With the Call of Duty Ghosts championships going on this weekend, its chief competition, Battlefield 4, needed a bit of good news. It got the opposite, as news has spread that the Battlefield 4 Naval Strike DLC delayed a bit for Xbox One. DICE, the developer, also delayed the PC version.
In announcing that the Battlefield 4 Naval Strike DLC delayed, DICE said: “We have delayed the PC version of Naval Strike because we are concerned that the combination of the pack and planned PC updates would increase performance issues on mid-range to high-end PCs. … Additionally, we have decided to delay the Xbox One version of Naval Strike because we want to address issues in the animation system that hinder players from engaging targets in set circumstances using popular weapon configurations.”
Fortunately, having Battlefield 4 Naval Strike DLC delayed isn’t a long-term issue. DICE stated that it hopes to have the BF4 DLC up and running in early April. That’s just a week away.
[UPDATE]: On March 27, DICE shared word that “Battlefield 4 Naval Strike is starting to roll out for Premium members on Xbox One today. We look forward to seeing you on the Battlefield!”
[Original article resumes] The latest BF4 DLC delay is a brutal reminder of a series of BF4 technical problems that plagued the game’s Xbox One launch. Fortunately it’s just a reminder, not the latest snafu in an ongoing pattern. Since DICE patched BF4 for Xbox One (and PS4, for that matter), the game’s been much more stable and a blast.
The Battlefield 4 Naval Strike DLC was originally scheduled to launch on Xbox One on March 25 release for Battlefield 4 Premium subscribers. Naval Strike released on March 25 as scheduled for BF4 Premium subscribers on PS4, PS3 and Xbox 360. It will be released for non-Premium members, including apparently all Xbox One owners, at a later date.
All told, the BF4 Naval Strike DLC includes four new maps, a re-imagined game mode from Battlefield 2142 and an amphibious hovercraft vehicle. The four new maps are:
- Lost Islands: Blow open a crashed passenger plane and capture fishing villages across these tropical islands.
- Wave Breaker: Drop a submarine on your foes as you infiltrate a naval base or rush between shipping docks and rocky islands on this massive map.
- Nansha Strike: Wage war across stormy seas in the largest ocean stretch in a Battlefield map yet.
- Operation Mortar: Storm an abandoned cliff-side resort, or get lost in the breathtaking vistas in this map.
The Battlefield 4 Naval Strike DLC also lets you re-live the classic Titan Mode of Battlefield 2142, with the new Carrier Assault game mode. Your objective is to destroy the enemy team’s carrier before they infiltrate and destroy yours. You start out fighting a big-scale war with sea, land and air vehicles controlling the map, and then everything evolves into an infantry-focused, close-quarters fight inside both carriers at the same time.
The final updates in Naval Strike are the introduction of the amphibious hovercraft vehicle, five new weapons, two additional gadgets and 10 assignments. In other words, having the Battlefield 4 Naval Strike DLC delayed is disappointing, but it’s probably going to be worth the wait.
