Battlefield 4 Carrier Assault Mode Detailed By DICE

Battlefield 4's next expansion Naval Strike will introduce a Carrier Assault mode. This weekend DICE explained the mode, which they characterize as an "homage" to Battlefield 2142's Titan mode.

Each team in Carrier Assault must play defense and offense. They have to destroy the enemy's carrier while also defending their own. While some modes are just merely close-quarters infantry action or open-world vehicle skirmishes, Carrier Assault is somewhere in the middle.

In the first phase of the match, both teams must try to secure missile silos across the map. When they've captured a silo, it will launch missiles at the carrier. These missile barrages will eventually rip through the hull of the carrier and leave it vulnerable to a direct attack by the enemy team.

"When this happens for one or both teams, the carrier assault state is started," DICE says on the Battlefield Blog. "The team can then either drive a boat out to the carrier and climb aboard, or use the parachute spawn points above it. Once inside, the team must destroy two M-COM stations, which will open up new areas to the carrier, with the engine room being the final one."

You don't need to infiltrate the enemy's carrier to win, though. The missile silos will keep firing and destroy the carrier on their own eventually. You could hypothetically win by simply keeping the other team out of your carrier and maintaining your grip on the capture points across the map. This strategy will probably take a lot longer than attacking the carrier directly, though. On the bright side, this alternate path to victory prevents teams from just "turtling" and stalling the match.

"Carrier Assault has been a fun challenge to develop, with many important aspects to be aware of. As fans of the old Titan mode, we really wanted to nail the end game part of the game mode, where both teams are attacking each other’s carriers. From a design point of view, it was important to create that special feeling of excitement that the potential different outcomes of a match generates."

Naval Strike includes four new maps as well. Lost Islands, Nansha Strike, Wave Breaker and Operation Mortar are set throughout the South China Sea. Players will be able to traverse these coastal locations with a new hovercraft vehicle. As they complete the new 10 assignments, they'll earn new weapons and gadgets like the anti-heli mine and 3GL grenade launcher.

DICE plans to release Naval Strike in late March for Battlefield 4 Premium members. The content will presumably be available to everyone else by early April.

Naval Strike is the third of five expansion packs for BF4. The first and second, China Rising and Second Assault, are available on all platforms.