DICE details ‘Battlefield 4’ DLC and Premium subscriber bonuses

By Adam Rosenberg August 20, 2013

dice details battlefield 4 dlc and premium subscriber bonuses rain — Image used with permission by copyright holder

One of the few compelling newsbites from Electronic Arts’ 2013 Gamescom press conference focused on Battlefield 4, and specifically confirmation that the DICE shooter will once again be released alongside a value-added season pass. The Battlefield 4 Premium membership carries a $50 price tag, just like 2012’s offering for Battlefield 3, and those who sign up once again have an assortment of DLC downloads to look forward to along with a few other extras.

There are five confirmed DLC packs in all: Second Assault, featuring four re-worked maps from BF3; China Rising, a series of maps set on China’s mainland due in December 2013; Naval Strike, bringing ocean-based combat to BF4 in spring 2014; Dragon’s Teeth, focusing on urban warfare in summer 2014; and Final Stand, in which “the war [reaches] its epic conclusion,” also due out in summer 2014.

Premium subscribers also enjoy a number of other benefits, including two weeks of early access to all of the expansion packs; bonus camos, paints, emblems, and dogtags; priority placement in server queues; 12 bonus Battlefield 4 Battlepacks; and unspecified “new content” every week.

DICE also confirmed that Battlefield 3 Premium subscribers will join Battlefield 4 Digital Deluxe and Medal of Honor Warfighter pre-orderers in enjoying three days of early access to the Battlefield 4 beta, which launches in “early October.” The beta opens up after that, with all comers able to play on the game’s “Siege of Shanghai” map in Conquest mode. The full game then hits stores on October 29.

Former Digital Trends Contributor

Previously, Adam worked in the games press as a freelance writer and critic for a range of outlets, including Digital Trends…

Gaming

Battlefield 2042 Season 1 is an improvement, but a late one

A specialist holds Battlefield 2042's new crossbow weapon.

Battlefield 2042's launch didn't go quite as planned for EA. While it was poised to be the publisher's next live service hit, it floundered at launch due to an overwhelming number of bugs, a controversial ability-driven specialist system, maps that felt way too big, and more. While Digital Trends' reviewer loved the base game, many players didn't, so EA spent months fixing it. As a result, Season 1: Zero Hour was pushed back all the way to June 9, over six months after the game's launch. Ahead of its release, I got the opportunity to try out some of Season 1's new content a see if Battlefield 2042 has really changed for the better.
This primarily consisted of going hands-on with the new Specialist Ewelina Lis on the new map Exposure. Is Battlefield 2042 in a better state now than it was at launch? Yes. Will it make enough compelling additions and changes to bring you back if you're not a hardcore Battlefield fan? Not really.
Battlefield 2042 | Season 1: Zero Hour Gameplay Trailer Premiere
What's new?
The main additions coming to Battlefield 2042 at the start of Season 1 are a new rocket launcher-wielding specialist named Ewelina Lis, a new map set in the Canadian Rockies called Exposure, new weapons including a crossbow and marksman rifle, and a battle pass containing lots of free and paid unlockables. It's definitely the meatiest batch of content Battlefield 2042 has received since launch, but it doesn't revamp or fix every core problem with the game.

Starting with the battle pass, don't expect any wild crossover or crazy outfits, just a lot of new realistic looks for your specialists, vehicles, and weapons. It is challenge-based, which Halo has shown the downsides of, but thankfully 30 tiers of it are free and the only things unlocked by paying up are cosmetic. That means everyone will be able to try the new specialist Ewelina Lis. She is a helpful Engineer Specialist as she always has a rocket launcher at her disposal to help destroy vehicles.
While I found the new Ghostmaker R10 Crossbow and BSV-M Marksman Rifle to be too slow and not powerful enough to be very useful in a game with such a quick time to kill, Lis may be a useful specialist that will stick around on most squads. She's particularly useful on the brand-new map Exposure.
When previewing the new season, I got to try out both Conquest and Breakthrough on Exposure, a map that supports both 128-player and 64-player matches. As it takes place in and around a base built into the side of a mountain, it has one of the most distinctive and vertical layouts of any new Battlefield 2042 map. The tensest firefights took place in a spot nestled on the side of the mountain, as players could flank from within the mountain on foot or from the skies in new stealth helicopters. While I enjoyed those moments and attacking the base in the helicopter, it still felt a bit too big to traverse on foot outside of that base, a common problem with all of Battlefield 2042's maps.

Gaming

Battlefield 2042 won’t get its first season until summer

Angel from Battlefield 2042.

Following a rocky launch, Battlefield 2042's first season is set to release sometime this summer according to a blog post from developer DICE.

https://twitter.com/Battlefield/status/1488513276367540225

Gaming

Battlefield 2042 update finally brings scoreboards

Sundance from Battlefield 2042 drinks wine at a bar.

In a series of posts on the Battlefield Direct Communication Twitter account, developer DICE outlined its plans for two of Battlefield 2042's upcoming updates. The first, called 3.2, is set to go live tomorrow, January 20, with 3.3 arriving in February. While both updates will include stability improvements, neither will add voice chat, which has been absent from the game since its launch.

https://twitter.com/BattlefieldComm/status/1483741031573172236