Battlefield 4 mode Obliteration and map Paracel Storm revealed
Watch a battleship crash into an island mid-match.
DICE has unveiled a new game mode and map for Battlefield 4.
Obliteration, inspired by Capture the Flag, is brand new for the Battlefield series. In it, each team is given three objectives that must be defended. At the start of the battle a bomb spawns in a central location, and both teams rush to grab it and bring it to the enemy's objective.
Once there, the bomb must be armed to trigger an explosion, thus destroying the objective. When that happens, a new bomb spawns. The goal is to destroy the enemy's three objectives while defending yours.
Obliteration is capped at 32 players on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. On PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 it's capped at 24 players. You can of course push higher on PC.
"Battlefield has always been about providing team play for those who want it," Battlefield creative director Lars Gustavsson told Eurogamer at a pre-Gamescom event at DICE's Stockholm, Sweden office.
"Since Battlefield 1942 we've all been deeply in love with Capture the Flag. Even though it's dressed up in a serious setting, it brings on so many moments that are just sheer fun. Even though we get a lot of comments that Battlefield is so realistic, yes, but that's the wrapper. Under the hood it's about crazy fun. That's what's important to me. And Obliteration truly brings out fun.
"With a large amount of players, it's very easy to get into a stalemate with Capture the Flag, where you're banging your head against a wall. So we looked at what could provide good team play and provide the adrenaline rush of Capture the Flag in these dynamic worlds? Then we thought about what we learned from Rush, with multiple bases, to not get the stalemate, and built from there.
"It's a fresh take on the all out war of Battlefield. You can of course play it as infantry-only, but with the addition of vehicles - helicopters, boats and everything - it's hard to play it without having an evil grin on your face."
Meanwhile, DICE has confirmed that Domination, the mode that debuted in Battlefield 3, returns for Battlefield 4. As in BF3, teams fight over three objectives. Capturing objectives causes the enemy to lose tickets. Your goal is to reduce your enemy's ticket count to zero.
Having unveiled Battlefield 4's multiplayer at E3 in June with the Shanghai map, DICE used Gamescom to reveal a new map, called Paracel Storm.
Paracel Storm is an island group located in the South China sea, and focuses heavily on amphibious assault gameplay. Expects boats and jetskis and plenty of swimming.
Levolution, DICE's buzzword for dynamic, ever-changing multiplayer maps, works across multiple game modes in Battlefield 4 and on all maps. We've already seen how this plays out on Shanghai - if players destroy the structures supporting a skyscraper it comes crashing down spectacularly. On Paracel Storm, Levolution has an equally dramatic effect.
Playing Obliteration on Paracel Storm, the match begins with clear skies and calm waters. But as objectives are destroyed the skies darken, the wind picks up and the intensity of waves increase. It's not long before a storm breaks out, and the waters surrounding the small network of islands reach dramatic heights.
It's at this late stage in the match that a huge battleship appears. If players destroy the wind turbines that surround it, the powerful waves send the battleship crashing into Paracel Storm's main island, remaking the battlefield. Watch it in the video below.
