Intro
The Battlefield series has always been about the big battles with large maps and lots of vehicles. Battlefield 3, where I joined the series, added a single player campaign to the mix but remained true to its roots. Battlefield 4 is set to do the same, and with the beta I get to sample some of that greatness before its big release. So how does it compare?
Graphics
Graphically this game is one of the best I've seen yet. As I am playing on the Xbox 360 I expect that PC players will be having a better looking time than I am. No doubt that the next gen consoles will look a lot better too, but the game looks so good I'm not really sure I'll notice. Battlefield 3 was pretty gosh darn beautiful too. That said, good graphics do not make a game good by default. A lot of the older games are amazing and they're not good graphically, and text adventures don't have any graphics at all. I do still enjoy good looking games and this is very good looking indeed, there just needs to be more too it than that.
Multiplayer
Being a 360 player I'm limited to half the number of players that the PC version supports. The Xbox One will support the full compliment of troops but that's not out yet, so I have to make do. At the moment though I have yet to find a single full server. While this is good for jumping straight in it does leave the maps feeling a little empty, especially when they're designed for 64 players and there's only a third that actually playing. On the upside, this does mean I last a bit longer than normal, even if it's only because I'm not being shot at as much. When there is fighting though the gun that I'm using feels solid and lethal. The sights are clear and the hit markers make it easier to see when I've shot someone. Very useful if you're picking off someone on top of a multi-storey building, and there are a lot of buildings in the demo map.
Talking of maps, I should mention that the demo map is really good. One thing I loved about Battlefield 4 was that the maps were always well designed. The whole maps are huge with areas that could be sectioned off for smaller scale modes. A cluster of buildings might make for great tactical play on a large scale mode but it'd also be great for a small scale mode on its own. In Battlefield 4 there are a lot of improvements to the game in terms of maps. The demo map is Shanghai, so there are shops and cars and lifts. Lifts can be used to get access to the rooftops where troops can provide overwatch, and unwary soldiers can give away their location by walking through a metal detector or setting off a car alarm. I've yet to see the building fall over though, but I have seen the aftermath. Defending point B is a very different affair before and after. With the tower standing it's a very secure location with limited access, but afterwards it's open and very exposed.
I have yet to try driving and piloting but I was never really one for that sort of thing. The only time I did get into a helicopter was because I spawned onto a squad mate who was already in one. It landed badly, everyone bailed, and I got stuck. I did manage to get out of, but only because it exploded and I died. Looking at the controls I can't actually see anything that says 'exit vehicle'.
General Impression
There's a lot that has changed between Battlefield 3 and 4. In Battlefield 3 there were a lot of weapons and that's great as it provides a lot of variety. What wasn't great about that was that there was no way to distinguish between them in terms of performance. Accuracy, range, and rate of fire, for example, were all hidden with no way to compare between weapons. This made it hard to choose a weapon that best fits a play style. Sometimes you just want as many bullets flying through the air as possible and sometimes you just want the one shot kill. Battlefield 4 now has this, with stats displayed for damage, accuracy, mobility, range, and rate of fire. This makes choosing a weapon much easier than before.
Level design seems to be greatly improved too, with more verticality than in Battlefield 3. There were a lot of tall buildings in Battlefield 3 but apart from that it was mostly flat. Battlefield 4 has lots of routes around the map and they go under and over each other. Tank on the road? Blow it up from underneath. Capture point crowded with enemy? Sneak above and drop grenades on them.
Gripes
Unfortunately I do have some gripes. I'm hoping they'll be addressed before it comes out, but we'll have to see. It might just be that some things haven't been implemented in the demo but will be there in the full game. I can only hope.
The first is the soldier customisation. I can't find it anywhere in the game. The only way I've found to customise loadouts is on the website, which isn't really practical at all. It doesn't update progress very quickly at all and it still thinks I'm a recruit. Unlocking new gear is also problematic as the only reliable way to equip it is while playing.
Spawning isn't as easy as it was in Battlefield 3 either. In Battlefield 3 there was a list of options to choose from. It was all very straight forward and options only appeared if they were valid. In Battlefield 4 I'm not sure how you choose where to spawn. I just move the left stick randomly and hope for the best. It does have a nice feature though. When choosing to select a squad mate to spawn on you see a small image of what they're seeing, which gives an idea of what to expect. Spawning doesn't seem to be all that reliable either. I've spawned right next to enemy soldiers, and I was once so close I could take his tags without moving.
I can't seem to 'cook' grenades either, and by that I mean holding it for a short time before throwing. This is something done in real life so it's surprising that it's missing from Battlefield 4. It doesn't help that grenades have a realistic timer length, so it's often easy for the enemy to get out of the way.
I mentioned problems getting out of the helicopter earlier but I'll mention that here too. I have no idea how to do it other than die.
Another thing I've notice is that the start of the game can be a bit glitchy. The right stick doesn't seem to start working straight away so I'm left only able to strafe and walk forwards and backwards, unable to turn. This doesn't last long and I've not been shot because I can't turn, so far. What's worse is that the iron sights on the SCAR-H take a while to load some times. Using the left trigger to aim only works if you can see through the sights, which is hard when it's just a block with no holes.
Overall
Generally speaking this is a very enjoyable beta. It feels a lot like Battlefield 3 in a good way while improving on it in others. Those who aren't upgrading to the next gen should feel confident that the core experience on the current gen is still fantastic and that they're not missing out by not upgrading. I am upgrading so I'll have a review on that as soon as I can. On the strength of the beta I'm going to highly recommend it. If you want to experience the beta for yourself, the closed beta is well and truly under way, and the open beta will start on the 4th. Check out here for more info:
http://battlelog.battlefield.com/bf3/news/view/battlefield-4-beta-rollout-times/
I did have some other issues that weren't mentioned here, but mostly that was down to playing another game with a different control scheme. In that game the right bumper was sprint and in this one it throws a grenade.
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