Good news for those of you still playing the error ridden Battlefield 4 - it seems that the brief mention from the German arm of EA's Origin streaming service that had the game's Second Assault DLC arriving on remaining platforms was indeed correct after all. The publisher confirmed in a recent post on the company blog that February 18 is when Premium players on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and PC can experience everything the DLC has to offer. Non-premium players get access two weeks later, March 4.
To recap, Second Assault is the second DLC to arrive for Battlefield 4 following China Rising. It sees the return of the Capture the Flag mode, and offers four redesigned Battlefield 3 maps: Caspian Border, Gulf of Oman, Operation Firestorm, and Operation Metro. You can get a closer look at the maps here, where each is thoroughly dissected in its own respective video.
Each map has its own Levolution event that changes the way they're played and experienced: Caspian Border has a giant tower that falls down, creating a bridge to previously inaccessible areas; Oman has a sandstorm that both severely limits player visibility and brings down a crane; Operation Metro features a working elevator system; and Firestom's giant pipeline can be destroyed, resulting in a giant fire hazard.
Joining the DLC's maps are 10 new assignments, and some returning Battlefield guns - the F2000 bullpup and AS Val Soviet assault rifles, M60E4 machine gun, GOL sniper rifle, and the DAO-12 revolver-style shotgun. Gamers can also ride around on the new Desert Patrol and Skid Loader vehicles.
Some Xbox One players were lucky enough to get a short taste of Second Assault DLC back in November, right about when the game went south with numerous errors, glitches, and bugs on damn near every platform. Things were so bad that EA had to bring extra hands on deck to fix the countless amounts of problems. As a result, work on future DLC packs was suspended, and BF4 players on remaining systems had no idea when they'd be able to try their hand at what Second Assault had to offer. But with the confirmed date, work has also resumed on the game's remaining DLC, and DICE provided the details in a Battlelog post earlier today on the next one, Naval Strike.
As written in the post, "In this expansion, you'll experience intense water-based combat as the Chinese armada takes the fight to the sea. You'll have access to new weapons, gadgets, and amphibious vehicles, and four all-new maps - Lost Island, Nansha Strike, Wave Breaker, and Operation Mortar."
Battlefield.com's Expansion section had a bit more to offer:
"Battlefield 4 Naval Strike takes the intense and dramatic water-based combat introduced in Battlefield 4 to four all-new maps set in the South China Sea. Blow open a crashed passenger plane and capture fishing villages across the tropical Lost Islands. Drop a submarine on your foes as you infiltrate a naval base or rush between shipping docks and rocky islands on the massive Wave Breaker map. Wage war across stormy seas in the largest ocean stretch in a Battlefield map yet with Nansha Strike. Storm an abandoned cliff-side resort, or get lost in the breathtaking vistas in Operation Mortar.
Key Features
* 4 all-new multiplayer maps set in the South China Sea: Lost Islands, Nansha Strike, Wave Breaker & Operation Mortar
* 5 weapons all-new to Battlefield 4
* Introducing the amphibious hovercraft vehicle
* 2 additional gadgets - 3GL (3 grenade launcher) attachment for the Assault class, and the Anti-Heli Mine; an aircraft disabling projectile for the Engineer class
* Carrier Assault game mode, which is a re-imagining of the classic Battlefield 2142 Titan Mode, and 10 new assignments with unlocks for each
After Naval Strike hits, there are two more DLC packs scheduled for a release this summer - Dragon's Teeth and Final Stand.