Battlefield 4 review, try Obliteration

Tighten up those boots, and make sure your flak jacket is securely fastened as you play Battlefield 4, especially once you enter the online multiplayer mode. Rather than just rehash and improve the standard death-match and team-based modes, Battlefield 4 makes intelligent twists to make new modes addictive. Obliteration stands out as a blockbuster, where two teams fight for control of a bomb and use it to take down enemy positions.

In previous games, vehicular engagement was a luxury, but now everyone can play and experience game-changing moments. Boats hum down watery channels laying suppressing fire, or perhaps a helicopter wastes an entire pack of soldiers waiting to ambush your compatriots. Never before has a game so wonderfully packed battles with land, sea and air components.

Multiple ingenious maps will test your mettle in the war theater. Level up enough and the much-

beloved commander view becomes available, allowing you to issue orders to squad leaders and see the entire battlefield from high above. Type-A personalities will drool over this ability to shape the outcomes of missions by pointing out potential traps or assisting their team with a timely aerial strike or airdrop of a vital supply cache.

The Xbox One and PS4 versions of the game look amazing and provide excellent visual quality as well as expanded options. But if you crave the desire to rain hellfire from an unmanned drone or knock down buildings and don't plan to get a new console soon, you won't be disappointed by the current-generation versions of the game.

RATING M for Mature

PLOT Fight your battles on land, sea or in the air.

DETAILS PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PC, $59.99

BOTTOM LINE It commands your attention.