Battlefield 4 is probably (gotta be a careful fanboy these days) going to be awesome. You'll be able to shoot troops from THREE different nations (USA, Russia, PRC) and C4 their tanks. What's not to love?
And now comes the "Road To Battlefield 4" update that deals with updated classes. What's new?
Well, they toyed with the classes somewhat. The firsth thing mentioned are the Engineers. The dumb fire RPG-7V2 (which I recall being as unsatisfying as SMAW) is now going to be the point and shoot heavy damage option. The MBT SMAW - not in actual use with the US military - will be fire and forget, low damage missile, so not as good against tank, but probably powerful enough to take out C4 laden jeeps. The FMG-172 SRAW is wire guided, so probably going to replace Javelin.
The Support class is going to have the XM25 (grenade launcher?) and a redesigned remote mortar, because gameplay focused on mobility (that's what DICE stresses) mean sitting away from your mortar. The LMGs are going to be complimented by carbines and DMRs and you'll still be able to use C4 or Claymores.
Guess who else is able to do that? The assh... I mean, Recon! This is a supposed throwback to the SpecOps class in Battlefield 2. Also? Portable laser designator (SOFLAM is still here - the portable version can't be left alone to mark stuff without your medling), Motion Sensor, MAV, Radio Beacon, carbines... also the revamped sniping mechanic and the ability to set aiming distance on your rifle (just like in Red Orchestra).
My favorite class - Assault - bears little change. The First aid pack is used to heal one player (which probably means that you throw it onto another guy and he starts absorbing it trough the skin - Support also gets one that replenishes ammo instead) and Flasbang is used to annoy campers inside rooms. I'm gonna love that thing - assuming it doesn't replace the medicine box.
Suppressing fire has been reworked - LMGs now do more, other rifles do less, so fuck snipers. Also, it's going to do less in short range and accuracy penalty is replaced by sniper-like iron sight sway - all to increase the stress on skills in close quarters. Or to steer the game closer to Call of Duty, which is the direction it should never go.
Field Upgrades is a new thing that's going to be applied to individual players...as long as they play as a squad. Represented by the bar - internally called "bro bar" by DICE (because devs are hacks who feel desperate need to show that they're "in" with the young 'uns) - it means that you'll get aditional levels of "specialization" bonuses. Lone players with just have to contend with simple specializations. Take that, camping snipers!
You're not going to lose any progress on the bar as long as you hop from squad to squad - so no building up the bar to go lone wolf - or as you change which Field Upgrade path you're using. The universal, accessible to all classes one are Offence (quicker sprint, more ammo, more grenades, reduced fall damage) and Defence (defence for the chest, less suppression, less explosive damage and regen kicks in faster). There's going to be a third one decided by vote - Shadow (quick unspot, faster sprint, reduced fall damage and the ability to sneak around motion sensors - perfect for sniper hunting) and classes will have their own paths.
So, how do YOU feel about it?
