Battlefield 4 doesn't launch until 1 November, but fans are already getting to grips with the exclusive Beta.
A test version has been available since 1 October for Battlefield 3 Premium members, some owners of Medal of Honor Warfighter and Battlefield 4 Digital Deluxe Edition pre-order customers.
Players are reporting a range of issues and a full list of known problems has been published on the official site. The Battlefield team is looking into them internally.
As well as specific problems for PC, Xbox 360 and PS3, EA is informing gamers that there can be a stats delay of an hour across all interfaces - when players unlock a weapon it can take time before it's available to use.
PC players are advised that Battlefield 4 Beta does not support Win32 and 32-Bit operating systems. The manufacturers also recommend checking that Windows is updated and graphic cards are running their latest drivers. This should help avoid unusually low performances, crashes and freezes.
Other PC problems include:
- Video settings not being saved after rebooting the game.
- The tooltip “E” to enter the Venom being visible at a 400 meter distance.
- Punkbuster Crashing issues
Most of the bugs faced by Xbox 360 users occur within gameplay . Characters can be left floating when they try and jump on bollards, cruise missiles don't always destroy vehicles when using Vehicle Drop and the requirements for unlock criteria aren't always displayed.
Additional issues for Xbox 360 include:
- Player stats in Battledash not matching the stats displayed on Battlelog.
- An 8 seconds non-interactive pause when leaving a Multiplayer session or after pressing Start when booting the game.
- The first attachment of any weapon that is not unlocked being the only attachment shown for the first unlocked weapon.
The list of issues reported by those using PS3 is definitely the longest at the moment. Concerns range from infinite loading screens when logging out of multiplayer to an inability to perform knife take downs and the Hit Indicator not being visible.
Here's a more thorough list:
- When choosing to quit during the EOR, “underworld” may be visible
- The camera transition before the EOR screen is underwater.
- Destroying an enemy tank near the Flag A may trigger the map’s Mini-Levolution event.
- Quitting the XMB™ menu after the “Press Start” screen may cause forced shutdown.
- The background screen for the losing team during EOR, is placed “under the game world” for Domination and Obliteration game modes.
- The EOD Bot can’t arm or disarm MCOMs on Rush mode.
- Disconnecting and reconnecting the Ethernet cable while playing can cause an endless loading loop.
- Several Medals, Ribbons, and Dog Tags may be displayed in the “My Soldier” menu.
The Beta becomes downloadable for all PC, Xbox 360, or PlayStation 3 users on Friday through Origin. On 1 November the full game will be available for PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, before it rolls out for next generation games consoles in the following weeks. It will be available in the UK for Xbox One on 22 November and PS4 on 29 November.
Next, read our pick of the best games of 2013.