Battlefield 4 is a military first-person shooter set in the near future and continues directly from Battlefield 3. The focus is on its multiplayer mode, where players take on roles such as assault, recon, support, or engineers, each with special abilities and gadgets that can be unlocked over time. In various team-based playing variants, including conquest and rush modes, players face each other on large maps with vehicles to use.
The most significant change in Battlefield 4 are the interactive "Levolution" elements, which destroyable areas significantly alter the level's appearance and gameplay. The game also brings back naval warfare and commander mode, where a player can give orders and assign missile strikes from an overhead map. New playing modes include Defuse and Obliteration, with players having to detonate bombs in target zones or complete objectives.
Battlefield 4 features a singleplayer campaign, where a Chinese general starts a war against the world, allied with Russia, and the USA must intervene. The player takes on the role of a faceless soldier named Recker, completing linear levels with a focus on shooting and survival. The game includes stealth and torture sequences, but lacks co-op mode.
The Xbox One version allows for 64 players in multiplayer, while the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions are limited to 24 players due to smaller map sizes.