CHINA RISING MAP PREVIEWS

CHINA RISING MAP PREVIEWS
Grab your 40x scope and a dirt bike, folks, because we’re coming in hot for the newest DLC release for Battlefield 4. Follow along for some breathtaking tours around the newest maps included in BF4′s first technical DLC release – China Rising.

The Battlefield 4 China Rising DLC is scheduled for release on December 3rd, and we already knew some details about the expansion. For one, it will bring back the old Air Superiority game mode, and as all DLC, it’ll include new weapons and vehicles as well.

And according to leaked promo from the official South American Battlefield 4 site, the names of the four new maps have been revealed. They are: Guilin Peaks, Dragon Pass, Taklamakan, and Altai Range. There were some rumors that the maps would be remakes of BF2 maps based in China, such as Dalian Plant and FuShe Pass. This doesn’t seem to be the case, according to the map names.

The promo also confirms 5 new weapons, new vehicles and “technologies”, and 10 new assignments. Like most other expansion packs, the weapons are likely unlocked by completing the assignments. One of the new vehicles is the Dirtbike, and one of the new gadgets is the MUAV (Micro UAV).

Hopefully we’ll get more details about the DLC soon. China Rising launches on December 3rd for Premium members and on December 17th for non-premium players. The DLC will retail for $15.

Looks promising!!

As of 9 pm EST last night... I still couldn't get China Rising to load a map to try out.  Of course the PS4/BF4 patch was delayed for PS4 owners and maybe, without that PS4/BF4 patch... China Rising won't work.  Still researching that one.

PS4 patch delayed:
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EA addresses 'gameplay affecting' BF4 China Rising issues
Yet more problems for EA's praised but technically challenged shooter

Posted on Tuesday 3rd Dec 2013 at 9:10 PM UTC   By Mike Jackson, US News Editor for CVG America
LINK  

Glitch-induced woes continue for Battlefield 4 players this week as Dice releases the China Rising expansion to a new slate of game-breaking technical glitches.

Following a troubled launch that prompted a good-will double XP event, new issues with the China Rising DLC have been widespread enough for EA to publish a post specifically addressing the most common problems players are encountering.



"While exploring new battlegrounds in the Battlefield 4 expansion, China Rising, you may run into an occasional hiccup, issue, glitch, or problem that could interrupt or prohibit your gameplay," said the firm.

For those "asked to download China Rising after already downloading an update", EA says, "Please be sure to download both the patch and the China Rising downloadable content in order to play."

"After downloading your game update, make sure you've downloaded and installed China Rising by heading to the in-game store on console, while PC players simply need to jump into their Origin client, click on Battlefield 4, then the gray "i" information icon, select the China Rising tile and click download," it adds.

PC players being kicked from China Rising servers will have to wait for Dice to issue a fix. "DICE have identified the issue and is implementing a solution to the problem. This fix will take some time to be fully completed, but players should be noticing normal gameplay behavior soon," said EA.

And for Xbox 360 players who are completely unable to join China Rising games, EA said, "We're investigating this issue and will provide updates as quickly as possible."

The Battlefield 4 China Rising DLC launched on all platforms for Battlefield Premium members Tuesday. Premium subscribers will receive exclusive access to the content for two weeks before it's released to the general public on December 17. China Rising was also offered as a Battlefield 4 pre-order bonus.

A new Battlefield 4 China Rising gameplay video released earlier shows off the Rush game mode on the new Dragon Pass map on Xbox One.

  The MAV from BF3 is back!!!  And Better!!  Get on.... maybe you can take it for a ride!!!

Well Done DICE!!!!  I see more patches coming soon!!  They've clearly learned from their past mistakes!!!  NOT!  

Battlefield 4 - SUAV Road Kill 'China Rising DlC'

Battlefield 4: China Rising review
By Jon Denton Published Tuesday, 3 December 2013
LINK  http://bit.ly/18bmsgO

In my review of Battlefield 4's Second Assault map pack, I described its online service as patchy, but fighting its way back to full health. Well, in the interim, two consoles have launched globally and it seems like DICE's game has experienced an entirely different kind of levolution: its servers crumbling into dust under the mortar fire of people actually trying to play the thing.

Yes, despite multiple patches and updates, Battlefield 4 is a mess on every platform - a litany of crashes, misfires and save bugs. So will its map pack China Rising, free to those who pre-ordered the game and available to Premium players today, be enough to sate those who've spent hours screaming at black screens and menu locks in futile rage?

Three of the four included maps are genuinely new, with only Dragon Pass a remake - in this case of the Battlefield 2 classic, Dragon Valley. And what better place to start? Imposing mountains, golden-hued skies and lush greenery surround Dragon Pass. It looks like you're waging war on the fourth disc of Shenmue 2. Those mountains don't actually have an impact on the action, which is largely fought on and around a long, twisting road that naturally undulates through the valley, allowing just enough cover for infantry combat without the whole affair turning into a massacre.



