These two shooters have been at war for sometime now, Call of Duty famed for it’s high octane, Hollywood action and Battlefield, celebrated for it’s freakishly realistic warfare. But with both titles trying to regain ground after previous disappointing skirmishes and nextgen close to impact, there’s everything to play for in the battle for FPS supremacy, here’s who we think comes out on top and why – without dithering on (too much) and without giving away spoilers.
Campaign
The main difference between these two here is ambition, originality and scale. Battlefield 4 takes place in and around China, set in a near future where tensions are running high between the US and it’s communist buddies in the East – no points for originality there – and largely centres around a group of SpecOps types called Tombstone and sees them dragged into a civil war of sorts that somehow gets pinned on the US by a twisted Chinese Admiral. The team are tasked with saving the enlightened Chinese presidential candidate in the hopes that he will bring peace to the region and sort out the mix up that’s threatening international relations.
Call Of Duty: Ghosts, focuses on a pair of brothers, Hesh and Logan (who you play as) and their father, Elias, again doing the SpecOps thing, but in this title you’re treated to the US being obliterated by “The Federation” – seemingly a Latin/South American uprising – that turns an American space canon called “Odin” on the Americans destroying the land of the free as we know it. Broken up into small disparate factions, what’s left of the American defence relies on stealth and a precession attacks to turn the tide.
From the off CoD presents a significantly more interesting and original premise that takes you through a number of exotic locations including space and deep sea, the guns are futuristic without being “lasery” and they have a remote control dog – winning. BF4 on the other hand feels hollow and tame for the most part, I felt as though I was simply going through the motions, and as great as the battle sequences looked (when glitches didn’t leave pilots walking in thin air after I blew up their helicopters) the destructible scenery went from WOW to merely notable, very quickly as it became almost too formulaic.
However, with that said, the lead characters in Battlefield 4 were performed really well by the facial motion capture and voice actors, I had a great sense of who they were and the emotions they felt. It’s just a shame that same presence was barely felt during battle sequences, where they were largely pedestrian as I fought my way through, merely telling me where the danger was and waiting for me to press R2 so that they knew who to attack – frustrating to say the least. My kill ration vs. my team (of which there were up to three people) was 38 – 6 on average per mission section.
The accompanying AI in CoD were a lot more active, and didn’t require any direction often beating me to the kill if I was being too precious trying to get nothing but headshots.
Both campaigns can be completed in 5-8 hours, which has become the standard for these titles, but by the end of it I was a lot more satisfied with Ghosts, Battlefield felt empty, I didn’t really care what happened to the team at the end and when faced with a final, critical decision I decided not to act at all and was rewarded with an achievement for it – that says it all for me.
Multiplayer
Battlefield 4 continues it’s theme of the American West vs. East with (currently) three playable factions – Russia and China being the other two – and features up to 32 players on map, which goes up to a staggering 64 for PC and nextGen consoles. Gameplay in multiplayer is fast and frenetic, if you’re not well versed on the ways of Battlefield, you will swiftly have your arse handed to you on a bullet-riddled plate. Traditional ‘Commander Mode’ returns, giving one player from each side an aerial view of the map and the ability to see through the perspectives of their boots on the ground.
The job the Commander is to instruct their teams to victory using strategy and tactical support that is only available when the squad does what simon says. Conquest, BF4’s “capture-the-flag” mode is a bunch of fun too, as well as running around, players can control land, air and sea vehicles to take and hold specific points on the map. It’s great fun when your team are well coordinated, especially with a full lobby (64-player is insane).
When done properly, Commander Mode in BF4 is one of the most engaging and rewarding online multiplayer experiences in the FPS genre, it carries a genuine sense of tactical warfare and thanks to excellently rendered vast maps, destructible scenery and cover, it’s an intensely immersive experience. There are plenty of weapons to choose from (almost too many) and you can customise and choose one of for classes to play through, the key to success is having a well-balanced team and thanks to the points reward system, you can level up your soldier by being a team player and without killing anyone at all.
Call of Duty: Ghosts online will get your heart racing, there’s barely a second to switch weapons (or breath out), but that’s part of the fun. The experience is the polar opposite to BF4 with it’s high energy approach and slightly smaller (less open) maps. You’re dumped close to the action with every spawn and have to get stuck in if you want to win. There are 10 standard multiplayer modes, our favourite of which is Cranked that forces you to kill within 30 seconds of a kill to avoid exploding and streaks give you access to extra abilities – it’s mental. Some people may curse the omission of fan-favourite “Zombie Mode” but in it’s place is Extinction – think Starship Troopers – and sees upto four players join forces in co-op against fast moving and unpredictable aliens, a very different challenge to zombies. Extinction is fun, it’s just a shame they couldn’t have added it and included zombies – perhaps it will feature in an upcoming DLC…
There’s a complex array of custom options too, that some may find daunting, you can create up to 10 soldiers, including female soldiers (thankfully minus “sexed up” armour) with their own custom loadouts, each costing you a set number of “Squad Points” that you earn through multiplayer or squad mode. There really is a tonne of options – perhaps too many – to suit every playing style and game scenario imaginable. Man’s bestfriend is also included in multiplayer as a streak option and is a mean adversary, going for you if you manage to avoid it’s detection and kill it’s owner. There’s also a new class thrown into the mix, marksman, more mobile than sniper and more powerful than assault.
Running and gunning like a headless chicken will get you killed – a lot, this ain’t The Expendables, rather teamwork definitely pays off. The maps also have a dynamic element that can be triggered by players, kind of like the nuke killstreak (without the death to all) and will see the map scorched before your very eyes.
Verdict
Both titles are popular for their multiplayer, so campaign is never a deal breaker, but for me, Battlefield 4 was run of the mill, save for some great lead characters, it didn’t grab me. Although the weapons, sounds, warfare and vehicles were impeccably realistic. Call of Duty: Ghosts was a far more polished and ambitiously executed campaign (less glitches, smoother sequences – although not perfect) with an original story that entertained, taking place in locations that were rich, intense and exciting – ps. you can shoot the sharks underwater, and they can kill you.
If you appreciate realistic, almost simulator-like FPS-gaming, Battlefield 4 is for you, no doubt. The environments are jaw-dropping, especially when the weather takes a turn for the worse and you find yourself battling through a tropical storm for example. It’s the closest thing to being on the frontline whilst playing on a console in your front room and really shines in multiplayer if you can hack master it.
However, if you’re looking for sheer, balls out, weapon pumping warfare, Call Of Duty: Ghosts is exactly that, yes it’s over-the-top, yes the tanks drive like formula one cars doing a school run, but gaming is about entertainment at the end of the day, and entertain it does.
Call of Duty: Ghosts VS. Battlefield 4 – Winner:
Single player – Call of Duty: Ghosts.
Online – Close but edged towards Battlefield 4, for the purist FPS fan in me. BF4 has environments you can destroy, significantly bigger maps and higher player counts making for an overall more challenging and varied experience.
