TL:DR; Come for the multiplayer, stay for the multiplayer, play the campaign when you get around to it.

BF4’s multiplayer is pretty similar to other entries but actually closer to Planetside than anything else (if you somehow played that but not this). What I mean by that is that it’s got fun gunplay, a mix of classes for teamplay, vehicular combat, and many of the same issues. BF4 is concerned with making a spectacle and a pseudo “realistic” combat experience (note, it’s not a sim). That means when a vehicle or shotgun or whatever decides to doody all over your face then you just gotta deal with that, go watch some irl combat footage found on fallen insurgents if you wanna see how an AK vs Abrams engagement is “supposed” to go. This forces you to learn to play around certain threats rather than being equipped to deal with everything you meet at all times. Skilled play lets you reduce the cheese you encounter but you gotta remember that when you pick this game up you’re agreeing to sometimes come face to face with an air to ground heli that your team is too stupid to do anything about. Deal with it yourself or switch servers, either are valid responses.

The campaign is fine. Definitely melodramatic and honestly eye rollingly up it’s own ass at times but sorta endearing in it’s earnest attempt to be “cinematic”. It’s also absurdly easy. So much so that playing on hard is almost mandatory. You’re not going to encounter any revolutionary gameplay mechanics, you won’t find nuanced storytelling or any significant player choice but you will find a fun shooting gallery with an engaging enough framing device to keep you wondering what scripted event or cutscene will happen next. Plus, making a thinly veiled CCP the villain of the week is actually far more topical in 2020 (also when the game is set) than it was in 2013 and dare I say a refreshing break from blasting random Russian dudes-oh wait, they managed to fit some of them into the line of fire too (still mostly use the Chinese models though lol). All in all, if you’re an uber nationalist American then you’ll climax every few seconds from the sheer amount of unadulterated USA military might presented, if you’re someone who doesn’t really care about that then you’ll enjoy the shooting gallery/change of scenery, and if you’re from China then… well I think it’s still banned there (and if you’re Russian then I think you’re used to this sort of thing by now and are given your token good guy).

All of this sounds pretty negative but it’s hard to relay the sentiment, “it feels good to shoot dudes in the face” in many ways other than what I just said. Pick it up on sale and blast some baddies.

Addendum: I almost forgot that the game’s post processing is migraine inducing. It’s a shame too because during some loading times when changing settings/opening pause screens you can see what the game looks like without the filters and it’s great! Consider using reshade or, if you have a compatible GPU, use Nvidia filter settings to counteract the game’s. I use the following Nvidia settings but you probably need to tweak things for your setup/monitor:
Color:
Tint Color 0%
Tint Intensity 0%
Temperature -11.6
Vibrance 20.6
Details:
Sharpen 0%
Clarity 39%
HDR Toning 100%
Bloom 0%
Sharpen:
Sharpen 14%
Ignore Film Grain 100%
Brightness / Contrast
Exposure 0%
Contrast 0%
Highlights -100%
Shadows 0%
Gamma -34%

(Relevant) Game settings:
Lighting Quality Low
Effects Quality Low
Post Process Quality Low
Anti Aliasing Deferred 4x MSAA
Anti Aliasing Post High
Ambient Occlusion Off
Brightness 100%

TL:DR; Come for the multiplayer, stay for the multiplayer, play the campaign when you get around to it. BF4’s multiplayer is pretty similar to other entries but actually closer to Planetside than anything else (if you somehow played that but not this). What I mean by that is that it’s got fun gunplay, a mix of classes for teamplay, vehicular combat, and many of the same issues. BF4 is concerned with making a spectacle and a pseudo “realistic” combat experience (note, it’s not a sim). That means when a vehicle or shotgun or whatever decides to doody all over your face then you just gotta deal with that, go watch some irl combat footage found on fallen insurgents if you wanna see how an AK vs Abrams engagement is “supposed” to go. This forces you to learn to play around certain threats rather than being equipped to deal with everything you meet at all times. Skilled play lets you reduce the cheese you encounter but you gotta remember that when you pick this game up you’re agreeing to sometimes come face to face with an air to ground heli that your team is too stupid to do anything about. Deal with it yourself or switch servers, either are valid responses. The campaign is fine. Definitely melodramatic and honestly eye rollingly up it’s own ass at times but sorta endearing in it’s earnest attempt to be “[b]cinematic[/b]”. It’s also absurdly easy. So much so that playing on hard is almost mandatory. You’re not going to encounter any revolutionary gameplay mechanics, you won’t find nuanced storytelling or any significant player choice but you will find a fun shooting gallery with an engaging enough framing device to keep you wondering what scripted event or cutscene will happen next. Plus, making a thinly veiled CCP the villain of the week is actually far more topical in 2020 (also when the game is set) than it was in 2013 and dare I say a refreshing break from blasting random Russian dudes-oh wait, they managed to fit some of them into the line of fire too (still mostly use the Chinese models though lol). All in all, if you’re an uber nationalist American then you’ll climax every few seconds from the sheer amount of unadulterated USA military might presented, if you’re someone who doesn’t really care about that then you’ll enjoy the shooting gallery/change of scenery, and if you’re from China then… well I think it’s still banned there (and if you’re Russian then I think you’re used to this sort of thing by now and are given your token good guy). All of this sounds pretty negative but it’s hard to relay the sentiment, “it feels good to shoot dudes in the face” in many ways other than what I just said. Pick it up on sale and blast some baddies. Addendum: I almost forgot that the game’s post processing is migraine inducing. It’s a shame too because during some loading times when changing settings/opening pause screens you can see what the game looks like without the filters and it’s great! Consider using reshade or, if you have a compatible GPU, use Nvidia filter settings to counteract the game’s. I use the following Nvidia settings but you probably need to tweak things for your setup/monitor: Color: Tint Color 0% Tint Intensity 0% Temperature -11.6 Vibrance 20.6 Details: Sharpen 0% Clarity 39% HDR Toning 100% Bloom 0% Sharpen: Sharpen 14% Ignore Film Grain 100% Brightness / Contrast Exposure 0% Contrast 0% Highlights -100% Shadows 0% Gamma -34% (Relevant) Game settings: Lighting Quality Low Effects Quality Low Post Process Quality Low Anti Aliasing Deferred 4x MSAA Anti Aliasing Post High Ambient Occlusion Off Brightness 100%