The passion for getting hands-on with ‘the next-gen’ reached a whole new level when the latest upcoming installment of the Battlefield series, Battlefield 4 was revealed in Stockholm last week. The 17-minute actual gameplay footage shown at the event made it clear to everyone that BF 4 will easily carve its path to the throne as the most dominant first-person shooter of 2013. Even though almost half a year is still left till it hits stores worldwide, Battlefield 4 easily manages to hold a reputation of being one of the most talked-about games as of late. Here’s everything you need to know about Battlefield 4:
1. Release Date
Although the 17-minute trailer of the game focuses on Tombstone Squad, clearly mentions that Battlefield 4 will be released in the Fall of this year; as per a recent accidental leak by EA Germany on their Facebook fan page, Battlefield 4 will be released on ‘the 31st October 2013’.
2. Pre-Order
BF 4 is available for pre-order at Amazon and those who do so will have the liberty of owning the Premium DLC expansion pack completely free of cost.
3. Beta
Those who pre-ordered Medal of Honor: Warfighter on Origin will get early access to Battlefield 4 beta (which is expected to be released in Autumn).
4. Frostbite 3 Engine
Frostbite 3 will bring the most realistic and the most wonderful FPS experience to PC and console owners when it comes to both graphics and the scale of the environment. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for the gamers having Wii U as there will be no Wii U version of Battlefield 4. DICE Executive Peter Bach revealed in an interview with Eurogamer:
“The biggest problem we have right now is we don’t want to back down from what we see as our low spec machines. We right now don’t have support for the Wii U in the Frostbite engine.”
Frostbite 3 is a super-evolved Frostbite 2 engine with major improvements in graphics, animation, lighting, level of environmental destruction, and hundreds of under-the-hood improvements, apart from bringing a brand-new weather system. The BF 4 demo was powered by the fastest graphics card in the world – AMD Radeon HD 7990.
It has also been confirmed that Frostbite 3 will power Dragon Age 3 and the next Mass Effect too.
5. Gameplay
The ‘Fishing in Baku’ gameplay footage featured a single-player mission in Baku, Azerbaijan – a peninsula city located on the Caspian Sea — in which the player, utilizing a military knife, must chop off squadron leader Dunn’s leg after he is seriously injured and pinned down. The suffering for Dunn doesn’t stop there as he drowns deep at the bottom of the ocean.
As evident from the opening scene and the overall 17 mins gameplay, BF 4 will focus on character development like never before (something the series has been lacking from day one when compared with other top-of-the-line FPS titles) and apart from being super realistic, will be emotional.
While focusing on the single-player campaign, Game Director Stefan Strandberg stated:
“This is a game where the gameplay is centered around choice rather the predetermined solutions. We’re taking the best moments from multiplayer and incorporating them into single player.”
6. Limited to Recker
In Battlefield 4, players will be bound to play the character of the soldier named Recker only (despite having three allies with him). However, the player will have the freedom to order his allies to open fire by setting targets for them.
Despite the confirmed existence of a female non-playable character in BF 4, the game will have no female playable character in either single-player or multiplayer modes.
7. Aggressive World
As per BF 4’s art director Gustav Tilley, the overall gameplay and environment of BF 4 are based on the concept of an “aggressive world” with the squad driving straight to it.
He also revealed that the single-player campaign of Battlefield 4 is an underdog story in which players, against all odds, will be fighting off both the enemies and the environment.
8. Vehicles
Apart from the deadliest ammunition and weapons money can buy, no shooting game is complete without vehicles to breathe down the neck of the opposition. To date, only two playable ground vehicles have been confirmed: a buggy equipped with a turret and a civilian 4×4.
However, at the end of the released demo, an amphibious attack vessel was also revealed which clearly hints naval warfare is part of the game. Some reports from the event also suggest that fast attack boats, dingy, and jet skis were also confirmed verbally to the audience.
9. No More Linearity
Most previous Battlefield iterations have offered linear single-player campaigns in which players have to follow specific paths with no choices at all but, Battlefield 4 has been promised to deliver a sandbox-style open world that will offer non-linear gameplay in which players will have the ability to take versatile tactical decisions depending upon their taste.
Players will be given the freedom to shoot, explore, travel, flank, and kill in whatever manner their sadistic heart desires.
10. Allies and Enemies
So far three factions have been confirmed in BF 4 namely; the United States of America, Russia, and China. A major chunk of the single-player campaign is said to have been set in China whereas some special ops have been set in neighboring Russian territories.
11. Interactive Sandbox
An open interactive world was negligible in Battlefield 3 due to its static nature but a different turn is taken in BF 4. For example, mere presence near a vehicle can set off its safety alarm, or slithering near a tree can intrude on a flock of birds; prompting the opposition to investigate the area in both situations.
Are you super excited about Battlefield 4, like we do? When do you think the BF 4 beta will be released? Let us know in the comments section below!
