Please support Game Informer. Print magazine subscriptions are less than $2 per issue
EA And DICE Release China Rising Map Pack For Premium Members, PS4 Patch Delayed
Battlefield 4 has had its share of problems across platforms. Despite that, EA and DICE are rolling out the first map pack. China Rising is available now for those that purchased the $50 Premium upgrade.
The China Rising pack includes four maps: Silk Road, with giant sand dunes; Altai Range, land and air battle for control of the mountains; Guilin Peaks, focused on close-quarter fighting in caves; and Dragon Pass, a reimagining of Battlefield 2's Dragon Valley map. The pack will be available for non-Premium members on December 17 for $14.99.
Unfortunately, the news isn't all good. The promised PlayStation 4 update that was supposed to go live today has been delayed. "The PS4 game update that was originally meant to go live Dec 3 is undergoing some additional testing and will be rescheduled for a later date." DICE says. "We will get back with final details as soon as we have verification that the update is good to go."
This patch is designed to eliminate a few problems, including unintended one-hit kills, missing sound on video capture, and crashes due to having too many friends. No news is available yet on further fixes to stability and server-browser issues.
As we reported following the last patch, the game still experiences crashes and server-browser errors. For those hoping for a patch to the party system, which doesn't allow pre-game grouping, that won't be coming. According to EA and DICE, that system is working as intended.
[Source: Battlefield]
Our Take
EA and DICE had problems with Battlefield 3's launch, and it's disappointing that two years weren't enough time to developer netcode and server infrastructure that work. I do not recommend purchasing a Premium membership until the game is working properly. Don't throw good money after bad.
I’d like to ask you to support Game Informer’s continued coverage of games with a subscription. For less than two dollars per issue, we mail you a full year of 10 print magazines, each with cover stories and preview features filled with exclusive details about the most exciting upcoming games. We profile and interview game creators. We look back on the rich history of gaming, and we celebrate what’s next.
Here on the website, we offer much of our content for free, including game reviews, daily news, videos, event coverage, and more – all with minimal ads.
We do so with a small editorial team, alongside contributing paid writers from around the world – over 65 individuals from 9 countries around the world, just in the last couple of years.
It’s not possible without support.
In a time when game makers and games coverage have faced hard struggles and layoffs, the future of this 30+ year magazine and community is at risk. Our new standalone magazine subscription is the number one way you can keep us alive – and we believe you’ll get a pretty fantastic gaming magazine in your mailbox every few weeks for your trouble.
Thank you.
