Battlefield 4 is about killing other players with guns and tanks and maybe helicopters. A campaign can be found in there somewhere, too. I kind of like it.  Anyway, a new "Road to Battlefield 4" blog is out and it's time for me to get my hate on. I mean, at the very beginning, they drop this gem:

"There was one basic design philosophy behind vehicles in Battlefield 4, an approach that is found throughout Battlefield's history: to give players opportunities to make interesting choices and affect the game in a more personalized way."

And here I though design philosophy for vehicles was about balance and fun.

Luckily for you, I present a BS free version! For example, attack boats are made with the thought that they're like water based tanks. And as they have limitations (don't go on land), a lot more customisation was added to them more than conventional vehicles. And you can provide fire support, too - wire guided missiles don't fall down when they fly over land (and into some tank's backside).

Some other additions were made for the watercraft. Due to the fact that you won't have many teammates just hanging around in the middle of the sea (except for some intrepid jet pilots and unlucky souls that boarded a trollocopter), attack boats are now team spawn points. Also, gun stations were added to many of the ships, because being a helo gunner was and is one of the most rewarding experiences in Battelfield (hey, I can shoot people from the sky and don't need to know how to pilot a 'copter!). As for people who want to get away from a boat, Personal Water Carriers (they're actually called Personal Water Craft, also known as water scooters or jetskis) can be deployed from the back. This is supposedly inspired by Battlefield 1942's landing craft deploying rafts when sank. As for the jetskis and RHIBs, the developers consider them disposable, just like all transport vehicles, but RHIBS still have guns on them. You could probably stick C4 on them too, but I think it is hard to catch an attack boat. Now, if there was a silly tank near the shore line...

There's also talk about rock/paper/scissors evolved, which in human language means that you get more customization for you attack options. For example, the humble mobile AA had a chain gun and maybe some rockets. While this allowed you to tackle helos and harass jets, it also made for a kickass light tank. Shredding through infantry and light vehicles alike. In an effort to get you back into the air defence role, various weapon options are promised. Consider your engagement ranges, target types, area (is it an open map or are the buildings for helos to hide behind) and choose weapons accordingly. You can still probably mulch through infantry, though.

This also means things like ammo types. For example, before the battle, you can chose a 120MM Armor Piercing Shell or a High Explosive Shell. The first one deals more direct damage, while the other has more splash. This also means camo optionss, even though, at least according to the poll on the blog, this is the least important option for everyone.

While we're talking about tanks, Battlefield 3's three upgrade slots (secondary weapon, gadget and upgrade) and optics are being crammed into the same category as countermeasures. Nobody really used optics (especially on tanks). Well, now optics and countermeasures have their own slots! Also, for tanks, the remote gun stations now have their own optics and upgrade slots - which means short range incendiary grenades to combat my attempts at C4'ing tanks.

By the way, in Battlefied 3, vehicles would become disabled and caught aflame if their health was too low. Unless an engineer came to fix it, you were somewhat boned and forced to leave your tank behind (noooo!). Well, in an effort to make this a somewhat less painful issue, critical hits were implemented.

As a blow is dealt to a vehicle (and driver's ego), angle of attack, zone and final damage is calculated. Enough damage temporarily disable the vehicle - tanks lose power, planes lose control, etc. It goes away in a few moments, so if you're still alive, you can continue to fight. And the damage threshold is calculated and scaled according to both angle and zone (treads, cockpit etc), which means that the creators added more complexity to a game instead of dumbing it down. Wow.

Of course, tanks aren't immortal, if you know how to counteract them. MBT's have strong frontal armor, somewhat normal side armor and, as DICE says, the weakest armor of any fighting vehicles in the game on their backs. So it's like a Leman Russ, even though I think that real life tanks dropped this armoring scheme after the Cold War (when tanks were expected to fight face to face). So if you have an RPG, you best try hitting the back.

Or the top, since top armor is also a thing a now, and it's quite weak (that's why the Javelin has a top-down attack). Helicopters, laser guided player designated tank missile, RPG troopers with parachutes will all be able to exploit that.

Also, they keep mentioning tanks as if there were other real "tanks" in the game beside MBTs.

Airplanes and helos got some love, too. Attack planes and fighter planes are now actually different, with the former being suitable for engaging ground targets (tanks, sniper, C4 laden jeeps) and the latter more useful for taking down other jets and that one attack helo that's piloted by a guy with a 40/1 K/D ratio. Attack Helos are now best suited to take down heavy targets (and unlucky infantry) while scout copters are faster and more nimble, while also efficient for attacking light targets. Transport helicopters are still fun if you have friends and know how to fly.

Aaaaand I think that's all. DICE should pay me for all this shillin'. Or at least give me press beta access. Oh yeah, the release dates are here. PC and older console users can expect to partake in Beta on October 1st while people who didn't buy Premium copies will get to play the game when it's launched on October 29th.