BF4 review

[cyberninja2601 1,106]

I ended up getting 2 versions for BF4. I got the PC and I got the PS3.

 

The PC version was essentially unplayable on my machine. It's a pretty good machine which meets all to the recommended requirements with the exception of Win8. There was just too many frame rate issues with stuttering that I've asked for a refund already. We get 24 hours to get a refund when you buy from Origin so I'm taking advantage of it and I can always buy it again when it stabilizes. 

 

 

I'm up to level 3 on the PS3. I started with support and the which was rather painful with the initial LMG. I'm not using assault which is much better at these levels. I've played TDM, Squad TDM and Domination so far. It's very much like BF3. There are still some server issues but certainly not as bad as what I was getting on the PC. The graphics are actually quite good and the maps interesting enough. I'll most likely try conquest tomorrow.  I still like it better than CoD. 

 

One of the nice feature is they now have a shooting range which essentially allows you to try the vehicles and guns outside of the game to practice. There are still lots of assignments. Some of the weapon unlocks and assignment require that you play the campaign (those sneaky bastards). 

 

I'd probably give it a 7/10. It's not great but good enough. At this point however I am not rushing to get Premium to get all of the map packs.

[OTC Mike 53]

With the PC framerate issues, did you try to adjust your settings at all?

 

I'm just curious because I'm thinking about getting it for the PC. I've got a decent comp but not the greatest. 

[cyberninja2601 1,106]

I tried a number of things. On the BF forum some people with hardware way better than mine are also getting issues. People with a GTX780 should not be getting frame rates of 15. 

 

My problem was that it's good most of the time (between 45-60 on High) but often drops to 10 and then goes back up. I've been using an HD7870 with an 8 core I7 running at 3.6 GHz. I have 8 GB or ram.  These problems seem common.

 

If you are planing to get it. Get it from origin and return it based on the great game guarantee if it does not work. I can let you know if I get my refund as promised. 

[OTC Mike 53]

Thanks man. I think I remember a Sandy Ravage video where he was talking about the framerate issue during the Beta. I think he was playing on the PC as well.

[Sennex 1,903]

Thanks man. I think I remember a Sandy Ravage video where he was talking about the framerate issue during the Beta. I think he was playing on the PC as well.

He was

 

I had a few frame rate issues on PC, in BETA, but all in all it was still really solid. I have a 7850, and it was handling it fine on the lower settings; EXCEPT!!!

At game launch

Whenever I was near a ton of vehicles

when the central building collapsed

[Xethius 59]

Ive got a mini review for it in my PPR, not a bad game.

[Diddums 4,346]

Took delivery of my preorder last night. After a very slow install I finally got a few games in. No issues as far as technical stuff goes, I had no freezes, no rubber banding, nothing. The game seems fairly well balanced so far, I really like the default rocket launcher. The vehicles are a blast, I think they're much more influential in BF4 than in BF3. Sniping is awful, although the C4 is fun to mess about with. I'll keep at it, I'm trying to learn how to snipe without having to zero in every time I want to take a shot because that's just fucking stupid. People don't stand still whilst you fiddle your scope, so I'm going to learn to snipe without it. 

 

Having said that, I brought my PC in to work today so I could play a bit if it was quiet, which it now is. To say that the game is unplayable is an understatement. The rubber banding really takes bouncing around to a whole new level. I've also had a few crashes, which I suspect are also something related to the connection at work. I should probably point out that at home I'm wired but at work I'm wireless. The folks on the BF4 forums seem to think that this is purely server side but if having a wired connection helps with the server shit, then that's fine for me. 

 

A side effect of all these technical issues is that the community is bitchier than the Kardashians in heat. I turn the chat window off when I play, because it's just filled with hatred and rage. There's really no point participating in any team effort at the moment because if you slip, you'll get LoL levels of flaming. 

 

The sound of the game needs working on. Sometimes I hear choppers that are miles away, sometimes I can have a chopper hovering above my head and not hear it. Now I'm not one for listening to my surroundings so for me to notice this speaks volumes really. 

 

I've only played the MP so far, haven't bothered with the campaign yet. Seeing as the game is completely unplayable at work, I might give the campaign a go, or go back to BF3 for the day. 

[Jason 1,245]

Bitchier than the kardashians in heat... Love it. Lol

[cyberninja2601 1,106]

I only tried the PC the first day and my PC is hard wired into my router. It doesn't even have a wireless interface so that wasn't the case for me.

