*Beep* *Beep* *Beep* Dumptruck backing up. Dropping off this hot mess of a 12 minutes spectator video with super douchey commentary.

My takeaways in terms of subtle changes of direction in comparison to BF3:

• Despite similarly aggressive lighting/dark shadows, sunglare is toned down enough to never blot out the whole screen, like it so often did in BF3. Shadows seem less obstructively dark too.
• Much increased tracers and muzzle flash for much improved visual feedback.
• Finally a proper map screen again.
• HUD/UI uses clearer colorcoding.

It looks like BF4 might actually be as fun to play as it is to spectate this time around, which was not the case in BF3 for me. All the subtle changes sure seem to go in a direction I appreciate. Slightly less distorted, in favor of more clarity - increasing overall playability.

Here's me hoping, I'll be able to love BF4 as much I want to.

I know you went balls deep into BF3 so if you're positive about BF4 I'll start looking forward to it again. They look identical to me though, but hey.

At this point it's all inference and wishful thinking. I think I saw and recognized all those things. I might be full of shit. But I'm certainly cautiously optimistic. If you haven't yet, watch the following video on vehicle customization...

Seeing how vehicle customization is designed to allow for much more complete loadouts (added countermeasure specific slot - for example), increasing the overall viability of every customization option in turn - it's little touches like this that make me believe in the possibility of having a lot more fun with BF4 than I had playing BF3.

BF4 seems less rushed, DICE has mastered their new engine, has more efficient production pipelines - there's time again to get core design right, and care about *the magic sauce*, which kinda wasn't there anymore the last time around.

Hey, they might even find the time to add rearview to vehicles again. Wouldn't that be something?

Yea, that was great!

I don't know if I can play a Battlefield match without Corey Dunn commentating now.

Yeah, a lot of the BF4 hype videos are actually emphasizing new gameplay elements and features. From the get go, I've been enticed by better UI, Squad controls (like bf2, where you can set an objective, and it draws a line), commander, etc.

Can't wait, it'll be my first multiplayer shooter since Halo: Reach (well, I really got into Resistance 3 for some reason).

IGN just posted an article badmouthing the PS4 version's graphics, and I don't know how I feel about it. Maybe they're still adjusting to the final hardware.

Just read that.

Guess whoever's in charge of optimizing BF4 for PS4 still got a sick crunch ahead of them, to get this thing running properly. No worries though, specs-wise it should definitely run BF3 at 60 FPS in 1080p on high to ultra settings - BF4 can't be all that more demanding. Opposed to current gen, devs are no longer as strapped for ressources as they were, so the wiggle room for optimization has to be much larger right now.

Hopefully they won't resort to optimizing the game by reducing its rendering resolution to sub-1080p (sadly that currently seems to be the case, according to IGN), which would be in-bad-taste technical artdirection, as far as I'm concerned. What's the point of higher fidelity bells and whistles, if the fidelity comes at a lower resolution, which inherently reduces all fidelity - regardless of what it might be?

At least at my retailer, BF4 is the most preordered game for PS4 - I guess that's true for most markets - EA would be well advised to focus on that optimization effort. The image damage to EA/DICE and the Battlefield franchise, as well as Playstation 4, would be substantial. Unless... Collusion!*Duh Duh Duuuuh*

P.S. Optimization happens at the very end of the dev cycle, I believe. Guess they're not there yet. There's over a month between current gen/PC launch and the PS4 launch. It's very likely most of the optimization effort will fall between current gen/PC versions going gold, and the release of the new generation.