he said "There is going to be a Battlefield 4". On October 25, 2011, DICE told Eurogamer it was their hope that they would one day get the opportunity to make Battlefield 4. Battlefield 4 is built on the new Frostbite 3 engine. The new Frostbite engine enables more realistic environments with higher resolution textures and particle effects. A new "networked water" system was also being introduced, allowing all players in the game to see the same wave at the same time. Tessellation has also been overhauled.
An Alpha Trial commenced on June 17, 2013 with invitations randomly emailed to Battlefield 3 players the day prior. The trial ran for two weeks and featured the Siege of Shanghai map with all of its textures removed, essentially making it a "whitebox" test.[2] Due to mixed reception of the two-player Co-op Mode in Battlefield 3, DICE decided not to include the mode in Battlefield 4 so as to focus on improving both the campaign and multiplayer components instead. AMD and DICE have partnered for AMD's Mantle API to be used on Battlefield 4. This will allow for a boost in performance on AMD graphic cards allowing a higher level of hardware-optimized performances than is possible with OpenGL or DirectX.
A Wii U version was intended for development, however, due the former's low sales, EA cancelled their support for the console.
DICE announced at E3 2013 that, as before, current-generation copies of the game have a limit of 24 players due to hardware restrictions while PCs and next-generation consoles 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.[3] Multiplayer progress is transferable between current-gen and next-gen consoles. A port of the game for iOS is currently in development though it is unknown whether or not it will be released.[4]
Following the release of the game and its first three expansion packs, the Community Test Environment was introduced in May 2014 to allow for better development of new in-game assets and gameplay balances. It was used in conjunction with the development of the Dragon's Teeth and Final Stand expansions and was instrumental in the continued support of the game by DICE LA through the series of Opertions DLC that was released throughout 2015 and 2016. The last Operations DLC to be released was Legacy Operations which released on December 15, 2016. On March 11th, 2016 DICE LA announced that Battlefield 4 would not be receiving anymore updates due to the development of Battlefield 1, effectively ending support for Battlefield 4.
Despite this, the game received its last major update with Patch 1.23 on August 25, 2016 which introduced a major overhaul to its main menu interface. This was done to make Battlefield 4 and Battlefield Hardine's main menu the same as Battlefield 1. The resulting interface made it easier to switch between these Battlefield games, create Squads, join matches, and provided gameplay tip videos for newer players.
Beta
The Beta became available on October 1, 2013 for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and PC to those who pre-ordered Medal of Honor: Warfighter, Battlefield Digital Deluxe edition, or are Battlefield 3 Premium members. The Beta then became open to everyone on October 4, 2013.
PC Players could pre-download the beta on September 29, 2013, though the platform was required to have 64-bit hardware to run the beta. The beta featured Siege of Shanghai and on Conquest and Domination with the Obliteration later added on October 9, 2013. The Beta ended on October 15, 2013.
Demo
A demo of the game was released on May 26, 2014 on Playstation 3, offering players up to twenty hours of the game's multiplayer.
Issues
Upon release, Battlefield 4 was riddled with major technical bugs, glitches and crashes across all platforms. EA and DICE soon began releasing several patches for the game on all systems and DICE later revealed that development on of its all future games (including Mirror's Edge, Star Wars: Battlefront and Battlefield 4 expansions) would be halted until Battlefield 4 was properly fixed. Because of the widespread bugs and glitches that were present, EA became the target of multiple law firms. The firm Holzer Holzer & Fistel, LLC launched an investigation into EA's public statements made between July 24 and December 4, 2013 to determine if the company intentionally misled its investors with information pertaining to, "the development and sales of the Company's Battlefield 4 video game and the game's impact on EA's revenue and projects moving forward."
Shortly thereafter, the law firm Robbins Geller Rudman and Dowd similarly filed a class action lawsuit against EA for releasing false or misleading statements about the quality of Battlefield 4. A second class action lawsuit was announced only days later from the firm Bower Piven, which alleged that EA violated the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 by not properly informing its investors about the major bugs and glitches during development that may have prevented the investors from making an informed decision about Battlefield 4.
Marketing
Battlefield 4 was announced in July 2012 when EA advertised on their Origin client that those who pre-ordered Medal of Honor: Warfighter (either Digital Deluxe or the limited edition) would receive early access to the Battlefield 4 beta.
