BF4 ON PS3 NEWS FOR NOVEMBER

NOTE:  Since this is YouTube video... set the playback quality of this video to 1080p HD for the best representation of this frame rate video review.  This is the single player campaign.

The frame rate drops to 35 fps at one point... but that's still way better then anything BF3 could do.

This is only Day 2 of the PS3/BF4 release.  By reading all the player reviews on Battlelog and what's in the game press... clearly this version of BF4 is not a finished game.  DICE and EA chose to release this BF4, way to early to make some early PS3 sales before the PS4 hits... and hopes to finish the PS3 version over the next few weeks... or months!!  The game is now suffering in the game press with it's early reviews and with PS3 players.  Like DICE did with BF3.  Remember the first 5 months of BF3 and it's broken or missing parts???

There's a lot missing or not working in this BF4/PS3 game.  At this point... I can't recommend any member or player buying this PS3 version of BF4, with the game in this shape... unless you don't mind helping DICE with more testing in this BETA2 version of BF4.

With the PS4 release only a few weeks away with it's BF4 version... I'm waiting to upgrade on Nov. 15th.  I'll watch to see if DICE ever finishes this PS3 version... and I may pick it up as a used game in the future.  But as of today... it's not worth $60.
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Battlefield 4 resolution confirmed 900p on PS4, 720p on Xbox One, PS4 vs. Xbox One vs. PC compared in videos
Authored by Alex Co
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By now, chances are you’re already playing Battlefield 4 either on PCs or on current-gen consoles. But for those opting to wait or “upgrade” to the next-gen versions, which platform should you get the shooter?

For those concerned about BF4′s resolution — and judging from Internet comments there’s a lot of you — we now have confirmation just what resolution the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One versions will be on once the game’s available on those platforms this November.

Digital Foundry and a few other sources have confirmed that the PS4 version of BF4 will run at 900p, while the Xbox One will be at 720p. Of course, both games will be running on 60 frames-per-second.

Here’s an excerpt from DF’s findings:

"We determine that the Xbox One code is indeed running at 1280×720. If this is set in stone for release – as is likely – the Microsoft version is poised to give us the most aliasing of the two next-gen platforms by a noticeable degree, and is only a stone’s throw from the sub-720p resolutions of current-gen releases. On the other hand, the PS4 version delivers a whopping 1600×900 resolution in all modes, giving it a 50 per cent lead in output pixels overall. As well as cutting down on jagged edges, this reduces the amount of pixel shimmer we see in motion on complex shaders or thin geometry, with distant power lines, scaffolding and other elements with sub-pixel elements creating unwanted flickering on Xbox One."

Here’s a frame-rate test DF has done comparing the single-player footage from both next-gen platforms.

Battlefield 4 Levolution Video Guide
David Veselka October 30, 2013
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A few days ago, we detailed all the Levolution events that you can experience while playing Battlefield 4‘s large-scale multiplayer mode and how each can be triggered.

You may have already experienced a few of these events in your day-to-day play sessions, while also bearing witness to a few of the smaller happenings that make each end every one of Battlefield 4′s multiplayer maps seem much more life-like.

Today, thanks to Battlefield YouTube personality LevelCapGaming, we got our hands on some in-game footage of each event, should you wish to see it in action and find out exactly how to trigger such massive destruction. Of course, if you do not wish for these events to be spoiled for you, and would rather experience them naturally, then you may want to skip it over.

If not, enjoy LevelCapGaming’s latest video on Levoluton and don’t forget to vote in the poll below!

This review also works for the PS3 version of BF4.


“Lonely in Battlefield 4″: Xbox 360 multiplayer opinion
Fri, Nov 01, 2013 | 14:51 GMT
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Battlefield 4 is out now in the States and today across Europe. VG247′s Dave Cook has been playing it this week and came away with an ingrained sense of loneliness and despair. Find out why here.

You may have seen the barrage of Battlefield 4 review scores dropping earlier this week.

