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Now that (fingers crossed) the worst of Battlefield 4's problems are behind us, developer DICE — well actually DICE's LA studio — can finally get to the good stuff: post-launch DLC. Thus far, Battlefield 4 has already seen a king's bounty of additional content added into its multiplayer variant, but very soon that library will balloon even further.

Battlefield 4: Naval Strike is the latest Battlefield 4 DLC pack in the pipeline, bringing with it four new maps, new weapons, new gadgets, a new vehicle, and even a new mode. It's all Battlefield 4 players could want out of a DLC offering, especially those who enjoyed the main campaign's coastal excursions.

As the name implies and the above trailer reinforces, Naval Strike will feature four maps built around conflicts of the sea. Many of the maps will cater to Battlefield 4's aquatic vehicles, including the new hovercraft, but DICE promises that infantry and ground-based vehicles will also find plenty to do in these maps.

Speaking of those maps, Naval Strike boasts four unique locations in total: Lost Islands, Nansha Strike, Wave Breaker, and Operation Mortar. Each map seems to incorporate a fair bit of terrain for players to navigate, but their true selling points will be the open sea. Lost Islands, for example, is made up over a series of small islands all surrounding a down airplane, while Operation Mortar features a desolate, coastal resort. Read full details on each map below:

LOST ISLANDS: this map focuses around a crashed airplane located near the center of the map. The map itself contains several small islands surrounding the crash site that can be traversed using quad bikes around the whole map, or by using boats (including the new hovercraft) to take shortcuts across it. The key to master this map is to control the plane at the crash site, which can be blown open to give infantry some much needed cover. Another special area of this map is the cave blanketed by a waterfall, as it provides visual cover for patrolling boats and helicopters.

NANSHA STRIKE: a very boat heavy map with several bases spread out in the water to battle it out on, while at the same time allowing total infantry control of the middle areas. The central area provides a lot of cover for infantry and is a death trap for water vehicles if they try to enter it via the small rivers. The surrounding bases can be captured from the water, with some offering big bases in the middle of the sea for infantry. This is where the more powerful vehicles spawn, which makes them key to own and control.

WAVE BREAKER: has a unique submarine base hidden in the middle mountain which allows for tight close quarter combat, but it also has wide canals where it’s possible to do drive-bys with the attack boats to add extra mayhem to the mix. The middle area has many different Levolution possibilities. You can for instance bring down a submarine from its support and turn off the lights in the surrounding corridors. It’s also possible to stop boats from entering the area by closing the four flood gates and blocking the direct path from the bases on the two sides. The middle island will give players intense fights in Deathmatch modes.

OPERATION MORTAR: a vacation paradise turned into a war zone, with wooden huts surrounding the islands. There is an old fort on the top of the mountain, which provides a great overview over the whole map. It also gives the team owning it a fast way to capture the other bases on the main island. In Rush, this levels starts from the bottom of the islands and goes up towards the fort, providing interesting and fun vertical gameplay which will provide a big challenge for attackers.

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In addition to new maps and the aforementioned hovercraft vehicle, Naval Strike also includes a new mode called Carrier Assault. The mode is meant to riff on the Titan mode from Battlefield 2142, only with an aircraft carrier instead of a futuristic ship. The rules are also fairly similar, tasking teams with boarding and then destroying their opponent's carrier while contending with the craft's barrage of missiles.

The full Naval Strike experience is just around the corner, and is scheduled to hit first for Battlefield 4 Premium members on March 25th. Then, on April 8th, the rest of the Battlefield 4's player base, old-gen and current-gen, can get in on the action for $15.

All told, Naval Strike appears to be a great change of scenery for Battlefield 4 veterans, delivering fast-paced and chaotic battles in a coastal or seaside setting. We call these gamers veterans because they have had to sift through a bevy of problems to get to this point, but now they finally get to reap their rewards.

What do you think of the Naval Strike DLC for Battlefield 4? What element most interests you?

Battlefield 4: Naval Strike releases March 25th for Premium members on all platforms and April 8th for regular gamers.

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Source: Battlelog