Battlefield 4: Is it Different from the Others?

[Brown Cap]

Escapists -

I have been a modest fan of both the older Call of Duty and Battlefield games. I have played the CoDs from United Offensive to the original Black Ops, and the Original Battlefield 1942 (w/Road to Rome Expansion).
As soon as Black Ops came out, which I was almost reluctant to buy (I did it for the Zombies). I realized that these eerily similar first-person shooters we clearly becoming masses of Obnoxious Multiplayer Users and Masturbatory Customization of emblems, clan tags, and what have you. My games were filled with the stereotypical immature gamer, spouting frequently incoherent and vulgar dialogue as they sported gold-painted weapons with the name "DICK" carved into it. This, of course, after being killed and seeing that there emblem is a gorilla sodomizing a horse.

It was crap like this that made me stop playing and following the Call of Duty Games. I haven't seen gameplay for nor participated in MW3, Black Ops 2, or what ever else they have come out with. I futhermore haven't played BF 2 or 3.

But after stumbling across Battlefield 4 articles and trailers, I think I am ready to try it again: The mechanics and gameplay look really engaging, and the multiplayer seems very fast-paced and exciting. Regardless of what game I invest in, I have no doubt there will be those rude players: but the game in itself looks more mature, as if it were made for a more level-headed group of people.

Does anyone agree? Am I simply desensitized from the FPS realm, and I feel like re-entering?
What are your opinions?

 

[Terraniux]

Well, I haven't played Battlefield 4 myself, the damn beta never worked on my computer, but yeah, I'd say that Battlefield has less opportunities for immature content. I do recall seeing some stuff on the Battlefield Facebook page about custom dog tags, but I think that was just for the chance to get one into the game.

 

[FinalDream]

I can't imagine 4 will too different from how 3 plays, I was reluctant to buy 3 (having too many fond memories of 1942 and Vietnam) but PS+ gave me the game for free, so I gave it a shot. It was ok, there where maps reminiscent of 1942, big, open, multiple vehicles, which I really enjoyed. But there where also small, compressed and frantic maps like Call of Duty. The mix was refreshing but it lacked the battlefield charm, it didn't just feel right. I didn't encounter too much of the microphone abuse, but there was some.

I've come to the conclusion that I have to let my ideals of Battlefield go, 1942/Vietnam was part of a time and place in PC gaming, and it's over. It think it's the unlock progression, it's not very classic battlefield and it leaves much to be desired when you join a community late, with everyone having unlocked all the good stuff already!

 

[thatonedude11]

The open beta is still going, so you could just give it a shot. It is really similar to Battlefield 3 though. I personally won't get it because I haven't been having that much fun with the beta (mostly because I'm doing pretty terribly, and I'm not a big fan of the map they're using in the beta), and EA is just going to make me pay another $50 for all of the maps.

 

[Smooth Operator]

Well if Blops is the reference point then BF3/4 brings:
- nothing in SP, don't even consider trying that
- no horde mode, or co-op missions
- multiplayer is the same style however maps 100x larger and with vehicles (boats, buggies, APC, ATV, tanks, helis, planes)
- this time you can also destroy predetermined buildings and smaller cover

Otherwise EA is hell bent on copy pasting the CoD experience, so you will grind for gear to infinity, premium accounts, yearly subs, dlc, microtransactions, anal rape and many more goodies to enjoy.
Also if you play on PC the game only works through EA facebook so that is something to look forward too.

 

[katuysha]

Battlefield will always be more team oriented, with the classes having distinct abilities, in CoD you're always just a guy who's abilities only extend to shooting people in the face. Of course, most sods don't use any of the abilities they're given in BF and are content with just shooting people in the face too.

It's easier to hang back in BF games too since you can just chuck medkits on everyone and still rank up like a rocket.

And while free, the BF4 beta was broken last I played it, got 10 fps despite getting over 150 in BF3.

 

[Ickorus]

Battlefield 4 in my opinion feels like a true sequel to Battlefield 2, it's hard to explain but it just feels right to me, a long time Battlefield 2/2142 player.

 

[The AmeriCanadian Gamer]

Well, I haven't played Battlefield 4 myself, the damn beta never worked on my computer, but yeah, I'd say that Battlefield has less opportunities for immature content. I do recall seeing some stuff on the Battlefield Facebook page about custom dog tags, but I think that was just for the chance to get one into the game.

I would go as far as to say that Battlefield has the worste FPS community as far as elitism is concerned. Everyone is always arguing in the chat about something, calling people bad, yelling at teammates/enemies, etc. And there are custom emblems now, and I have seen more than my fare share of ejaculating penises, which does make me very sad =(

Seriously tho, the BF community is absolute crap. It makes me think of MOBA's - if you aren't the perfect player from day 1, everyone will hate you forever.

But on the plus side - the mechanics of the game are great. The guns feel lethal and the vehicles have a fair learning curve (disclaimer - no jets in beta atm). The classes work the same as they did in BF3 - Assault = Combat/Medic, Recon = Sniper/Scout, Engineer = Vehicles (repair/destroy), Support = well, support (lmgs, ammo, and now an airburst launcher). The big change now is that the recon has C4, but not the Support.

