Battlefield 4 Tips and Tricks

Hi guys,
 If you follow me on Twitter you will know just how big a fan of Battlefield 4 I am, and today I thought I would impart some of my wisdom to you. Well I hope it is wisdom or this whole post is a bit worthless but for now we will strive on under the assumption that is is wisdom and not the ramblings of a mad man! One last quick note, all of my tips today will be centered around how to do them on the PS4 controller, so I apologise if your are on any other platform!

      1) Spotting: This is probably the nost important tip I will give you today, as you will know shooting has been moved to R2 on the DS4(Dualshock 4) and spotting is now bound to R1, this is actually really handy because I have now got into the habbit of constatnly spotting and then quickly moving my finger back to R2 to shoot. I can't tell you the number of times it has saved my skin/shown me someone to shoot who I couldn't normally see, so get into the habbit of doing it constantly!

     2) Big Map: You may not know this but even on console you can bring up the whole of the map, rather than relying on just the little one in the bottom corner. To do this you simply hold the options button(to bring up the scoreboard) then press R1 which will move it to the map, once you release options obviously it will take the map from the screen. However when ever you bring up the scoreboard again the map will instead be there, to switch back to the scoreboard press L1! I usually check the big map every time I spawn in so I can see whrere I need to go! Alternatlivly you could just check the spawn map and spawn where you think you are needed.

     3) Sniper Lense Glint: If ever you see a little glint in the corner of your eye, like someone on the map is shining a torch right at you this isn't a bug, it is acutually the sun reflecting of the scope of a sniper! This is also usefull to watch out for if every you are trying to counter snipe!

     4) Tank Weak Spots: Want to get the upper hand in a tank-on-tank battle? Well the sides of a tank will give you the lowes damage(so turn your side towards the enemy tank), but most importantly the rear of the tank will give you the largest damage! Bear these 2 tips in mind during a tank battle and you will more than likley win!

     5) Talk to Your Team: If-like me- you don't particularly like turning your mike on to directly speak to your team mates, then you can hold L1 which will bring up this wheel of options:

      You can then select one of them(by hovering over one of them and releasing L1) and then it will pop up in the top left of the screen for your whole team to read. Also any team mates nearby will be able to hear your plea for help of your command!

     6) Squads: The first thing I do every time I join a server is press triangle to survey all of the squads, you want to pick the squad with the most number of people already in it(ovbisously not 5!) and join it, this can actually be really vital because with a large squad you are less likely to all die and lose your precious squad points. It will also give you a larger pool of players to choose to spawn on! Though be warned sometimes there will be a squad of less than 4 and it won't give you the option to join it, there is nothing you can do so just choose another squad.

     7) Phantom Assignmests: Right this is my last tip for the day and it revolves around the ellusive Phantom Prospect and Treinee assignments. You have to be a Premium member to be able to start working towards the assingment. First though you must enter the correct passwords for each assingment, what you have to do is go the the leaderboards table and scroll down, then in the bottom left you will see a little mask behind another mask. If you click on this it will bring up a large page of code, don't worry this is what it is supposed to do, once it has verified you are a premium member it will ask you to put a password in, the first password you want to put in is, bumpinthenight, just like that with no spaces. That will give you access to the Phantom Prospect assignment. Then you will be asked to input a second password which is, epic dream worlds, this time with all of the spaces, this will give you access to the phantom treinee assignment. Good luck completing them!

That brings me to the end of my tips and trick for BF4, I hope you found this usefull in some way, if you did be sure to tell your friends about them!
Thanks for reading
Ed

Battlefield 4 Diary: Aqua Domination

Hi guys Rick here reporting to you from inside the battlefield,

 07:00: The time that we all wake up every day, I nearly always train in the morning and then go out and shed blood for which every country I am serving now, and this day was no different. We usually do 10 laps of the Aircraft Carrier we live on and also serves as a mobile deployment station for where ever we are needed.