Being a large map, Dragon Valley supports vehicles, but does little to accentuate their inclusion. You simply attack in tanks or do not, depending on your play style. It's a nondescript space - a blood bowl of sorts - and anyone experienced in DICE's world will feel pangs of over-familiarity as you sprint through one-storey huts and crouch in lightly swaying foliage.

Still, it's a perfectly acceptable host for games of Rush and Conquest - the minimum requirements for any Battlefield map - with a nice variety of scenery around capture points and a pleasing through-line when progressing from one end of its dogleg geometry to the other. Serviceable, if not special.

Even more vegetated is Guilin Peaks, another mountainous space coated in verdant next-gen shrubbery. While a pretty map, Guilin Peaks will likely find infamy thanks to its cavernous choke points. An arched tunnel sits atop a raised mound, and passing through this is the most direct and viable way to reach distant capture points or the next section of a Rush onslaught. It's the most ostentatious (and if you're on the wrong team, as I so often seem to be, nightmarish) killzone since Operation Metro's ticket gates, and our play time at EA's offices was punctuated by elongated stretches of instant death upon spawning - the only time when you actively hope the game does hard crash your system.



Thankfully, Guilin Peaks is also a fantastic place to charge around on the newly reinstated dirt bikes, barrelling through the low-hanging mist as you bypass the carnage on the way to a distant capture point or bomb in Obliteration mode. It'll take time to adjust to the map's idiosyncrasies, but once teams figure out that it's best to leave that central tunnel well alone, this should blossom into a solid jungle map, something this version of Battlefield has been lacking.

Less exciting is Silk Road, a bizarre level that sees glistening sand dunes surround a flat-packed military base straight from the Call Of Duty cutting room floor. The dunes themselves are a pleasure - perfect for surreptitious sniping and unsurprisingly joyous dirt-bike scrambles through the sand - but the moment-to-moment action is conspicuous by its complete lack of personality. When stuck in the military base, with its sandbagged walls and tin-roofed hangars, the game bogs down into gun-on-gun tedium: COD without the snap or precision. Those who enjoy spending their time grinding specific weapons (particularly shotguns) will likely shriek with glee as they mow down another unsuspecting medic in a haphazard spray of buckshot, but if you're in camp Battlefield for the drama, the mayhem and the stories, then Silk Road is a purgatorial trudge.

The final arena in this quartet is the snowy, elevated clime of Altai Range, the most specialised of China Rising's selection. Here, a vast peak towers over capture points below, majestic like the Throat Of The World looming over the frozen fields of Skyrim (although not as tall, of course). Unchallenged snipers will dominate from the summit, picking off unsuspecting ground troops like fish in a particularly icy barrel. Success comes, then, from maintaining control of this peak while dominating at least two points below. This turns a game of Conquest into a two-pronged affair, with protracted battles on lower ground entirely dependent on trusted teammates carrying out their duties at the top of the mountain. An interesting and very welcome dichotomy.



As always, DICE has thrown in a handful of extras with the maps, including five new weapons (none of which is hugely significant, unless you're the obsessive type), the dirt bikes, and the return of Battlefield 3: End Game's Air Superiority mode, which lets you pilot jets in dogfights and do little else. A fun aside, no doubt, but not something you'd expect to spend more than an hour mucking about with. China Rising doesn't have the same personality as Battlefield 3's themed packs; there's no central gameplay conceit here, just a selection of places to shoot, heal and explode one another.

Disappointingly, too, there's no levolution (yes, it's that word again) in this offering, meaning the maps feel indistinct. They could have appeared in any recent Battlefield game.

This add-on is free to those who pre-ordered, and it's true that the worth of a Battlefield map takes weeks and even months to evaluate as players naturally morph its frontlines. Even so, it's hard to shake the feeling that China Rising is Battlefield 4 by numbers - maps for the sake of maps. That's enough for most. That is, if they can get the bloody game to work.

6/10

I like the new ones

Battlefield 4 China Rising was supposed to have Levolution
Game files suggest that China Rising maps were supposed to have Levolution.
January 12th, 2014 IN Rumors
LINK  



According to a report, the Battlefield 4 China Rising DLC was actually supposed to have Levolution effects, but those were apparently scrapped from the final version.

According to sound files from the game, there are several files indicating that China Rising maps were supposed to have environmental Levolution features. For example, Altai Range was supposed to have a snow storm, while Silk Road was supposed to have a sand storm. Guilin Peaks was supposed to have a heavy fog blowing through the map.

When China Rising shipped last month, many noticed the lack of Levolution, a feature that DICE and EA have been heavily promoting for Battlefield 4.

Furthermore, the sound files reveal other features that were cut from the game. For example, players were supposed to be able to switch between the Commander and soldier roles, just like in BF2. And the files also show some of the smaller features that were cut, such as nearby soldiers congratulating you if you happened to rank up during a match.