Remember that you can hide chat if you desire(on pc at least), so you wont have to put up with people if you don't want to.

snip

Just so you know, your damned avatar fooled me haha

 

[IronMit]

Play the beta.

BF is more squad and team based. Each side has 'squads' of up to 4. You can spawn off your squaad only ...or the edge of a large map so simply staying alive can help your team.

You pick 4 different classes that have different abilities; aid kit, ammo pack, repair tool etc.
An Assault class cannot give out ammo packs, only support class can which encourages balanced teams.
So you end up working together as a team and feel quite for filled when you help a team mate achieve an objective even if you didn't do it yourself.

I used to be pretty bad at aiming so i would pick the support class. Using a light machine gun I would 'cover/suppression fire'. Enemies caught up in my fire would get a blurry screen - affecting their performance. I would get suppression assists.

You can 'spot' enemies also...so they pop up on everyone's radar and get spot bonuses.

Black ops 2- which I like- took a lot from this...you start getting points for kills your team made when your UAV was in the air etc.

But sometimes you want high tempo action in a small crazy map...then I go back to black ops 2

 

[MysticSlayer]

If you haven't played the Battlefield games since BF1942 then the game should feel incredibly fresh. There have been a lot of changes to the series since BF1942, and while the more recent Battlefield games haven't been pushing things too far in terms of doing anything decidedly new, it still will be drastically different than BF1942 just because of the natural progression the series took during its more innovative days. Not to mention, you won't be bogged down in finding it too simplistic compared to BF2, as I highly doubt DICE is willing to create a game with the same depth and complexity that that game had, and having not played BF2, you shouldn't feel as badly about it as I do.

 

[TheSapphireKnight]

Well if you have not played since 1942 you will see quite a big difference. I have been keeping up with the series since the start and while BF4 is not radically different from BF3, the changes seem to all be in the right places.

Some warnings though, customization is much bigger in BF4 that it ever was before(camos, emblems, weapon), but the most "flashy" paint jobs are fairly uncommon(There still isn't any Gold/diamond camo stuff though). Another thing to keep in mind is that the BF community is experiencing growing pains at the moment. BF3 sold over 10 million copies and while not at CoD levels it is still quite an increase for the series. So some of the elitist veterans are clashing with a lot of the new playerbase and vice-versa so things are not exactly as good as they could be on the community front. I imagine things will level out in time, but once you hit a certain level of popularity in games, movies, TV, etc there will almost always be irritating parts of a community.

I would say there is no harm in checking it out and if its not for you its not for you. Just don't get discouraged right away if you run into jackasses right at the start.

 

[A BigCup of Tea]

i've been having a lot of fun in the BF4 beta the only thing i dislike is people bringing the skyscraper down....it means i have nothing to jump off

 

[AT God]

To me, Battlefield 4 shouldn't exist. By that I mean it doesn't follow the way the BF series has been progressing. 1942 was an epic idea, way ahead of its time and was only limited because it was a PC exclusive during the beginning of the current Sony-Microsoft war. Vietnam was basically an expansion pack that added some stuff but wasn't a true sequel.

BF2 was the flagship, it made the idea of ranking up and experience a big deal, however I also hate it for that because every multiplayer game has a leveling system. BF2 also had continued bot support, was on a fresh engine and had a LOT of features that were new at the time, especially for dedicated server hosts. 2142 was to BF2 what Vietnam was to 1942, an expansion pack with a few new features.

The Bad Company series helped put BF onto consoles. They were extremely stripped down versions of Battlefield 2 but also introduced the destruct-o physics we all love now. Also they added all the things military FPS games are despised for by old timers, regeneration, weapon attachments (poor version of them), but improved on the squad system. Also decreased and refined the classes

Battlefield 3 was the culmination of the above. It brought the real BF2 experience to consoles (Except 64 player which is a big deal). It also refined the classes, setup a weapon leveling system that was inline with what is popular, despite my distaste for it, and then to top it off it did some crappy pay to win things and charged us extra for silly content like a reskinned knife and dog tags. It continued to drop the extra classes from BF2 which is arguably a good idea, got rid of Commanders which were controversial and adapted. Also lacks bot support, as did the Bad Company games.

I don't see what Battlefield 4 has to offer. They brought back some things, like Commanders, I think there is a new class, the weapon leveling system is different and they added and removed some game modes. I don't see what makes BF4 any better than BF3. The new engine might look nicer but it doesn't introduce anything significant like the original destruct-o physics did and bringing back Commander is nice but I think people will still whine about it like they did in BF2.

If BF4 had multiplayer bot support and was on Steam, I can see how it might be a valued contribution to the series, but as it stands it looks like a cash grab similar to CoD with the exception that it took more than a year to make.

That all said, if it comes to steam or drops its price down a lot and I have money I will get it, I doubt BF4 will be bad and I will enjoy playing it eventually just it doesn't seem to fit in with rest of the games.


Also, as for the players, people are stupid everywhere, has nothing to do with the games in my opinion. Shooters breed kids more than other games but adults are just as crappy. Battlefield 4 will have its same issues as BF3, shotgun users, sniper users, and jet users. The variety of gameplay breeds people to resent people who use tactics they aren't good at. I hate shotgun users because I see them as cheap, I hate jet users because I suck at flying jets, and I don't like snipers because I prefer to actually complete objectives and snipers are designed to prevent that.