From what I gather, all of the pre-launch reviews were produced from an EA event in Stockholm. DICE sat the press in front of high-spec PC rigs and next-gen consoles to let them experience Battlefield 4 as it should be, with 64 players, razor sharp visuals and a feast of technical wizardry forged in the same fire as Frostbite 3. Say what you will about the franchise, it looks simply fantastic, and I can’t wait to get stuck into the PS4 and Xbox One editions.

But what about the current-gen build? Well, as you can see from this video I’ve been playing the Xbox 360 edition and I have to admit it looks rather dog-eared without the texture pack installed. Even with the whopping 6.6GB installation it still falls behind the next-gen builds. I think it shows that, for DICE at least, its admirable technical ambition has now out-grown current tech. It was always going to happen.

I really haven’t been enjoying the Xbox 360 version, I have to be brutally frank here. This is mainly down to the current-gen builds being capped at 24 players online. It simply doesn’t work. What you have are maps built for 64 people that often feel barren by the notable absence of bodies. Marquee environment Paracel Storm boasts impressive dynamic weather effects that truly look a treat, but it feels grossly under-populated. If you’re one of those people who subscribes to the ‘Run, die, spawn, run, die, spawn’ stereotype that is often slapped on the Battlefield series, than you really won’t get along with many of these maps.

That’s a shame seeing as DICE’s map-building prowess really shines through here. Rogue Transmission is something of a delight as you fight on and below a sprawling radar dish, as is flying through the piercing blue skies of Hainan Resort. The maps have more ‘feature’ points – deliberately crafted zones that were built with mini-skirmishes in mind. The train warehouse of Zavod 311 was always contested when I played, while the central bridge in Dawnbreaker is a lethal hot-spot when played in Conquest. They’re superb areas, but feel too rare thanks to the empty spaces around them. This doesn’t apply to all maps however.

Levolution features are said to shake things up a bit, but I didn’t really see evidence of this while playing. I know the big moments, such as the breakable Lancang Dam and the rising tides of Flood Zone add dynamism to proceedings, but I rarely saw the player-triggered moments occur. I think this is squarely due to the pared back player count, so I’m honestly not saying these dynamic events are crap. I suspect that you’d see them kick off with more regularity on the PC and next-gen versions. Again, score one for the new builds.



This population issue was something I expressed concern over in my recent beta write-up. In my opinion there are moments where the game simply lacks heart on Xbox 360. You can run for a long time without encountering the enemy, which is made all the more likely when your team refuse to spot opposing troop to flag them on the radar. I’ll concede that this probably isn’t a lasting issue, as I’ve been playing the game ahead of its European release. Once all my mates get it and we start co-coordinating together, I’m positive things will improve. This is merely an observation from what I’ve played so far. It’s possible I’ll write a follow-up blog once the game launches here.

I can’t talk about Battlefield 4 without touching on the game’s USP, and I feel that small-scale destruction is no longer the star of DICE’s show. It’s all about the big show; ‘that’ falling skyscraper and other such cataclysms. Many of you know I have a soft spot for Bad Company 2′s map-levelling carnage, and it’s something I felt propelled the game ahead of Battlefield 3′s relatively static environments. This is just my personal take on the series, and I appreciate many of you don’t feel the same way. There’s no right or wrong answer here.

That said, destruction in Battlefield 4 has improved since its predecessor. Players can certainly blow up more bits of wall, tear down trees and chip buildings down to the girders, but if you long to demolish whole buildings you’ve come to the wrong war. It’s now largely about convincing surface damage rather than toppling structures, and that’s something I felt also detracted from Battlefield 3. The smaller Levolution moments add new dynamic events, but sliding train car doors open and shut, or raising bollards is hardly innovative.

One thing that really baffled me was the new vehicle control scheme. Hop on a quad bike and you’ll find that your left stick dictates acceleration and turning, while the right controls head-tracking. It’s a clumsy design that DICE has stated will give vehicles the same feeling as controlling a soldier on-foot, but for me it doesn’t work. I’m not sure what was wrong with the trigger method, but someone, somewhere felt it had to be changed. Luckily, you can revert back to veteran mode if you can’t stick the new method.

