Battlefield 4: The Campaign Review
Before we get into it, I have a confession to make. I've never played a Battlefield campaign before. The world class multiplayer kept me busy, and fighting against AI in Hollywood-esque set pieces never really appealed to me. I knew there'd be some "whoa!" moments similar to those experienced in my previous Call of Duty excursions, but it wasn't until I heard that campaign completion led to weapon unlocks did I decide it was time to make the jump. After all, the P90 is a slick weapon. And you can only get it one way. So I took the plunge and blazed through the campaign.
I'm happy I did.
The gameplay places you in the shoes of resilient, but silent, Sargent Daniel Recker. He's one quarter of the coveted Tombstone squad, a special operations group sent to retrieve vital information in Baku, Azerbaijan. The gameplay picks up with Russian military forces closing in on your location. Along side of you are squad mates Irish, Pac and Dunn. Without giving anything away, things to horribly awry.
Along the five hour campaign you'll meet a cast of other characters. There's the stone faced Captain Garrison, the cocky field agent Kovic, a Chinese Secret Service agent and resident medic Hannah, and the potty mouthed Major Greenland (on par with Sgt. Hartman from Full Metal Jacket). With the exception of your squad, every character seemed one dimensional. I don't have a problem with that, but I will admit that I had a hard time relating to them. Their interaction is minimal as you'll spend most of your time neck deep in mayhem anyway, but it would have been nice if their characters developed in the same way as your squad mates did.
As if I didn't have enough sensory overload with Killzone during the free-to-play weekend, the first thing you'll notice about Battlefield 4 is just how darn pretty it looks. I'm running a slightly older computer, powered by an i7-3820, 4 GB of RAM, and a NVIDIA GTX 560 Ti, and I was able to campaign with settings blended between high and medium, at 60-70 frames/second. Even without putting everything on Ultra, the Frostbite 3 engine does such an amazing job of light and character models. Not only are small details such as sweat and facial cuts really visible, emotions really come through as well. I haven't seen work this well since LA Noire. It's nothing short of amazing. Explosions are crisp, bullet tracers pop over the scenery, and the attention to building detail, character models, and lighting effects are in full force. On Ultra settings, you'd walk right into the monitor if you could. It's absolutely flooring.
Battlefield games have always been industry staples when it comes to sound effects, and this game is no different. Combat jets rushing past you during combat, mortar fire peppering the background, and artillery hitting distant shores will keep your speakers very, very busy. It sets a great ambience for the gameplay. Up close, guns echo and rattle as expected; C4 charges explode with real vigor, and smoldering helicopter husks creak and crackle as they burn away. Even the aircraft carrier creaks slowly against the rolling ocean. As amazing as the graphics are, I think the sound is even better. Investing in a great sound card and a killer set of phones is a must. I have only played this game on the PC, so I can only imagine how amazing the sounds must be a console hooked up a professional home theater system.
Leaning out of a speeding vehicle to shoot at an attack helicopter? Check!
Of course, both visual and audio are in full display with the insane set pieces you encounter. Civil war breaking out in the streets of Shanghai, dams being rigged with explosives, and airdropping onto carriers under siege are all in a day's work (ok, more like a week!) for Tombstone. It's exhausting just thinking about what these guys have to put up with. Considering the campaign is quick, they cut all the fluff and throw you right into the action. I appreciate that, and although I did catch myself laughing at just how preposterous some of the missions were, my jaw did drop a few times.
Action is fast and furious, and even in the few "stealth" missions, it only takes a stray gunshot to turn the game back into a complete war. Weapon crates are conveniently located in multiple locations throughout each map, which allow you to reload or to change weapons to any previous weapon you have already equipped. As such, accuracy by volume is encouraged. Unloading fifteen to twenty rockets into the city, and destroying entire buildings "just because," never gets old. The added satisfaction you get when "enemy killed - 100" pops on your screen only encourages further mayhem. Why go room to room to clear foes when you can simply eradicate entire city blocks?
It's a short ride, but a sweet one. Hidden dog tags (used in multiplayer) plus three different endings to unlock new weapons (also in multiplayer) will bring you back for more, but if you're like me, you're so hooked on the multiplayer that once the experience is over, you won't look back for this pretty straight forward comp stomp. If you haven't checked it out, do so the next time your IRL squad has left you hanging. You won't be disappointed.
