Sometimes all you can say is "I was there". And possibly, "I did my bit". Earlier this summer, I flew to Stockholm in Sweden to participate in my very first 64-player match of Battlefield 4, a game that is to glistening Chinese skyscrapers what a drunk driver is to a curbside snowman. The journey itself was a breathtaking tale of everyday heroism, in which I courageously attempted to list some Swedish celebrities over dinner and at one point got lost in an airport. And the hands-on? Well, the waters are murkier. It's a problem DICE and EA have arguably created for themselves, by releasing trailers and gameplay demos of such extraordinary scale and intensity. The sight of that skyscraper spilling its glassy guts, toppling forward to faceplant the Shanghai waterfront in real time, remains one of the most next genny things that I, a humble Xbox 360 owner, have ever laid eyes on. But then you pick up a pad, and it feels quite a lot like Battlefield 3 with different maps, an expanded (on console) headcount and some new or revised secondary systems. There's nothing wrong with that, in itself. But the video coverage left me dreaming of More.
Look out for a full-fat preview in the current issue of the magazine. Here are a few additional, off-the-cuff thoughts on particular features or escapades to wash it down. As I said - I was there. Did I do my bit?
1. Getting blown up by a swimmer
A little tip: when you're driving a gunboat in Battlefield 4, and you see somebody swimming, and the effete, white-gloved Englishman in your head suggests that you "run that little bird down for sport", don't. Because swimmers in Battlefield 4 are the deadliest things of all. It's now possible to dive under the surface to escape fire (by no means a foolproof, or for that matter bulletproof strategy), or to sneak up on a boat. It's also now possible to mount C4 on things while swimming. Put those two ideas together, and what do you get? Battletroll Youtube Montage #461348: Jaws Edition.
2. Holding the centre in Domination
The Paracel Storm map isn't quite as visually impressive as the Siege of Shanghai map, a scruffy tropical island chain presided over by a US cruiser and some wind turbines. It's extremely well-designed, however, lending itself to a multitude of game types. Playing a round of Domination - infantry-only Conquest, in short - you're limited to just one of those islands, which promptly reveals itself to be a tactical equation of fearful density.
Having largely failed to make any headway in Obliteration, with the whole map available, I became miraculously good at this point. Sure, discovering that DICE had unlocked all the game's guns and class gadgets for the preview event might have had something to do with that, but I also like to think I thrive in cramped spaces. Cramped spaces like the low-walled monument that houses the map's central flag, just up from the beach and squarely between two multiple storey warehouses. That's an awfully entertaining place to find yourself when you're holding a tricked-out light machinegun, and various flavours of propelled explosive.
It's a classic Battlefield pot-boiler - the flag that's most readily accessible from either spawn, and thus the flag that's likely to be contested within tens of seconds of kick-off. I died a hell of a lot, but took a fair few people with me, using airburst grenades and fletchette guns to pulverise snipers on second floor walkways. Fortunately, a friendly on the roof directly behind the flag was happy to perform reconnaissance; with his aid, I routinely caught Engineers with their trousers down, swinging the LMG up onto cover the second I noticed a hurrying orange triangle. Those triangles, eh? Incorrigible.
3. Dropping the bomb on water
Obliteration Mode is about transporting a bomb to one of the enemy's bases, arming the thing and holding your ground till the countdown elapses. Drop the bomb en route, and it'll sit there for a bit before respawning. This also applies on water, and if you drop the bomb on water, good luck to you. Some of the bloodiest, most agonising fights in the whole match took place between islands, the area around the bomb gradually filling with the charred skeletons of gunboats and amphibious vehicles.
Most of that was my fault, in hindsight. I thought it would be a good idea to throw up some makeshift fortifications. Turns out beaching a gunboat and skulking behind it just makes you more obvious to passing helicopters, while also ensuring that when you respawn on a squadmate, it's right into the vicinity of an imminent fuel tank explosion. After the fourth death, I fled the scene of the crime and took to firing vengeful Stinger missiles from the security of a jungle. Fortunately, the other team's airforce was too preoccupied with the horrendous aquatic pile-up I'd created to care.
4. Those little moments
You don't need a couple of tanks, Commanders juggling Tomahawks and the concentrated wrath of 64 players to make a Battlefield game. Sometimes, all you need is two of you, tucked behind a shipping crate near the beach, staring fixedly at a flag that's all on its own in full view of some buildings, with no other soldiers in sight. I looked at him. He looked at me. We exchanged grim nods (read: grim reloading animations).