For all people moan about some regular franchises failing to offer new content with each new sequel, I really do feel that Battlefield 4 is more of an incremental extension of what went before in Battlefield 3. It’s largely the same experience again with new maps and some tweaks. However, those tweaks have still given us DICE’s best online multiplayer to date – not counting my personal favourite Bad Company 2. So while the Xbox 360 build seems to trundle along with a cough and splutter, I can already see that the next-gen releases will banish most of my complaints through being more populous alone. It bodes well.

So if there’s one thing to take-away from this article, it’s not that I’m a bitter gamer who’s purposely ragging on Battlefield 4 because I wanted Bad Company 3. Not at all. It’s just that the Xbox 360 really starts to show its age by giving us a mere 24 players online and by looking a bit tatty. This is a team-orientated series that is capable of delivering insane moments of emergent mayhem that you really can only get in Battlefield. But you need people to make that magic happen, and that spark has been lost in the current-gen build.

I’ll be sure to appraise the next-gen editions when they launch as well for the sake of balance, but right now, I just feel lonely.

Disclosure: To assist in writing this article, EA sent Dave an Xbox 360 copy of Battlefield 4.

Battlefield 4 Second Assault DLC First Look
David Veselka November 01, 2013
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With Battlefield 4 Showdown Live having come to a close (congratulations, team USA!), DICE are ready to unveil their first showing of Battlefield 4′s incoming throwback DLC, Second Assault.

The DLC, which will be hitting the Xbox One first before making its way to other platforms, will include four of Battlefield 3′s most favorite multiplayer maps re-imagined in the Frostbite 3 engine.
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We also caught a glimpse of the Caspian Border remake below in action captured from the recent tournament that just took place in London, UK.



An official release date for Second Assault has not yet been detailed, so stay tuned! Some cool moments to be seen in the trailer above though. We got particularly excited about that massive sand storm in Gulf of Oman. What moments got you pumped?

CORRECTON: According to the official website, Second Assault will indeed drop on November 22nd along side the Xbox One’s launch.

Battlefield 4: Next-Gen vs. Current-Gen 5:59
November 01, 2013


SEE THIS LINK FOR THE VIDEO

Maxed Out | Episode 1: Battlefield 4 on Ultra settings, experience it in 1080p

i loved the match they had yesterday was bad ass

Pros and Cons of the BF4 Test Range
by PonyForever
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Battlefield 4′s Test Range is an interesting new feature to the game. The theory behind this addition to the series is for players unfamiliar with Battlefield to have a place to try out weapons and vehicles outside of the hectic–and hostile–multiplayer experience. In some ways this idea plays out exactly as intended. In others, the mode falls short of expectations. Here are the Pros and Cons of the new BF4 Test Range:

PROS

Firing range:

There is a shooting range complete with ammo. This portion of the training ground provides both still and moving targets at various distances, and can be quite useful for testing out your infantry weapons.

Invironment:

The waves are gently rolling, enough to practice what it’s like to try to shoot in the changing weather conditions. This makes perfect sense for those who want to try out the boats in the types of conditions that may be experienced in multiplayer. There are plenty of winding paths to practice vehicle handling.

Vehicle targets:

There are both “enemy” vehicles for you to practice destroying, as well as vehicles for you to control yourself. Except for the AC-130, they are all stationary. But it does help a little with target practice and determining hit damage.

Destructibility:

The buildings and structures are destructible, at least to some extent. It’s worth noting, as it wouldn’t be Battlefield without this touch.




Battlefield 4 TEST RANGE! First Overview!

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CONS

Limited weapons:

This is the single–and rather glaring–downside of the Test Range. You can only use the guns you have already unlocked by playing multiplayer. Quite a drawback, if the whole idea behind the Test Range is for new players to be able to get used to things.

Yes, you can unlock a gun, quit multiplayer, go into the range and try it out. I don’t see the harm, though, in the guns having already been unlocked in the range. This would have given players the chance to know what guns and weapons to strive towards unlocking. Since they neglected to include all of the weapons, your current best bet in trying them out is playing through the single-player campaign. Hmmm…maybe this was the plan all along?

