Let’s just admit it.
Battlefield 4 was never a game you were going to play for the single-player.
Like almost everything hinges on you carrying out one mission on top of the other.
It starts out simply enough, with some shooting and near-death escapes.
Just a day in the life of a Tombstone marine.
All the while you’re unlocking new weapons as you fulfill each mission with a higher score.
And then things get a little…monotonous, at least in terms of the level designs.
There are repeat patterns of enemies.
Large outdoor areas filled with roughly 20 enemies on foot, all with varying weaponry.
Some heavy units armed with RPGs or machine guns.
Standard issue foot soldiers carrying assault rifles.
And then a tank or two.
See, there are ammo refill crates posted reliably throughout each level.
I had a hard time having fun in one area in particular.
A level about halfway through the game is literally a series of these exact setups.
Either my checkpoint system wasn’t working when walking in between them or there just was no checkpoint.
If I died, it was way back to the beginning.
The first time I died, it was an hour’s progress lost.
Occasionally in Battlefield 4’s solo campaign you’ll meet some variance.
Jump out of a plane to land on a ship, ready to attack immediately after landing.
Ride a speedboat while shooting down those of the enemies'.
Hike around that quintessential snow level.
You know the sort of thing if you’ve ever played any shooter ever.
But that’s me: I still love first-person shooters.
I’ll never get bored of watching a tank explode after I’ve sneakily loaded it with C4.
I’ll never tire of placing that perfect headshot or going on a particularly thrilling killing spree.
Because, really, your squadmates are useless otherwise.
Your cover is being destroyed around you and the enemy AI moves around a lot.
They’ll even have a go at flank you, come up from behind.
And they’ll always aim for you.
Your friends are not much of a distraction until you’re sending the order to engage.
Eventually you’ll start to really keep your eye on the directive’s cooldown.
Battlefield 4 takes some cues from stealth games, as well.
There’s China, on the verge of revolt since the apparent death of its leader, Jie.
There’s Tombstone, the fearless, reliable squad of marines.
You’ll bond with these guys a bit throughout the game.
You are a silent protagonist.
But that’s not what happens here.
Recker feels like he’s thoroughly incapable of speaking.
You’re spoken to without any expectation to answer questions.
You’re given at most an opportunity to gesture back, maybe once, throughout the entire game.
Worse still is that you’re supposed to be this squad’s leader.
And yet it seems like Irish is the one making the calls.
Once they’re finally done talking, they run up ahead.
They’re already calling for me to hurry the hell up.
I feel like I’m along for the ride when I’m supposed to be directing the show.
I’m the tank.
I’m a meathead who can’t even respond to a question with a simple Yes or No.
You’ll fill in the blanks of what’s going on in his/her head.
But Recker feels like a drone.
You’re certainly not calling the shots.
You’re certainly not moral support.
You’re not smart or witty or a leader.
You’re just a good shot.
But, really, who cares?
Battlefield 4 could ship without a single-player entirely and I would not begrudge it.
No one will care about the facepalm-worthy ending.
Because no one gets Battlefield for the story.
Especially considering how much longer the shelf life is for something like multiplayer in a first-person shooter.
Which brings me to, of course, the multiplayer.
Eight, to be specific—shanks, machetes, that sort of fun thing.
But more importantly there’s a new counter-knife prompt that if you hitjustright you might knife your knifer.
You’ll never get a counter-knife prompt when you’re getting knifed from behind, though.
It’s pretty neat and is especially fun to play around with in knife-only rounds.
Everything you’re used to, you’ll see here again.
It’s a game of tag and inspires more laughs at failures than rages, in my experience.
I guess its smaller-scale brother, Defuse, is pretty fun, too.
Changes like that can drastically impact the pace and feel of the mode.
But the game has completely crashed more than a few times (in single-player, too).
The side of a building crumbling to bits means you’ve got a new exit or attack point.
An entire building falling to its death means a sniper can’t perch on top of it anymore.
you’re able to destroy levees and flood part of the map, forcing everyone to swim.
You’ll block off paths and create new ones.
you’re able to also customize your field upgrade bonuses to change how your character plays.
Some of these bonuses emphasize your abilities as a medic, engineer, etc.
and others change how you move or how much defense you’re getting.
The better your team does out there on the field, the more upgrades you’ll have access to.
Hopefully soon we can talk about the more massive 64-player rounds that Battlefield 4 can support on next-gen consoles.
I’ll update with more impressions as soon as I’ve got them for you.
