Premium Ad Teases Upcoming DLC’s, Hovering Minigun
In a video released on Battlelog yesterday, the team at DICE are hoping to entice more players of their excellent-yet-troubled multiplayer shooter - Battlefield 4 - to buy Premium membership. Premium itself allows players two weeks early access to the five DLC packs released for the game, along with a few other tertiary features, and now access to the Closed Test Environment, where players can test out new netcode upgrades and other game enhancements for DICE in live games.
In this trailer, however, we get our first glimpse of the upcoming fourth DLC, Dragon's Teeth, which has been rumored to be set in Chinese urban environments. The major new gadget is clearly the Riot Shield, which may or may not feature player emblems on the front. As the urban environments lend themselves well to close-quarters engagements, this might prove to be a useful tool in leading a charge, or locking down points. Alternatively, it might be more irritating initially, and fall off in use quickly. As far as maps are concerned for the DLC, in the sequence where the train hits and destroys the MBT against a pole is rumored to be the Propaganda map, as you can briefly see the North Korean flag in the background. As far as the other maps are concerned, Pearl Market may refer to the Hongqiao Pearl Market in Beijing, Sunken Dragon may involve draining a lake in order to make way for an armored assault, and Lumpini Garden may have players split between rooftops and PWC-controlled canals.
The other surprise of the trailer comes near the end, with the extended shot of what appears to be a hovering minigun. The speculation is that it is the Multiple Kill Vehicle (MKV-L), developed by Lockheed Martin. Names of a few maps were rumored to be leaked a while ago, and with the return to the Arctic setting, might this very well be a hint towards a proper successor to the cult classic Battlefield 2142? Final Stand is likely many months out, but as the teases come more frequently, I know I, at the very least, will be interested in seeing what comes out.