ABOUT THE MAP

The shooting range is about halfway between the US deployment point and A. It includes the targets and the following stationary weapons. There are boats for you to test these out on:
Stationary Weapons:

   .50 CAL
   M220 LOW LAUNCHER

The map itself is set up as if it were a game of Conquest, with each “base” housing different types of vehicles for you to try. If you spawn at the bases, here are the vehicles you’ll find:

A
Land Vehicles:

    LAV-AD
   M1 ABRAMS
   LAV-25
   QUAD BIKE
   M1161 ITV
   MRAP
   M142
   AAV-7A1 AMTRAC

B
Air Vehicles:

   AH-6J LITTLE BIRD
   AH-1Z VIPER
   UH-1Y VENOM

C
Sea Vehicles:

   RCB
   RHIB BOAT
   PWC

You can also deploy into additional air vehicles by clicking on them from the top-down deployment screen. These vehicles are not located on the map after deployment:

   A10 WARTHOG
   F35

The environment in the new Test Range provides a nice set-up to try things out. The stage is set on a small island, similar to the popular map Paracel Storm. In general, this allows players to test out guns–as well as many land, air and sea vehicles.

All in all, I find the test range to be a nice addition to the series. But it doesn’t do anything that a mode like Onslaught would not have done, and have done better. Especially in terms of introducing players to the Battlefield. I didn’t list this as a con above, but I do think that bots and squad play ability would have been a more fun and effective way to bring the Battlefield experience to new players.


Battlefield 4 Test Range All Vehicles



What do you think about the Test Range in Battlefield 4? How would you improve this feature? Let us know in the comments below!

Familiar ‘Battlefield 4: Second Assault’ DLC Maps Confirmed
Nov 6, 2013 by Rob Keyes
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It’s been two years since the release of Battlefield 3 and its successor is now available for PC, PS3 and Xbox 360, with next-gen consoles versions releasing in the coming weeks. We played through what we believe to be the quintessential version of Battlefield 4 (the PC edition) for our review, praising it for adding improvements to core gameplay elements, but faulting it for its lack of modes, maps, absent features and bugs.

Playing through the BF4 story campaign we experienced frequent game-crashing errors and the occasional in-game glitch. The multiplayer component wasn’t immune to this either and the Battlelog browser system required to play the game had its fair share of errors as well but developer DICE is working away, restoring features and keeping the community informed.

On the official Battlefield 4 forums a thread has been created and updated daily to list bugs as they are discovered, reported and then fixed. The issues, while frustrating for players who invested in the game, are similar to the launch woes Battlefield 3 faced when it first released. That game practically released in a beta state.

While lacking on the co-op front, not including bots and having less modes and maps than BF3 does currently (thanks to multiple DLC expansions), there’s plenty of Battlefield 4 content in the pipeline and Premium subscribers get it all, beginning with ‘China Rising’ on December 3rd which adds four (massive) maps, new vehicles and more gadgets.



The second of the five DLC packs planned (and the only other one that’s been detailed) is called ‘Second Assault’ and as its name indicates, it offers a return to locations previously seen in the series. According to IncGamers, the following maps will make a return, first on the Xbox One as a timed exclusive alongside the console launch on November 22nd. The word came from DICE at the Europe vs USA showdown event.

   Caspian Border
   Operation Metro
   Gulf of Oman
   Operation Firestorm

The selected locations are pretty close to what Core Gameplay Designer Alan Kertz hinted at this summer. Grand Bazaar and Strike at Karkand, which were popular among fan polls, clearly didn’t make the cut.

How the maps will be upgraded with the Frostbite 3 engine and what sort of “Levolution” features they may include remains to be seen but what we can say is that Caspian Border and Operation Metro are some of the best maps of the last game and bringing them back is a good thing. We don’t yet know when they will be available on the other platforms. The remaining three DLC expansions include Naval Strike (spring 2014), Dragon’s Teeth (summer 2014), and Final Stand (summer 2014).

