The upcoming water warfare-centric Battlefield 4 DLC, Naval Strike, introduces a new mode called Carrier Assault that DICE highlights the specifics of in a new Battlefield Blog post. Fans of Battlefield 2142 might recognize some of this, as Carrier Assault is described by lead gameplay designer Gustav Halling as an homage to the earlier game’s Titan mode. The basic setup pits two games against one another in a race to destroy the other’s aircraft carrier, but it’s not quite as simple as “shoot the big boat with all your guns.” Not quite.
In the first stage of a Carrier Assault match, teams vie for control of specific points – large missile launchers – that, when under control, fire rockets at the opposing team’s ship. Dish out enough damage to a carrier and the hull cracks open, which clears the way to the second stage: infantry assault. Once a carrier’s hull has been breached, players can get inside it by either driving a boat up to the entry point or using one of the parachute spawn points that appear. These infantry forces can then finish off the carrier by planting explosive charges at the two M-COM stations inside. Alternatively, the carrier can be sunk by hanging onto control of the missile launcher locations, which continue to hammer the ship after its hull is breached.
Battlefield 4 seems to have largely recovered from the litany of connectivity issues that plagued the game following its late 2013 launch. Naval Strike should help rekindle player interest in the game, especially with the fresh twist that Carrier Assault seems to offer. There’s no hard release date set for the DLC pack, but it’s set to arrive later in March.
