Review: Battlefield 4 (PS3, Xbox 360, PC) - dumb fun on your own but war is hell with others

None of them win any awards for storytelling or acting but they provide simple escapism, excitement and entertainment with spectacular over-the-top films based on action heroes or comic book characters.

Game publishers have followed a similar convention in autumn for the past few years, releasing their biggest games in the run-up to Christmas which offer the same kind of dumb but pulsating fun for the masses, usually led by military shooters

None of these games strain the brain, but they keep players happy during the dark nights,

Battlefield 4 is one such game for 2013. It's not particularly clever, deep or original but it delivers on what it sets out to do, which is to provide an action-packed and explosive high-quality first-person shooter.

The single-player campaign is an expletive-laden cliché-ridden rollercoaster ride which features all the usual ingredients to get your heart pounding.

High brow it isn't but it will give players who pick it up exactly what they want - just like how one of those trashy summer films will also scratch a certain itch.

Set in 2020, the plot focuses on a conflict involving the US, China and Russia, with tensions rising and war looming large on the horizon.

The central characters are a squad of marines called Tombstone (voiced by The Wire's Michael K Williams among others) who get sent into various hotspots on covert missions, and you'll play as their leader Recker.

You’ll be fighting in an industrial area of Baku, at a hotel in Shanghai, on the decks of a sinking warship, at an airfield in Singapore and various other locations. Mostly you'll be on foot but there are also chances to pilot vehicles such as a gunboat and tank.

Sometimes it'll feel like you're running down corridors experiencing the thrills and spills as they come at you, and other times it'll feel as though you're picking off enemies like ducks in a shooting gallery. But this time Battlefield also offers some more expansive multiplayer-like sandbox areas where you have some flexibility on how you achieve the objectives. There are also frequent opportunities to switch your loadouts of weapons and gadgets, which make different situations slightly more tactical.

I'm not about to tell you the solo campaign is perfect, because it definitely isn't.

For instance, the plot twists you'll experience and the main set of characters you'll see are about as stereotypical as they come. Story development and characterisation are kept to a minimum. If you're looking for any deeper meaning, don't, because there really isn't any.

You're not given much chance to know or like the characters, and it's not always made clear what you're doing and why you're doing it.

There are also a few areas where the graphics are not as refined as you might like them to be, including rough looking textures, pop-in and some ugly visual effects. Despite these things it's still a decent looking shooter on current-gen consoles, but it's definitely one of the games this autumn which will much look better on PC and next-gen machines.

Another issue is the Ai which can at times be idiotic and frustrating, both in terms of enemies and allies.

So there are several problems, but I don't think any of them really matter. Battlefield 4 is rarely short of being intense and exciting, so you'll be much more focused on the action than any technical flaws it has.

Developer Dice has created another immersive experience which is easy to get to get sucked into, full of spectacular set-pieces and cinematic cutscenes.

There may be current-gen compromises, but Battlefield 4 is still visually arresting - and also sonically striking. It's an assault on the eyes and the ears, bordering on a sensory overload. Of course, the series' trademark destructible scenery is present and plays its part in the mayhem.

When you're in a fierce firefight with debris flying around, bullets raining down and squad-mates screaming at you, it really gets the adrenaline pumping.

I'm not sure the single-player campaign here is good enough to be truly memorable, and alone it's probably not a good enough reason for purchasing Battlefield 4, but it does fulfil its duty as a big raucous winter blockbuster.

My one complaint about the tone of it is it doesn’t have enough humour running through it. Battlefield 4 is a po-faced and serious shooter. I’d like to see more gags and silliness next time, something along the lines of The Expendables, which I think would make it more enjoyable without losing any of its machismo. Dice, everything doesn’t need to be so dark.

In all honesty, everything I've said so far will be irrelevant to most people as the majority will buy this game solely for the online multiplayer.

I know I'm going to be among a very small number of people to think this, but for me multiplayer is the least enjoyable part of the game.

This view is partly due to my personal preference for playing games solo at my own pace rather than as part of a team, but it's also the result of some other issues.

Based on online play in previous first-person shooters, I've developed a strong aversion to random bratty teenagers unleashing strings of profanity through my TV set and also to being dropped onto maps only to be shot dead five seconds later by someone who I didn't even know was there.

Unfortunately, I've experienced both these things in Battlefield 4 and so my dislike of FPS multiplayer remains as strong as it was before.

Another problem is this type of game has always bewildered me. Battlefield 4's multiplayer might not be so bad if Dice offered some sort of meaningful tutorials or put players like me in with others who are equally clueless, but it doesn't. This game is every bit as confusing as others in the genre I've played before, from choosing the right game mode to getting set up before commencing battle to knowing what to do once the action starts. There is an enemy-free zone where players can drive some of the different vehicles, but it's really not good enough.

Without any concessions to novices, Battlefield 4's online play is thoroughly unwelcoming and unfriendly.

If you’re more of a seasoned soldier and don't have the same disdain for multiplayer as I do, I expect you'll find a lot to enjoy.

There are seven modes and 10 vast maps, with war waged on land, at sea and in the air.

Among the modes are two new ones. Obliteration has two teams fighting over a bomb which needs to be planted in the enemy's base. Meanwhile, in Defuse you'll be attacking or defending a bomb during a series of quick rounds. The returning Commander mode allows players to take a more tactical role using a top-down view of the battlefield.

If you can survive and persevere with multiplayer long enough you'll get to see the full effects of one of Battlefield's big new features, which is Levolution.

This takes the series' destruction system to a new level and makes it more dynamic. At certain times as the result of certain actions there are major events within battles which dramatically alter the map and require players to suddenly devise new strategies. Examples are a bursting dam causing a flood, a skyscraper crashing to the ground and a petrol station blowing up. Due to my extremely limited multiplayer success, I've had to rely on videos to see what Levolution does, but the results are spectacular.

Aside from graphical quality, another negative for console players which is worth mentioning concerns the maximum number of soldiers allowed in online battles. On PS3 and Xbox 360 the largest number involved at any time is 24, whereas it rises to 64 on next-gen machines and PC.

Despite my serious problems with multiplayer, I've still seen enough things in Battlefield 4 to be able to recommend it to fans of first-person shooters. It’s another accomplished instalment in the series.

There’s enough dumb fun here to keep players happy during the winter ahead.

7.5 out of 10

Out now for PS3, Xbox 360 and PC published by EA. PS4 and Xbox One versions due out.