In March 2013, Electronic Arts opened the Battlefield 4 website with three official teasers, entitled "Prepare 4 Battle". Each hints at three kinds of battlespace: air, land and sea. EA then continued to release teaser trailers leading up to the unveiling of Battlefield 4 at the Game Developers Conference on March 26, 2013.
The following day, Battlefield 4's first gameplay trailer, which doubled as a showcase for the Frostbite 3 engine was released. Shortly thereafter, EA listed the game for pre-order on Origin for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360; however, EA excluded any mention of the next generation consoles.
DICE revealed more Battlefield 4 content in the E3 2013 event at June 10, 2013, such as multiplayer modes, and allowed participants to play the game at the same event. More information was released at Gamescom 2013 in Cologne, Germany, such as Paracel Storm and Battlefield 4 Premium.
DICE also announced that those who purchase the game for PlayStation 3 or Xbox 360 will be able to trade it in for a PlayStation 4 or Xbox One version of the game for as little as $10 for a limited amount of time. Additionally all PlayStation 3 and 4 copies will include a code in the box to redeem a digital copy on the PlayStation Store.
Special Editions
Deluxe and Digital Deluxe Edition
- Battlefield 4
- China Rising expansion
- A Steel Book Cover (Deluxe edition only)
- Three Gold Battlepacks
Premium Edition
- Battlefield 4
- Battlefield Premium
Limited Edition
- Battlefield 4
- China Rising expansion
- 2 Gigabyte Dog Tag USB Drive
- A1 Poster
Gamestop Preorder Edition
- Battlefield 4
- China Rising expansion
- Real Dog Tags with unique design
- Steel Book Cover (Included if Premium was also pre-ordered)
Holiday Edition
- Battlefield 4
- China Rising expansion
Reception
Battlefield 4 has received mostly positive reviews.
- GameSpot gave it an 8/10, giving praise to the new Obliteration mode and the multiplayer elements but was otherwise unimpressed with the campaign.
- IGN gave it an 8/10 for current generation consoles, stating that "Battlefield 4 is a greatest hits album of DICE's multiplayer legacy". The PC version scored an 8.5/10 due to the better graphics and performance on the platform.
- Joystiq gave it a 4.5/5, stating the game "drops players into a sandbox and unhooks all tethers, loosing scores of soldiers to squad up and take down the opposition however they choose". The campaign elements were praised but the multiplayer was found to not hold any surprises.
- Machinima gave it a 9.5/10, praising the new Levolution features and the multiplayer mode.
- Metacritic holds an 83/100 for the PC (based on 41 reviews),[5] 80 on the PlayStation 3 (based on 14 reviews),[6] 87 on the PlayStation 4 (based on 10 reviews),[7] and 80 on the Xbox 360 (based on 18 reviews)[8]
- GameRankings holds an 80.94/100 for the PC (based on 24 reviews),[9] 80.50% on the PlayStation 3 (based on 10 reviews),[10] 85.00% on the PlayStation 4 (based on 4 reviews),[11] and 79.36% on the Xbox 360 (based on 11 reviews).[12]
Trivia
- The image of the front cover-art shows 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 15 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 developed for next-gen consoles (PlayStation 4 and Xbox One), but was 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 to cut off an NPC's leg in Baku to save him from an exploding UH-1Y Venom.
- The cover-art of the base game features the character Daniel Recker wielding a M39 EMR equipped with a Rifle Scope, Suppressor, Bipod, Laser-Light Combo and an unidentifiable handgun.
- This is the second game in the franchise to take place in two different years, 2014 (with the Second Assault expansion) and 2020. The first game to do so was Battlefield: Bad Company 2, which took place in 1944 (Operation Aurora) and an unspecified year in the 21st century.
- In late December 2013, shortly after the release of the "China Rising" DLC pack, the Chinese Government has since banned the sale of the game. According to the Ministry, the game poses as a national security risk by smearing China's image and army in the form of a cultural invasion as the DLC includes four maps on the Chinese mainland with new vehicles, high-tech equipment and ten new assignments which the government sees as discrediting to the Chinese national image.
Galleries
Battlefield 4 Official Photos
Videos
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
References
|