 

09:00: At  this time a couple of us have usually been deployed but most of us are sat around twiddling our thumbs until the afternoon. 

 

 13:06: My lunch was cut short when I was told that I was being deployed, my orders from up high were to scout a plane crash in an attack boat. Thinking back that was one of the best tuna sandwiches I had eaten in quite a while!

 

 13:12: That was one of the quickest times that I had got from the mess to the lower deck in a long time, but this was a special day, I am usually deployed on foot, so to be entrusted with a huge boat with even bigger guns was quite a spectacle.

 13:17: By this time I had reached the crashed plane, but I could feel that something wasn't right, it was too quiet, there was no body any where near the crashed plane, the whole place was totally deserted. Just as I was about to radio back to the Carrier to report, I saw them. I saw the enemy, and they were plentiful, I managed to take down one of their attack boats and a couple of infantry before I my self was killed. 

 13:19: Expecting to go into the nether, I was very surprised when I suddenly woke up in an identical attack boat! This time before I left the Carrier I made a few upgrades to the boat, this time I would be going out with a new kind of ammo which I was assured by my quarter master would deal with enemy boats with greater ease. He was right.

 13: 25: This day was turning out to be a very, very good one I had already dispatched 2 enemy boats and I was bearing down on my third. Every thing was going brilliantly, but it would seem with hindsight that the enemy saw what I was doing and dispatched a jet to take care of me. As you may be able to imagine, it didn't take long before I was waiting to wake up again.

 13: 33: I felt like I was within spitting distance of something very important, I just couldn't put my finger of what! This time when I woke up there was someone else driving the big boat and I was precariously stood on the back of it with a rather large chain gun. 

 13:37: This was going brilliantly, it turned out that the guns on the side of the boat were highly affective against most things that floated. Alas my reign of aqua dominance could only last so long. This time it was someone from the shore line who was pointing a rather large gun at me which he rested on his shoulder.

 13:54: After several more escapades in the attack boat I got a radio buzz from my quarter master, who told me that I was now a good enough boat driver to be entrusted with a very new gadget which had been nicknamed "TV Missiles", as soon as I used one for the first time I could see why, using a screen in my boat no bigger than a laptop, I could wirelessly control very explosive missiles, and send them all the way across the map!

 14:35: After a little while longer experimenting with this new gadget I was told that I had played my part for the day and that I was being brought back to the Carrier. I was quite disappointed because I was having more fun in the boats that I undoubtedly would doing laps of the Carrier. Alas I would be able to take to the seas once more tommorow!

Thanks for reading,

Ed

Just as a quick note on the end, Rick is a totally fictional character and the diary is written from his perspective of one of the players in Battlefield 4.

Battlefield 4: ACE-23 Gun Review

Hi guys,
 I decided that seeing as I am loving Battlefield 4 so much, I would bring you a review of one of the guns/classes I like to use! If you already have BF4 you have doubtlessly heard of or used the ACE-23, despite BF4 being a much more balanced game(gun wise) there are still guns that the masses will crowd towards. In BF4 the ACE-23 is just such a weapon. The biggest problem with this weapon is actually unlocking it, it is unlike most other Assault Rifles as you need to complete 3 assignments to be able to unlock it! Let's break down the three assignments:

     First you will have to complete Assault Basic, which will require 7 kills with any Assault Rifle and 11 heals, but most importantly you will need to be at least rank 10 which shouldn't take you to long to do. I believe this is to keep this very powerful weapon out of the hands of people who have just picked up the game. The heals can be obtained either with the Med Kit or the Med Bag. You will then be awarded with the Assault Basic dog tag.
     Next there will be the Assault Veteran assignment, you will needed to have completed Assault Basic to unlock Assault Veteran, for this you will need to get 8 kills with any Assault Rifle an 12 total heals. Much like Assault Basic this will be very easy to complete, though if you are having trouble with the heals play some Operation Locker pop one down and the heals will come quickly! The nice thing about this assignment is that you get a new camo for all weapons and vehicles for completing it.

