Help choosing: Battlefield 4 or CoD Ghosts?

[enemabagjones]

I don't want to start a fight or anything like that, I just wanted some advice because I am trying to decide which of these 2 games is right for me.

I like the strategy and depth of past Battlefield games but what I don't like is the sometimes overwhelming size of the maps. I hate travelling to the action for 2 whole minutes and then getting killed almost straight away when I get there. I am told that BF4 is quite empty on the current gen consoles because there is a limit of 24 players. Can anyone give me an honest opinion on how empty or not these games feel when you are actually playing them? I really don't like wandering around looking for people only to get shot and killed as soon as I do find someone.

On the other hand I like that CoD has smaller maps but I find it to be a bit too twitchy in terms of how it feels to play. Everything is so unnaturally fast in it (I'm sure people like that but I just don't). It seems too quick and too chaotic, without any of the strategy or thoughtful time taking that Battlefield manages. It must be said that I absolutely LOVED Black Ops 2's Zombie mode and the main reason I am considering CoD Ghosts is because it seems to have a mode like Zombies in the form of "Extinction".

So there you have it, I want something that will provide me some decent hours of online play over the coming months, I'm not getting a next-gen console until at least next February so I want something with lastability.

Can anyone tell me what BF4 plays like in multiplayer on x360? Is the new CoD honestly likely to be even more frantic that the last few? Will extinction be anything like Zombies mode?

I can only buy one of these and I really need help choosing.

 

[Spambot 3000]

Is the new CoD even out yet? I don't think anyone can make any guarantees about it until it is.

 

[enemabagjones]

Is the new CoD even out yet? I don't think anyone can make any guarantees about it until it is.

Is it not out? Ok, well I guess people who've played Battlefield 4 could still give me an idea about how good that is online.

If it's out of course, now I don't know what to think.

 

[Evonisia]

Ghosts is out tomorrow, so you'll likely get some opinions then.

 

[MysticSlayer]

Well, at the very least wait until DICE decides to fix all the bugs with Battlefield 4. By then Ghosts will be out and we'll actually be able to compare the two, but with one game bugged up and the other still a few hours away from launch, we can't compare. For all we know, Ghosts will slow down the pacing a little bit to CoD4 levels, or it might continue the more hectic nature of MW3. We just don't know at this point, and we can't know exactly how good BF4 will be until DICE actually gets around to fixing the bugs.

In any case, is there a reason you can't go with both? I understand if you like one and not the other, but it sounds like you enjoy both to some extent, so why not get both? If it's financial, then I'd wait a little bit to make the decision and probably try them both out at a friend's house.

 

[Phoenixmgs_v1legacy]

I'm pretty sure COD Ghosts FINALLY has leaning and sliding, which just makes gun battles way more dynamic (from playing Warfighter). I just can't go back to an FPS without leaning and sliding. It probably really comes down to if you want infantry vs infantry battles are bigger battles with vehicles and such.

 

[Uriain]

I am a huge Battlefield fan, but I can honestly say wait until CoD is out for a couple weeks. This will allow you to do a couple of very important things.

1) Get fix's for the initial "first weeks of we suck as using dedicated servers patch" (See current issue with BF4 and the issue that CoD is not out yet)

2) See gameplay footage from lets plays/montage and other videos. Hazard cinema (youtube) usually has some good gameplay vids for both game series.

3) You get a bit better of a picture on the play styles (discussion/rants in forums, screenshots etc)

4) You get save 60$ incase a different game comes out that you want as well.

 

[enemabagjones]

@MysticSlayer: The issue is completely a financial one. Your point about trying them out at a friends house is well taken, just have to hope someone decides to pick one of them up.

@Uriain: Good suggestions re: the youtube stuff. I also didn't realise there were patches usually needed for these kinds of games so early after their release. Naive me thought that patches were for sandbox games where it's impossible to test for all bugs.

I'm probably a bit eager to get one of them, mostly because GTA online has been such a crushing disappointment for me and I am quitting cigarettes in the next few days. When I attempt to quit cigarettes I stop going out and drinking for a while because the risk is that I will smoke when I go out and drink.

I was hoping for something to keep me sane during that first 2 week period of self-imposed social exile.
November has a big lamentable Watchdogs shaped hole in it sadly...

 

[IllumInaTIma]

Well, if you're looking for better single player campaign and shorter, more intense and reflex based multiplayer, go for CoD.

If you don't care about single player and want some grand, massive fights with lots of vehicles and destruction, go for Battlefield.

If you're looking for realism go play Arma or Operation:Flashpoint. And also laugh at anyone who says that Battlefield is more realistic than CoD, both games are equally ridiculous in that regard.

 

[Bonk4licious]

So far the core gameplay of Battlefield 4 is superb, classplay has opened up with more options, gunplay is as good as it's ever been, and levolution is one of the coolest features ever with a retarded name... but the servers just aren't doing it yet. I was level 1 for three matches in a row because I kept getting promoted, then the server would crash and it would lose that progress. But my time in game is as tight as BF has ever been. Not a COD fan, though, so I couldn't tell you anything about that.

