Battlefield 4: Second Assault Review

Battlefield 3 had some fantastic maps that have become favourites with series veterans and newbies alike. Once DICE announced they would be bringing back four fan favourite maps from BF3, a lot of talk was of which maps they would bring back. Would DICE look at player numbers from the previous title to see who had played what? Would it be a vote? In the end, it turned out to be neither of those things. Instead we get four maps chosen by the developers themselves, revamped with added levolution events and slight tweaks to map flow and overall gameplay.

The maps themselves are the talking point of this DLC, which also adds five new weapons, two new vehicles and a ‘new’ game mode. The maps in question are Caspian Border, Operation Firestorm, Gulf of Oman and the obvious - to anyone with half a brain - Operation Metro.

Caspian Border manages to be the biggest departure from its original state, with a new run-down, autumnal aesthetic and two huge new structures. The first difference you’ll notice apart from the amount of foliage now covering the map, is the large concrete wall running the entire length of it. The wall manages to help slow the pace of this map down, allowing players to close off precious routes for armour and giving infantry somewhere to set up vantage points. The second new structure is a giant tower on the hill point, giving its owners a valuable view of the whole map.

What DICE have managed to do with this overhaul is change the entire map flow. The hill point acts like a central hub, the other satellite-esque flag capture points surround it. This draws players to the centre of the map creating some highly enjoyable large and small scale battles. With a lot more little nooks and crannies for people to hide and enter the hill, it makes everything about this map more exciting.

Operation Firestorm and Gulf of Oman manage to stay pretty much unchanged, barring their ‘levolution’ changes. The biggest issue with these maps is that their events don’t change the game enough to justify the remakes. Oman is exactly the same map as BF3, not a single things appears to have changed and the sandstorm doesn’t do much to change that. Sure, it’s impressive and yeah, it gets rid of your long range vision, but if you already know this map it doesn’t play any differently. They changed up one of the rush points, but otherwise it’s identical. The same can be said for Firestorm; nothing is different. There is more fire and that’s it.

On the subject of Firestorm; who at DICE decided it was a fan favourite? This map is simply one of the most boring maps in the series. Considering we had Grand Bazaar, Damavand Peak and Epicentre available as other options, I am at a loss as to why this map was chosen. But at the other end of the spectrum, we get what is probably the most played Battlefield map in the last 2 years: Operation Metro.

Metro - if by now you’re unaware of this map and consider yourself a Battlefield veteran, you may be out of touch. It was a map that tore the community in two. Infantry focused and a place for CoD kids to cut their teeth on the Battlefield formula, it made believers out of non-believers and long time fans cry in agony as their precious Battlefield catered to the masses. The choke points were too much for some people to stomach on PC as 64 player grenade spam ensued for, sometimes thousands, of tickets.

The redesign does help a little with the choke points, but also manages to actually create a few more! A new side passage is added to try and help flank as well as elevators to help make the, now infamous, B capture point a little less stressful. This nicely changes the flow of things, allowing the front line to move back and forth a little more than previously.

Overall, all the maps have been given a touch up graphically and have had little things added here and there, making it feel like there was a huge battle here before. The beach on Oman evokes a Saving Private Ryan vibe with its littered tank carcasses and barbed wire, while Caspian manages something similar with its overgrown fields strewn with rocks and tank entrails.  

The guns in the new DLC are all returning favourites from other Battlefield games as well. We have the AS Val, F2000, M60E4, DAO-12and GOL Magnum. Apart from the F2000 we have nothing that is specifically great in its class. I will say I was happy to see the GOL back though, as it reminds me of my time with Bad Company 2.

Lastly, we have Capture The Flag returning as what is, frankly, the most boring mode in the game, and 10 new assignments. Half of the assignments are to unlock the new weapons and add a good amount of playtime, asking you to mix up your gameplay styles to unlock.

Maybe in future, if DICE wish to give people a nostalgia trip they should look a bit further afield. With as much attention as they seem to pay to the community, it’s hard to understand how they managed to drop the ball so profoundly with map choice.  

Overall this is an average slice of DLC and is very much a fanservice piece, but that appears to be what people want from DICE. BFBC2: Vietnam was extremely well received as was Strike At Karkand. I feel this isn’t on a par with those releases as the nostalgia doesn’t sink in the same way, which is due to the more recent nature of the maps and content at hand.

7/10