Then we ran for it, threw ourselves prone by the pole, writhed in an agony of suspense while the Russian flag ticked down and the US one ticked up, and hurled ourselves at last into the blissful embrace of another shipping crate. Well, I did. Slamming my shoulder against the corrugated metal, I glanced back to discover that my ally had been dead for all of 20 seconds. Where had the bullet come from? Why hadn't I heard it? What was this Claymore mine doing, right between my feet?
Source: OXM
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[h=3]References[/h]
Thanks to: Rheena.com
Look out for a full-fat preview in the current issue of the magazine. Here are a few additional, off-the-cuff thoughts on particular features or escapades to wash it down. As I said - I was there. Did I do my bit?
1. Getting blown up by a swimmer
A little tip: when you're driving a gunboat in Battlefield 4, and you see somebody swimming, and the effete, white-gloved Englishman in your head suggests that you "run that little bird down for sport", don't. Because swimmers in Battlefield 4 are the deadliest things of all. It's now possible to dive under the surface to escape fire (by no means a foolproof, or for that matter bulletproof strategy), or to sneak up on a boat. It's also now possible to mount C4 on things while swimming. Put those two ideas together, and what do you get? Battletroll Youtube Montage #461348: Jaws Edition.
2. Holding the centre in Domination
The Paracel Storm map isn't quite as visually impressive as the Siege of Shanghai map, a scruffy tropical island chain presided over by a US cruiser and some wind turbines. It's extremely well-designed, however, lending itself to a multitude of game types. Playing a round of Domination - infantry-only Conquest, in short - you're limited to just one of those islands, which promptly reveals itself to be a tactical equation of fearful density.
Having largely failed to make any headway in Obliteration, with the whole map available, I became miraculously good at this point. Sure, discovering that DICE had unlocked all the game's guns and class gadgets for the preview event might have had something to do with that, but I also like to think I thrive in cramped spaces. Cramped spaces like the low-walled monument that houses the map's central flag, just up from the beach and squarely between two multiple storey warehouses. That's an awfully entertaining place to find yourself when you're holding a tricked-out light machinegun, and various flavours of propelled explosive.
It's a classic Battlefield pot-boiler - the flag that's most readily accessible from either spawn, and thus the flag that's likely to be contested within tens of seconds of kick-off. I died a hell of a lot, but took a fair few people with me, using airburst grenades and fletchette guns to pulverise snipers on second floor walkways. Fortunately, a friendly on the roof directly behind the flag was happy to perform reconnaissance; with his aid, I routinely caught Engineers with their trousers down, swinging the LMG up onto cover the second I noticed a hurrying orange triangle. Those triangles, eh? Incorrigible.
3. Dropping the bomb on water
Obliteration Mode is about transporting a bomb to one of the enemy's bases, arming the thing and holding your ground till the countdown elapses. Drop the bomb en route, and it'll sit there for a bit before respawning. This also applies on water, and if you drop the bomb on water, good luck to you. Some of the bloodiest, most agonising fights in the whole match took place between islands, the area around the bomb gradually filling with the charred skeletons of gunboats and amphibious vehicles.
Most of that was my fault, in hindsight. I thought it would be a good idea to throw up some makeshift fortifications. Turns out beaching a gunboat and skulking behind it just makes you more obvious to passing helicopters, while also ensuring that when you respawn on a squadmate, it's right into the vicinity of an imminent fuel tank explosion. After the fourth death, I fled the scene of the crime and took to firing vengeful Stinger missiles from the security of a jungle. Fortunately, the other team's airforce was too preoccupied with the horrendous aquatic pile-up I'd created to care.
4. Those little moments
You don't need a couple of tanks, Commanders juggling Tomahawks and the concentrated wrath of 64 players to make a Battlefield game. Sometimes, all you need is two of you, tucked behind a shipping crate near the beach, staring fixedly at a flag that's all on its own in full view of some buildings, with no other soldiers in sight. I looked at him. He looked at me. We exchanged grim nods (read: grim reloading animations).
Then we ran for it, threw ourselves prone by the pole, writhed in an agony of suspense while the Russian flag ticked down and the US one ticked up, and hurled ourselves at last into the blissful embrace of another shipping crate. Well, I did. Slamming my shoulder against the corrugated metal, I glanced back to discover that my ally had been dead for all of 20 seconds. Where had the bullet come from? Why hadn't I heard it? What was this Claymore mine doing, right between my feet?
Source: OXM
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[h=3]References[/h]
- [SUP]^[/SUP] Source: OXM (www.oxm.co.uk)
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Thanks to: Rheena.com