FLIR and infrared, and even flashlights and flares, just gained a ton of utility in Battlefield 4, now that developer Dice has finally released the game's Night Operations DLC. The DLC didn't come alone. The Summer Patch is here for backup.
Battlefield 4 is just about two years old, but DICE, for reasons that may have a little or a lot to do with a fumbled launch, continues to support the game with free content.
The Night Operations DLC turns off the lights, most of them, on everyone's second-favorite meat locker, Zavod 311. The nighttime version of the defunct tank factory has been branded Zavod: Graveyard Shift, and it supports conquest, rush, obliteration, domination, gun master and team deathmatch.
"As you might expect, this changes things up—instead of being able to rely on your eyes, you're going to need to listen closely, and focus on tools like night scopes and your radar to survive," said Dice. "We put together a tactical strategy guide with some tips for players looking for that competitive edge."
Some of the major additions brought to Graveyard Shift, not offered in 311, include destructible lights, vehicle lights, new flanking paths and low-level fog.
Dice recommends players combine smoke grenades with night vision scopes, flares with light machine guns, flashbangs with shotties and flashbangs with personal defense weapons. The dev also recommends using those claymores and anti-tank mines, and combining motion mines with incendiary grenades, for those who like to run aggressively.
Along with Graveyard Shift, Dice dumped its latest batch of fixes meant to address those persistent issues and problems once thought resolved.
Some of the highlights of the Summer Patch include the closure of "a number of known exploits." Squad members won't spawn on mates being turned to Swiss cheese, and the player character's side step has been slowed 0.05 seconds.
Dice has also addressed packet loss, which should make for less of those frustrating moments where bullets seem to chase players around corners or soldiers, appearing to have their backs turned, to get an easy kill on their "stalkers."
Gamers can review the rest of the Summer Patch's notes. Zavod: Graveyard Shift is the first of possibly more night maps; Infiltration of Shanghai hasn't made it out of the Community Test Environment yet. Let us know in the comments section what maps you'd like to see go nocturnal next!