If you are playing Battlefield 4 but haven’t witnessed the Levolution events on all of the maps, or simply don’t know how they function, the video up top by LevelCapGaming does a great job of showcasing each.

Battlefield 4 is now available for PC, PS3 & Xbox 360 platforms. PlayStation 4 & Xbox One iterations will launch just prior to their respective consoles. Game Rant reviewed the PC version of the game.

China Rising DLC brings air superiority back
The China Rising DLC brings back Air Superiority, the Dirtbike, and new gadgets and vehicles.
November 9th, 2013 IN News
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Battlefield 4 China Rising DLCWhen DICE releases DLC expansion packs, it’s not just a few maps, they contain a lot more. Usually, we get new weapons, vehicles, awards, etc., in addition to the new maps.

The Battlefield 4 China Rising expansion pack will include four new maps and other content. And some of that other content has been “revealed” in recent Battlefield 4 trophies for the China Rising expansion pack.

The trophies and awards reveal the return of the Battlefield 4 Air Superiority game mode, the Dirtbike vehicle, and some new gadgets and vehicles as well. The “SUAV” is mentioned, which stands for Small Unamaned Air Vehicle. It could be a good supplement to the regular UAV: the MAV.



Finally, the awards mention a new vehicle called “Bomber”, which could be anything from a new type of jet aircraft to a new Commander asset. We’ll have to wait and see — China Rising launches on December 3rd for those with Battlefield 4 Premium, and on December 17th for regular players. The DLC will retail for $15 (free to Premium members).

The Low-down on Upcoming BF4 DLC
by PonyForever
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SECOND ASSAULT

As we know, Second Assault will feature four popular re-imagined maps from Battlefield 3. What will be different about these maps, and what would make us want to play them again? Today, we’re treated to a few of the specifics we can expect to see, including new Levolution events, weapons, a returning game mode, and reports of an “all-new” vehicle.
Second-Assault-Hero

THE MAPS

Operation Metro

The map that everyone loves to hate is back like a bad relationship. The new Operation Metro 2014 is set two years later and features post-nuclear Paris. The subway tunnels we all know and love are now flooded. Players will be able to destroy the ceilings to create new routes. Plus, elevators are now operational!

Caspian Border

We were treated to a first view of this level in the BF4 Showdown event. The once destroyed communications tower in the middle of the map is intact, and players can  use it to maintain a presence at the central base….until it’s taken down that is! A concrete wall winds around the map, changing the flow of game play. Spiked bollards can be raised to deter vehicles.

Operation Firestorm

The new Operation Firestorm will actually be a fire-storm. The pipelines of the refinery will be destructible, causing flammable hazards to spread.

Gulf of Oman

On the redefined Oman, players will fight through a raging sandstorm that rolls into the Battlefield. Try sniping through that!

WHAT’S NEW?

Here is a brief listing of what’s coming with the Second Assault DLC:

   Five new weapons
   An all-new vehicle
   Ten assignments

In addition to this, Capture the Flag makes its way back from Battlefield 3! This is a personal favorite of mine, and I think it will be an interesting twist to play this mode on the re-created vanilla BF3 maps. What do you think?

CHINA RISING

As usual, December comes bearing gifts, including the new China Rising DLC. DICE promises us all-new vehicles and “high-tech military equipment”. As with Second Assault, four maps will be included in the China Rising DLC.
China_Rising_1_0

Here are the names of the four maps, along with some sneak peek images!

   Silk Road
   Altai Range
   Guilin Peaks
   Dragon Pass







Two land and air vehicles have been promised, the dirt-bike being one of the favorites returning from BF3′s End Game DLC. Jet pilots will be pleased to know that the Air Superiority game mode will be making a comeback as well.

MORE DLC

Naval Strike will storm the Battlefield in Spring 2014. Coming Summer 2014, Dragon’s Teeth will feature urban warfare. The last expansion, Final Stand, is also tentatively slated for Summer 2014. We’ll bring you all the latest DLC news as it’s released, so stay tuned!