 

I also have a internet that operates at 35Mbps down and 2 Mbps up. If you need something faster than that to play, not wonder most of the community is bitching cause most people don't have it

[Dr Diamond 407]

so worth getting on ps3 then ?


completely forgot about the release and preordering it..worth getting premium ?

[cyberninja2601 1,106]

Right now PS3 better than PC due to all the technical problems. Once they fix everything the PC should be much better.

 

I got BF4 to avoid all the shit connection issues that happen with CoD. I'd say that I'm disappointed so far because BO2 was probably less buggy that BF4. Gives you an idea. I do like the variety that you get for BF4.  

[Diddums 4,346]

Mkay, about 30 minutes into the campaign. It's a grind. It's boring, tedious, and boring. The whole thing is "get from point A to point SUDDENSURPRISEWEHAVETODEALWITH then on to point B. The levels are seemingly made of invisible walls, there is zero scope for exploration, nothing to find, no easter eggs, no secrets, nothing. There's no innovation, no mechanics or effects that make you go "hey, that's cool". It's just the same cookie cutter bullshit we've seen since forever and a good reminder why I don't bother with any multiplayer FPS campaigns. The last one I fell asleep in was Modern Warfare 2. 

 

Since then, I haven't touched one until today, and you know what? It's the same thing. Corridor action, shoot the bad guys, watch your team mate die, shoot down the random heli, bla fucking bla. 

 

Now obviously I bought this game for the MP element and not the campaign, the campaign is more to appease those who enjoy this kind of thing or for people who have no internet. But holy shit is it boring. 

 

With that out the way, the graphics are just wow. Playing with everything cranked to ultra, and it's beautiful. Really, really beautiful. In fact, it gets to a point where I feel like saying to the devs "ok, enough now, we get the picture". The lighting effects, dusty bits, textures, it all adds up to one of the most beautiful games I've ever played. Shame the gameplay is like watching paint dry. 

 

There's nothing wrong with the campaign, it's just that this whole genre needs a good shake up. Until then, I think we're just going to see the same copy & paste formula stuck into every SP campaign to help sell copies.

 

Thanks Dice, but for SP shooter action, I'll look to the all time greats: Crysis 1, STALKER etc etc.

[cyberninja2601 1,106]

I wouldn't bother with the campaign if it wasn't for the multiplayer unlocks. However I'd like to have them so it's a boring grind as you said. The reviews basically said the same thing. Total lack of in innovation or imagination. 

[Diddums 4,346]

Multiplayer unlocks? You're telling me that if I endure through this tedium that I get stuff in MP?

[Harrison 202]

Multiplayer unlocks? You're telling me that if I endure through this tedium that I get stuff in MP?

 

There are 3 endings, each ending unlocks a different weapon for each class, yo get all three endings  replay the last mission. 

[cyberninja2601 1,106]

Yep and you also get other stuff along the way. The first for example is the REX handgun. Progress is shown in battlelog under assignments

[Dr Diamond 407]

david...MP review please



im thinking im not going to bother with consoles anymore, so B4 might be the last FPS i get on ps3...thinking of getting premium and just having it so i can have all the MP maps and vehicles which i wish i did for bf3

 

[cyberninja2601 1,106]

You might want to ask Mark (Uber) what he thinks. He's always been a bigger fan that I of the series

[Diddums 4,346]

Well, I really wanted to come to this thread this evening and say "guys it's not that bad, there are a few things but other than that the game is fine", but I can't. I wanted to love this game, I wanted to tell everyone that this would be the CoD killer and that for all your FPS needs, you needn't look any further. If I said that, I'd be lying. 

 

 

First off, there are too many technical issues to allow for an evening of smooth gameplay:

 

 

Servers that crash, losing all your progress that match. 

 

Random disconnects.

 

A screen that flickers black for a few seconds every few minutes. 

 

Losing progress, I hit level 6 4 times this evening. I hit level 7, then 8, then lost it all again. 

 

Battlepacks don't save properly, or the items you get in the battlepack aren't actually available in game. 

 

With my pre-order, I got three gold battlepacks. I entered the code, got a confirmation, and now over an hour later, they're still not in Battlelog. 