     So far the assignments have been a walk in the park and you should get them within a few matches, the biggest problem is Assault Expert, which firstly requires you to have competed the two above assignments and then you will need 50 Medkit Ribbons, 200 kills with any AR and 10 AR Ribbons. Despite it sounding quite daunting this one assignment only took me about 4 hours to complete. The 50 Medkit ribbons: to earn one Medkit ribbon you have to earn 8 heals in one round. For this I would recommend you having the Medbag but it isn't essential, this will also mean that you will get a Medkit medal. The 200 AR kills and the 10 AR Ribbons both will be earned together, the ribbon requires you to earn 6 AR kills in one round, you will earn this before you get your 200 AR kills. As for the 200 AR kills it isn't that hard, just quite time consuming. Once you have completed all of this you will earn yourself the ACE-23.

    Right now you have unlocked it let's talk about how it handles, this is a very good overall weapon, it can handle itself up close and further away(though you will need to tap fire for long range shots) and that is the main reason it is good. Anyone can pick it up and do well, you don't need to chose a compromise you just have to pick up the weapon. Let's talk about the attachments:

To be honest the optic is really down you how you want to play with this gun, but if you are going to be close to medium range then I would recommend either the Coyote RDS or the Kobra RDS. I find the laser sight is invaluable as you will be running into people unexpectedly so you want to be able to hip fire and still have a fighting chance. I haven't unlocked it yet but I would recommend the green laser sight as it is the hardest see at a distance.

     If you didn't know, in BF4 you can equip a suppressor with out it effecting you damage stats, as it did in BF3. Instead it only slows the flight of your bullets, this makes it an essential for any guy(when you unlock it).

Finally you have you under barrel attachment, I have gone for the potato grip as it decreases your bullet spread when you shoot!

    

     Thank brings me to the end of this review for the ACE-23 in Battlefield 4, all in all I would give it 10/10, a flawless gun that can be used at nearly all ranges with few guns to out shoot it. I know this has been a bit of a weird post but I am playing very little else at the moment, so I wanted to post about it. Please do tell me if you want to see more of these BF4 gun reviews either by Tweeting me, or leaving a comment down bellow!

    As always thanks for reading,

Ed

Don't forget you can read this and much more on my new Website!

Battlefield 4 First Impressions

Hi guys,
 You may have seen in most gaming news outlets that people are saying that Battlefield 4 is a broken game and you shouldn't buy/play it. Now to some extent this is true, there are quite a lot of things in the game that need to be fixed. However that doesn't mean it isn't worth playing, so far I have only played for about 13 hours, but I can assure you that time will increase dramatically.
     This is a game that I can get lost in, a game that is worthy of many accolades, then the game crashes and you lose all your match progress(in my 13 hour play time my game has crashed about 12 times). This gets very irritating, though it takes about 30-60 seconds to get back into a match. From what I have played there hasn't been too much lag and when there has been it has been because I have been downloading a game in the background. To say that I only have 1.8 MB/s internet speed it is remarkable that I have had as little lag as I have!
     My one problem with the game(when it works) is the levelling system, every time you level up you don't get anything, every 2-3 level ups you get what is called a battlepack. With a battlepack you get a certain number of random things, they could be XP boosts, attachments, camos, knives and more! Now the problem is when you only get these every 2-3 levels you begin to feel that they are quite a low incentive for levelling up.
      The flip side to the poor levelling system is that everything is unlocked using it's own levelling system. So if you want to get a specific gun, say an assault rifle, then you have to get a certain amount of points with that section. I personally think this is a brilliant idea, as it is making me use my pistol and grenades more(to unlock more pistols and grenades). I feel this gives the game more diversity and the game is better because of it!
     They are my initial thoughts on the games Multiplayer, I haven't played all that much of the single player but that will be included in my final review. Over all I am beyond loving this game, and I can't wait for the day when it preforms as it should. Unlike most of the gaming community I have faith in EA and DICE to fix Battlefield 4, and get it to the standard it so desperately deserves. The last thing I will say on this game is, if you are a Battlefield fan then you should pick this game as you will appreciate where it has come from. However if you are thinking of picking this game up from the point of view of someone who hasn't played any previous BF games, I would advise waiting for a few months until it is in a better state to be played.
That's all for now check back soon for more exciting PS4 content!
Ed