 

[Uriain]

@enemabagjones - It seems to be a thing on the PC version, BF3 had similar issues (server issues, lag, wonky sound etc) to the just released BF4. Call of Duty has ha issues around its launch's as well.

The Xbox360 may or may not have the same issues as the PC, but it also allows you go see the support/issues for the console version.

Myself, I would be looking at some other games to supplement your FPS experience. I have found that if I play nothing but CoD or BF I get burnt out quickly, but if I mix it with say an RPG or an action adventure game, the switching between the two (or three or four) gives each game more longevity, and less "Gah what the **** is this bull****" moments, especially in shooters

 

[enemabagjones]

@Bonk4licious: Is there crazy texture pop in during online play? The beta I tried on xbox was really rough to be honest.

@Uriain: I'm planning to balance the fps action with some Arkham Origins. I actually found that to be quite ok, considering how worried I was when I saw Jim Sterling's 3.5/10, by that time it was already in the post on its way to me and boy was I panicked.

 

[ohnoitsabear]

I'm pretty sure COD Ghosts FINALLY has leaning and sliding, which just makes gun battles way more dynamic (from playing Warfighter). I just can't go back to an FPS without leaning and sliding.

This has been kind of pissing me off a little. They had leaning in every Call of Duty game on PC before Modern Warfare 2. And then with Modern Warfare 2 they were telling people how they didn't really need leaning and how it didn't improve the game at all. Now with Ghosts they're trying to pass off leaning as some big new thing without even acknowledging that it was in there before. It's not a big deal, but it's just one of the things about the hype of Ghosts that kind of irks me.

On Topic: As other people have said, wait until any launch issues have been sorted out and until Ghosts actually comes out before you make any kind of decision. Or if you're not sure don't get either and look for something else that might interest you (unfortunately, I can't really offer any suggestions because I don't really know anything about what you like to play and I play almost exclusively on PC).

 

[Phoenixmgs_v1legacy]

I'm pretty sure COD Ghosts FINALLY has leaning and sliding, which just makes gun battles way more dynamic (from playing Warfighter). I just can't go back to an FPS without leaning and sliding.

This has been kind of pissing me off a little. They had leaning in every Call of Duty game on PC before Modern Warfare 2. And then with Modern Warfare 2 they were telling people how they didn't really need leaning and how it didn't improve the game at all. Now with Ghosts they're trying to pass off leaning as some big new thing without even acknowledging that it was in there before. It's not a big deal, but it's just one of the things about the hype of Ghosts that kind of irks me.

Leaning is a mechanic that every shooter (FPS or TPS) should have.

 

[Directionless]

IMO Battlefield is and always has been superior to COD in every single respect. Hell, even the fast paced, close corridor shooting can be replicated in TDM on a small BF4 map.

But i play on PC, so maybe BF somehow sucks ass on consoles. So if you're on PC, just get BF4.

 

[Hero of Lime]

I would personally suggest Ghosts Between the two games, that being said, I have no plans to get Ghosts as I'm done with Call of Duty. I don't hate the franchise, but I feel no compulsion to buy Ghosts unlike past Call of Duty games. That being said, squads mode sounds awesome, and I wish they actually implemented it on previous games. I never found Zombies to a fun mode, so if Extinction is supposed to be that with Aliens, then it's only slightly more appealing. I have very little experience with Battlefield so I can't recommend or say no to BF4.

The choice will come down to you obviously, I would wait till the consensus is in on both games before making a final decision for which one to buy.

 

[Tuesday Night Fever]

I chose CoD: Ghosts because I'm apparently bad at pattern recognition (I haven't really liked any of the newer CoD games since MW2, and even that was kinda disappointing compared to CoD4).

Admittedly I'm pretty curious about the Battlefield franchise, since I haven't really played it since the Desert Combat mod for BF1942. Too bad it requires Origin, though. If it didn't, that probably would have made it my preference over Ghosts.

 

[Roxas1359]

Is the new CoD even out yet? I don't think anyone can make any guarantees about it until it is.

Well I do know that xXKurantXx on Game Anyone is currently LPing COD: Ghosts when he was given a copy to LP, and he also just finished LPing Battlefield 4 last week I believe.

 

[TheYellowCellPhone]

BF4 is a lot of BF3. Everyone calling it BF3.5 is hitting the nail on the head. If you didn't like BF3, then skip out on BF4. But BF4 does change a lot of things, like making Recon not useless, changing vehicle mechanics so they aren't completely untouchable assrapings (but they still mostly are) and having maps that aren't complete meatgrinders or wide open fields that you run for ten minutes and get one-shotted by a tank.

Then again, the sequel being similar to the previous game still could hold true for CoD Ghosts.

Base you purchase on the previous games in the series and choose based on that.