Battlefield 4

Battlefield 4 was the 2013 flagship of the series' transition to the new console generation, showing on PS4 what the Frostbite 3 engine could do in open, destructible battlefields. The singleplayer campaign follows a squad of US Marines caught up in a crisis between China and Russia, and serves mainly as a spectacular, cinematically directed showcase of technology, featuring collapsing skyscrapers, a sinking aircraft carrier, and a tsunami that reshapes the map on the fly.

The real center of gravity of the game, however, was and remains its expansive multiplayer for up to 64 players, built around four soldier classes, ground and air vehicles, and the Levolution system, which let players trigger massive environmental changes right in the middle of a match. Building destruction, collapsing bridges, and shifting map elevations gave battles an unpredictability that no competing series offered at the time. On PS4, the game ran at a solidly high resolution for the era and delivered the visually most ambitious Battlefield experience of the generation, though its launch was marred by technical issues and extensive post-release fixes.

The game also featured an extensive Commander mode, letting one player coordinate the entire team from a bird's-eye view using artillery support and orders, adding another layer of command-level strategy on top of straightforward shooting. Vehicles ranging from tanks and amphibious boats to fighter jets and attack helicopters gave every map its own tactical rhythm and forced players to adapt their loadout to the terrain and match objectives.

Battlefield 4 remains one of the series' most beloved entries thanks to its honest, tactical multiplayer and teamwork built on communication and space control rather than reflexes alone. Even years later it remains a favorite of players craving military authenticity and large-scale vehicle battles, and its influence is visible in every later entry in the series that has tried to balance destruction, tactics, and accessibility.

Why play it: For players craving honest tactical multiplayer built on teamwork and large-scale vehicle battles, Battlefield 4 remains, even years later, one of the series' most beloved entries.