Battlefield 4 Beta Details

Hi guys,
 The scene is set, the field is ready, the players; preparing, the developers baiting their breath. The time is fast approaching, the time when players will unite together to play the hell out of a beta. The beta of a game that will redefine what it means to make a shooter, a game that will redefine the definition of an immersive game.
     You can be in no doubt in your mind of the game with which I speak, Battlefield 4. Of which the beta is soon upon us. As you probably guessed from the title of this post, anyway let's get down the the new details of the beta.    

The only map that will be playable in the beta will be the first map we saw all the way back at E3 this year, and that is Seige of Shanghai, as I'm sure you remember the largest skyscraper in the map was destructible, you can see the building collapsing in the picture above. The two available game modes to play will be Conquest(4-5 flags to capture and get points from) and Domination, which is similar to Conquest Domination in BF3 except on a bigger scale. It is a great shame that both the modes are so similar in gameplay. I would have been very nice to see the flagship mode of Battlefield: Rush, as that would have shown the map of in a different light. Alas it is not the case, we will have to make do with those two modes and that one map for the beta. If my memory serves the full game will feature 10 maps(Including Seige of Shanghai and Paracel Storm) and 7 game modes. 

     

The beta is set for release on October 1st for certain people, and October 4th, I hope to see you all on the battlefield!

On one last thing, it is the European Women in Gaming Jobs convention, on the September 25th, keep up with what is going at the convention here.

Thanks for reading

Ed

Follow me on Twitter here.

Where could it go next? Battlefield

Hi guys
Welcome welcome welcome, to a new series that I will be starting from now on in which I will examine major series and see where they could develop and what could be changed. As you will have read from the title this post I will be examining the Battlefield series, so lets get straight into it.
      I will admit now the only Battlefield game I have played is Battlefield 3, but I was highly impressed by that game, it is my favourite FPS and my favourite multiplayer game. Anyway in BF3 you have 4 classes in the form of Assault, Support, Engineer and Recon, these four classes has been down sized from BF:BC2 which had 8 classes, I think it should stay with the four classes, but the guns you unlock should be for versatile as to which class you can use them in. As you will know if you have played any of BF3 the leveling system is a very very slow one, in BF4 I would like to see a considerably sped up leveling system, there is a fine line between feeling a great reward at leveling up and feeling you barley never level up. I would put BF3 on the latter side of the line, also there are certain levels when you are highly uninterested in what you have just unlocked.
     I think the massive maps are a part of the Battlefield legacy, and that it should stick to it. I would also like to see many more game modes in the game, in BF3 there are only 3 modes you will want to play(pre-DLC) and all of them are highly generic. A feature many people have said they would like to see in BF4(myself included) is a Battlerecorder of sorts, something with which you will be able to watch your match back and make awesome montages. My last wish for BF4 is more guns, you do feel slightly bored after a while with the same guns over and over again, but that is a small complaint.
Just a quick side-note at the end of this post, BF4 is more that lightly to be announced at the GDC in late March so keep your eyes peeled for that and all the info we will be getting, BF4 may also be announced as to be coming to next-gen consoles as well as current-gen.
Alright my fellow gamers that is it for this post I hope you liked it, the coming months will be very busy for me, so don't expect the same number of posts you have been seeing from me lately.
Thanks for reading
Ed