Battlefield 4 beta expands and explodes with new Obliteration game mode

Are you enjoying Battlefield 4's open beta? I like the part where you play it for a bit, and think "ooh, it's a lot like Battlefield 3, isn't it?" Then a skyscraper falls over, prompting you to go, "ooh, that's new!" But then the dust settles and you go, "ooh, it's a lot like Battlefield 3, isn't it?"

DICE perhaps didn't help themselves in this regard, picking a beta map set in a grey city, and running some achingly familiar game modes. Now, though, they're offering a taste of something new: Obliteration, the bomb-based beatdown, which acts a bit like a reverse capture the flag. Except, instead of patriotism, you're planting explosions, shrapnel and death.

Here's how DICE describe Obliteration:

"In Obliteration, a bomb spawns at a random location on the map. Both teams must fight to pick up the bomb, drop it off at one of their opponent's three objectives, arm it, and destroy the objective. Once a bomb has detonated, the next one randomly spawns in a new location and the chaos starts all over.

"The game lasts until one team has detonated the other team's three objectives. Obliteration can be devastatingly quick or a harrowing tug of war depending on how good your team is at staying together and delivering the bomb. Like most other game modes, there is usually also a time limit in place to make sure the match does not go on for too long."

And here's how top Battlefield veteran and PCG art editor John Strike describes Obliteration: "prolonged". There's no timelimit to the mode, which can lead to some pretty lengthy tug-of-bomb battles. That said, John seemed impressed by the mode's focus. The bomb naturally directs the action, creating a mode that has the sense of purpose found in Rush, but with a less linear route through the map. You can read his overall thoughts on the beta here .

You can now find Obliteration in the Battlefield 4 server browser.

Thanks, CVG .