Welcome to Battlefield, again. Battlefield 4 builds on features from Battlefield 2 and 3, and is available on PC, Xbox 360 and Xbox One and Playstation 3 and 4. So what's new except the improved graphics? We'll cover this below:

1. Commander is back.

Commander Mode, much like in Battlefield 2, allows one player per team to assume the role of central command for his team. This player has a full view of the map and give Squad Leaders orders to attack and defend objectives, deploy UAV scans on an area, or EMP UAV to black out the enemy team's minimap. The Commander's assets are split in two categories:

Commander Assets - the Commander has them natively and are only controlled by their cooldown:

- give orders to a Squad Leader

- give an Evac Order - it will show 'Heavy enemy presence' on your teammate's screens and will signal them that they are about to be heavily outnumbered

- deploy UAV to reveal a part of the map for a short time

- deploy EMP UAV to black out the enemy's vision on a part of the map for a short time

The next part of the Commander's assets are the ones that are tied to your score. They are situates in a bar with 4 segments (for the 4 powers you can use) and become available as you gain points as Commander, for example - revealing an enemy with a UAV and an ally kills him, an ally ressuplies from a supply drop, etc. Actions which assist your team grant you points and recharge the Commander power bar. You can see the bar to the left in orange in the above picture.

- Squad Promotion - this promotes a single squad and 'upgrades' its Field Upgrades (we'll cover this later). Requires 1/4 of the bar.

- Supply Drop - heals and refills ammunition around it. 2/4 of the bar.

- Rapid Redeployment - you can use this power on a squad with a lot of dead members. It will allows them to redeploy instantly. Uses 3/4 of the bar.

- Vehicle Drop - drops a 4x4 ATV that two people can ride. Uses all 4 segments of the bar and is the most expensive Commander power.

Map Assets - these become available to you as your team gains control of certain map points:

- Infantry / Vehicle Scan - like the UAV, it reveals enemy soldiers or vehicles, but it is global. The scan moves through the map in a sweeping motion from left to right for infantry and bottom to top for vehicles.

- AC-130 Gunship / Cruise Missile Strike - these assets become available usually by having control of the center point (flag) on the map. In the picture above it is point C, under enemy control. The gunship has 3 slots for your teammates to use a 7.6mm chaihgun, an automatic 40mm cannon and a 105mm cannon. They can jump out of the gunship and deploy on the map by parachute.

The Cruise Missile Strike launches a missile with a large splash radius (about 5-10 meters). It deals heavy damage and will instantly kill any vehicle towards the center of the missile strike.

2. 5 man squads - unlike Battlefield 3, in Battlefield 4 your Squads are in sizes of 5. This will allow a well-organized squad to be even more impactful on the game, as you now have another slot for a teammmate who can spawn directly on you. In a future update to Battlelog, Platoon and Group Join functions will be available and you and a group of friends will be able to join as a pre-set squad together on the same team.

3. More class and gun customization, more gadgets - like in Bad Company 2, the Scout (the Sniper class) can again carry C4. The Scout is the class that has C4 unlocked by default, while the Support now has to unlock C4 and does not have it by default. There are also new class gadgets, like the Scout's Targeting Binoculars, which have infrared vision and can provode a laser-lock on ground, sea and air vehicles. The Support now has a semi-automatic grenade launcher - the XM-25. It works in a similar way as a shotgun with FRAG rounds, but has an infrared scope and the granades can be airbursted above your target or can explode on contact.

Another part of the overhauled attachment and weapon system is that unlockable weapons are usable on every class. Only Assault Rifles are bound to the Assault (the medic), Light Machine Guns to the Support, SMGs to the Engineer and Sniper Rifles to the Scout. The rest of the weapon types, like Carbines, DMRs (semi-auto sniper rifles) and shotguns, can be used on any class. Weapon unlocking is now tied to earning experience with that type of weapon - if you want to unlock more Sniper Rifles, you need to play with that weapon type. Same goes for your secondary weapon - the pistol.

We'll look at the available gadgets and attachments for every class in Part 2 of the article series.

4. Battlepacks - Battlepacks are a new addition to the Battlefield series. They are granted for leveling up and contain a random combination of gun attachments, camouflages, emblem elements, portraits for your Battlelog profile and 1 hour XP boosts (25%, 50%, 100%, 200%). Do not worry that you will have to be max level to ensure that you have all the attachments you need for your favourite weapon - there are Weapon Battlepacks for each weapon that you can unlock by accumulating kills with it. Inside, you only get attachments for that specific weapon, so if you want to focus on a few weapons that you like, you'll have their attachments unlocked very quickly.

5. Field Upgrades - Field Upgrades are now what you get instead of Squad Perks in Battlefield 3. Each class has 5 sets of Field Upgrades from which they can choose. Each set has 4 perks in it, which are unlocked for the whole squad as they earn score together. For example - repairing a vehicle driven by a squadmate will not only earn you more XP in general, but that score will count towards activating the perks in the Field Upgrades. As you and your squadmates die, you'll lose a portion of the Field Upgrades bar and if you all die at the same time, you'll reset the Field Upgrades to 0.

6. Levolution - last, but not least, one of the most important new features in Levolution. It's not really 'new', as destruction has been in the Battlefield series for a while now, but never on this scale. Each map has a large Levolution event that can be triggered - the most famous is the fall of the skyscraper on Siege of Shanghai. Paracel Storm has a giant battleship crashing into an island and so on. There are also small Levolution events, like closing certain paths by locking doors from one side, shutting of the lighting in a room to provide stealth, or raising parking blockers on a bridge so you can prevent enemy vehicles from advancing.

In the next part of the article series, I'll cover in-depth every class, its old and new gadgets, their strategies and uses, and I'll also go in-depth on weapons and their attachments.

In Part 2 I'll go over all the maps, their specific strategies and all the vehicles and their part of the customisation system.

Good luck on the Battlefield!