Battlefield 4: Naval Strike (Video Game Review)

Battlefield 4: Naval Strike is the third released DLC package for DICE and EA's hit first-person shooter title. Anyone that claims to have not had any problems running Battlefield 4, especially on consoles, is either lying or one of the few lucky people that has been able to fully enjoy the game since its release late last year. The game has suffered from poor performance issues of all types, and the game's first two DLC releases were only a little more than content cut from the original game and repackaged as post launch DLC for fans to purchase separately or pick up with Battlefield 4 Premium. Naval Strike is easily the best of the DLC available for the game, but it's still simply more content for a broken game that doesn't always work properly. Fans that don't already own Battlefield 4 Premium will need to make a tough call when deciding whether or not to purchase Naval Strike.

Battlefield 4: Naval Strike includes four new maps, a new game mode and additional vehicles and weapons to use online. Of the four new maps, Operation Mortar may be the best. The map takes players to a run down Chinese vacation resort set in a mountain range that offers plenty of high vantage points that skilled players can easily take advantage of. One cool feature allows players to find and shoot a gunpowder powered cannon within the aged fort.

The other three maps (Lost Islands, Nansha Strike and Wave Breaker) are pretty solid maps across a variety of game modes as well. Lost Islands is a large map with plenty of fishing huts and other tropical structures that can be used for cover. Nansha Strike features a large amount of water that devides the map into different section and typically includes many long range firefights best suited for sniper classes. Wave Breaker is a series of armored enclaves with a mountain base in the middle of the map that houses a submarine facility. The maps are all very large and work best on 64 player matches, but they are also suitable for smaller games with maps cut into much smaller portions such as Lost Islands battle in the level's aircraft carrier.

Carrier Assault is the new game mode included in Battlefield 4: Naval Strike, and it plays very similar to Battlefield 2142's Titan mode for long time fans of the series. The mode begins with heavy vehicle centric combat before turning into up close gun fights for control of either team's carrier on the inside of the structures. The mode is a lot of fun when it works, but lag and bug free gamers aren't always the easiest thing to come by in Battlefield 4 as many players have come to understand.

There are some new weapons included in Battlefield 4: Naval Strike including a grenade launcher we were very fond of, and players can more easily get around the water covered maps in the new hovercraft vehicle. Battling in the water focused maps is pretty cool and can give players a rush when storming enemy territory on the beach, but sadly, the content doesn't work reliably enough to give the content an endorsement greater than the content being improved over the previously released underwhelming content drops. Battlefield 4: Naval Strike is now available on PlayStation Network, Xbox LIVE and PC.

Battlefield 4: Naval Strike is now available for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, Xbox One, Xbox 360 & PC and can be purchased for $14.99. Battlefield 4 is rated M by the ESRB for Blood and Gore, Intense Violence & Strong Language. For more information on the game, check out the official Battlefield 4: Naval Strike website.

Game Features:

• Online Multiplayer 1-64
• Four New Maps
• Carrier Assault Game Mode
• New Weapons
• Hovercraft Vehicle

Game Information:
Developer: DICE
Publisher: EA
Platforms: PlayStation 4 , PlayStation 3, Xbox One (reviewed), Xbox 360 & PC
Release Date: March 25, 2014

Score: 6 out of 10