"The inconsistency of Battlefield 4": Launch impressions for the PC version
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Last Tuesday, Battlefield 4 was released for current gen consoles and PC. Carlos went for the PC version and has been playing it all week and has a few words for DICE's next gen title-- "Stop crashing on me!!".
Inconsistency
I go for games on day one because I believe I'll have a great time with it. Just like how everybody mindlessly buys Call of Duty regardless of what they change, I do the same with Battlefield. Is there a big change for Battlefield 4 though? Visually, sort of. Gameplay, well you still shoot people, and the stages are..bigger with more structures to blow up. But my frustration doesn't come from the gameplay, I'm loving the feel of the game, but if it crashes on you every so often...that doesn't count for anything really.
Joining large conquest maps with 500 tickets can take a lot of your time. Halfway through one match, I was enjoying raking up the kills in different ways in the match. Then, it crashes. Losing any progress you made. 20 minutes wasted. So imagine that happening 50% of every match you join. The game feels like its running on dutch taps to keep it together. My PC specs is well enough to run the game on ultra with smooth gameplay, so believe me that's not the case, I've checked.
Game crashes happening often detached me from the experience. When it happens, I'm left with the thought of turning on the TV to watch a movie instead. What's more troubling is that the servers can be unstable as well, making you stare at loading screens more than having someone lined up in your gun's scope. The mix of both of these issues makes it hard to really enjoy the game when you can't stay on one server for at least 5 games. It's inconsistent, and it makes me want to do something else with my time. These issues are also present in the campaign. Which is hard enough to get into since I'm annoyed by the characters in just 3 missions.
Battlefield 4 is a great game, but only if it cooperates. Put game crashes and server shutdowns aside, you still have to deal with the random rubber band lag that occurs even though you have less than 100 latency stated on the scoreboard. People can argue that it hasn't been a week, but a rocky start is a rocky start. They will eventually get around to making the game as smooth as butter, but it seems like the pressure to make the release date is being felt on launch.
War never changes
Okay, game crashes and server issues...check! How does the game feel? I did mention earlier that it feels great, but overall you are still getting the same Battlefield experience. For some, like myself, that's all I want. But if someone wanted a groundbreaking game? you'll get disappointed. Don't even consider getting the game for a good campaign. Battlefild 4's campaign is tolerable now compared to Battlefield 3, but it isn't good at all. I'm not even done with it since multiplayer has caught most of my attention. As it should since that's the only reason why I bought the game. Don't be fooled by the "Levolution" term as well. The stages that alter the map are appealing, but only if people bother to activate it, and if your actually there to see it happen. And when they do, just hope you are not in front of it when it happens. Having a skyscraper falling on you or a dam breaking did make me break a smile when I saw it happen, but when it's over, back to shooting. Some are also pretty dull if you compare it to the skyscraper Levolution found on the Siege of Shanghai map. I'm having a hard time finding a server where I can always see it trigger, so I can't really say to how much of a degree it affects the experience.
Unlocking and leveling in this game is just the same as Battlefield 3. The more you use one weapon, vehicle, or class, the more stuff you unlock for that category. As you go through levels, you are given Battlepacks, which up to level 12(current level as I write this), seems to be the only benefit in getting higher levels. Inside those Battlepacks can provide random attachments for specific guns, and weapon/vehicle skins. And if your lucky, you get experience boosters that lasts for only an hour.
That's it for now. The game is great only if it wants to be, and hopefully DICE can resolve these crash and server issues soon. If you are considering the console version, take note that there's a player cap of 24 while next-gen titles and PC has a player cap of 64 players on each match. Why the very low cap? Ask DICE because the player cap was a big factor to why I opted for the PC version.
Have the same opinion as me? Or experiencing the same problems? Vent on the comments below.
