Battlefield 4 'Field Upgrade' rewards explained by DICE

Battlefield 4 will encourage teamwork to new degrees, and central to this goal is the multiplayer's new 'Field Upgrade' mechanic. DICE has outlined the system in more detail in a new blog post.

We reported on the post and its new trailer yesterday but there's much more to be said about the Field Upgrade mechanic.

Writing on the blog lead multiplayer designer Thomas Andersson said of DICE's aspirations for teamwork, "The way we’re going about it in Battlefield 4 is to highly encourage team play – but never force it. We want to promote team play by creating great gameplay mechanics such as Field Upgrades, Commander Mode, and a new range of gadgets specifically designed to expand co-operation in the field."

"We have drastically expanded on the tools and benefits of efficient team play, and as a result we feel Battlefield 4’s multiplayer experience is the deepest, most rewarding, and fun experience in the series."

Describing the Field Upgrade mechanic, Andersson continued, "If you’re a long term fan that played Battlefield 2142, you will already have an idea what these are, but we have tweaked them for Battlefield 4. In short, Field Upgrades are chained boosts that can affect a number of gameplay mechanics for your player.

"Similar to the specializations in Battlefield 3, these can for example provide you with faster sprint speed, stronger personal armor, or expanded ammo capacity. The idea behind Field Upgrades is to give individual rewards for squad based team play performance.

"You earn them through squad scoring such as squad healing, completing objectives with your squad members, squad resupplies, squad repairs, and other squad actions. Instead of one single specialization like in Battlefield 3, you can now pick from different upgrades paths, each containing four specializations.

"Keep the squad alive, and you will move through the accumulative upgrade path. But watch out! If your entire squad is eliminated, you will lose some of your progress."

Do you think this mechanic could work in bringing players together as a coherent team? Let us know below.

Via MP1st.