 

Battlelog itself is a pain in the ass. I can hit refresh, and see loads of servers with one spot open, click to play, full. Every single time. This isn't players joining, it was so procedural that this is without a doubt a glitch. You also can't queue for games, you have to find a server that has space and then wait for it to fill up. 

 

 

 

 

In game there are some issues that need addressing too:

 

 

Jets are indestructible. I spent half a match trying to shoot down a jet with a mobile AA gun, keep going until smoke starts pouring out the thing, it'd disappear behind some mountains for a few seconds and we'd start all over again. I gave up eventually, there was simply no way to shoot this thing down. 

 

There are connection issues. Much like in BO2, I would empty a clip into someone, and they'd turn around and pop me. This isn't a one off either, this has been happening all night. I know I'm a shit shot but c'mon, not that bad. 

 

Pistols are overpowered. I shoot at a sniper, land 2-3 shots with the SCAR, he pops out his pistol and it's game over. 2 hits and I'm down. This might also be part of the connection issues mentioned above, but I most certainly noticed this more with pistols.

 

 

 

It's not all bad though, here are some good points:

 

The maps are awesome. They get a bit samey samey after a while, but that's what you get when all your maps are in the same country. The foliage is nice, loads of cover, and the water is beautiful. 

 

The ground vehicles are fun. Much more so than BF3. 

 

The boats are simply amazing. The attack boat thing, with a decent crew, is an almost unstoppable force.

 

There are multiple levels of ammo and health kits. The first level is a small pack that can get used once, but I saw people throwing out the more conventional ones we're used to from BF3 too so I assume those get unlocked later on. 

 

The weapons so far are nice and varied, but my skill with them is atrocious. 

 

The graphics, maxed out on PC at least, are breathtaking. The levolution events will tire after a while, but they're a great addition. The Storm map gets a storm halfway through the match which changes the entire feel of the map, and makes sure that anything in the water  has a much more difficult time. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

All in all it's a great game plagued by technical issues. I wish DICE the best of luck sorting out these issues though, as they are truly game breaking and undermine all the effort they put into developing this game. As it stands now, on PC, I give it a 5. When it works properly it's great, but it only works half the time. When the issues are all sorted, this will be a solid 9 for me. 

[Diddums 4,346]

Got up nice and early, missus is working nights so I was going to have a decent session today. Join Conquest on Lancang Dam. Sound problems.

 

What's this gun? Ah, all my unlocks are gone. 

Back to a small ammo pack. 

 

Change to sniper. Where's my scope that I got in a Battlepack? Ah, Battlepacks all gone too. 

 

I'm level 16. Last night I was level 20. All my shit is gone, I'm basically running from scratch again. 

 

So fucking sick of this. 

[uberwarrior 373]

Had this happen to me when I joined a match the other morning, came out of the lobby at the end of the match and found a new lobby and all my unlocks were back to normal thankfully. No idea what happened, but at least it was only for one game, just came a s shock when I had all the start off weapons and kit only.

[Diddums 4,346]

It's because DICE was getting DDOS'd. They turned off the progress system apparently. It's back to normal now, but obviously there are still other issues. 

[cyberninja2601 1,106]

That use to happen with Bad Company 2. They would turn off some servers and your progress with disappear and then be back. What you did before restoration however did not get added to your current progress.

 

Face it, it's a good back but they do suck on a lot of technical details

[Diddums 4,346]

I've been rocking the engineer today. Basically I was getting sick and tired of aircraft pwning me all day long, so I started doing some research and discovered something which has changed the game completely for me. See, I always thought that you needed a sniper with a soflam to designate targets before you could fire rockets at them. The result of today's research is discovering that the Stinger will lock on itself, which is brilliant. I've taken out a few choppers already but jets are a bit more challenging. I've also been running anti tank mines which are lovely for holding down flags too. 

 

I just had a match on Golmund Railway where I pretty much single handedly held down E, and my commander was bloody helpful too, making sure I was stocked up all the time with mines and rockets. Gutted I didn't record it, it was by far my most fun / best gameplay yet, it really freshened up the game for me. 

[cyberninja2601 1,106]

Stinger always locked. Flares however can screw you up. Laser is helpful for tanks really so you don't get kill trying to destroy them while they shoot you. It's a lot harder for a pilot to notice an engineer than a tank that is in range. 

 

I always liked mines. Just put them around the flag and forget about them. A good tank commander will go in and shoot the ground before going in to avoid them. Many don't