Here’s a quick rundown of what you can find in this expansion pack.
- Four New Maps: Take the fight to the seas and dominate on four exotic, all-new multiplayer maps: Lost Islands, Nansha Strike, Operation Mortar, and Wave Breaker.
- Five New Weapons: Complete assignments to unlock the AR160, SR-2, AWS, SR338, and SW40.
- Two New Gadgets: Complete assignments to unlock the new 3GL and Anti-Heli Mine.
- New Vehicle: Cruise over land and water in the new Hover Patrol Craft (ACV).
- Carrier Assault: This new game mode plays like Titan mode from Battlefield 2142 as both teams attempt to sink each other’s aircraft carrier. See below for more information.
- Ten New Assignments: Complete the tasks required by these assignments to unlock new weapons and dog tags.
- New Awards: Play Carrier Assault to earn more ribbons and medals associated with the new game mode.
- New Achievements and Trophies: Naval Strike adds five new multiplayer-based achievements and trophies.
Carrier Assault
In the new Carrier Assault mode there is an aircraft carrier on each side of the map. The map itself has a few features that play an important role in the flow of the mode. The mode can be described sequentially in three steps.
Step 1: The first step is the launch step. All players spawn on their carrier and need to decide whether they want to go on offense or defense. Offense players can use the vehicles provided to attack the five flags placed out on the level. Owning a flag gives the team access to the Harpoon launcher, which will automatically launch missiles against the enemy carrier.
Step 2: Once a certain level of damage is reached, the carrier enters a new health state—disabled. Once this happens, the Phalanx weapon systems are destroyed and the carrier begins a 60-second sequence of explosions and violent destruction. After this sequence, openings in the carrier hull are exposed, and the final assault can begin.
Step 3: The third step is the assault step. Attacking players have a new parachute spawn next to the enemy’s disabled carrier that they can use to quickly mount an assault. It’s time to take it out from the inside. Two sequential objectives, similar to M-COM stations, need to be destroyed inside the carrier. Once the last one is taken by the attackers, the carrier is destroyed and the round is over.
In case of a stalemate, there is an alternate way of destroying the carrier: keep control of the map to have the Harpoon missiles continue pounding the hull. Eventually, the carrier is destroyed even if the attackers have not been able to destroy the objectives inside.