The issue is that nobody ever leaves the C flag.
Fights at the D and E flag are awesome and focus on more ground-based combat, where the air vehicles can't be totally dominant. “The map lends itself to great play when the focus is drawn away from the tower. Meandarker agrees, going one step further by arguing that Siege is best enjoyed when you ignore the skyscraper altogether. “When the skyscraper eventually falls, the map becomes, in my opinion, a lot worse” says Yoerroz, explaining that the “only reason to really topple the tower down is to force the other team off the objective, and reset its capture point to try and take it again.” Once the tower takes enough damage, the ‘Levolution’ mechanic triggers, and the entire building will begin to plummet into a pile of rubble and dust, with anyone caught within, below, or on top of it doomed to a humiliating fate.Īfter that, the control point is fought atop the remnants of splintered concrete and metal but, despite its conceptual and visual allure, this transformation to the playing field is yet another point of contention amongst players. They’re not wrong about the skyscraper, either, at least from a visual standpoint. You can play any style on Siege, and the building collapse. There are plenty of safe places to snipe from, a good amount of streets for mid-range combat, and most of the sites themselves are closed enough to encourage close quarters engagement.
It's definitely not my favorite map, but I can play it over and over without ‘map fatigue.’ This is to do with the wide range of viable styles you can try. “I think the map is popular simply because of its design. I’m sure they were having a grand old time, but for everyone else, it was a nightmarish cycle of instant death that felt extremely unfair, especially as the same player held the same helicopter for the entirety of the 60 minute match.ĭeathwhisperz is someone who takes a less critical disposition towards Siege, instead suggesting that its timeless appeal is a product of its variety. Even after playing a single round of Conquest, I found myself repeatedly mowed down and increasingly aggravated by the same helicopter pilot, who hovered around the tower like a vulture, raining down hellfire on anyone out in the open with the sort of speed, precision, and merciless efficiency that you would begrudgingly expect from a player with four years of experience. Helicopters are definitely the hot button issue at the crux of the Siege question. "I think Shanghai's greatest appeal is its novelty, not great map layout or any other important factors." FightThaFight, Battlefield 4 player Even the air combat is limited to one attack helicopter, which usually remains uncontested for the majority of the match due to spawn camping.” “The infantry gameplay is annoying and repetitive on top of the tower and you rarely engage in the surrounding bases, while the ground vehicle gameplay is lackluster compared to other maps because of Shanghai's tight corridors and poor flanking options. “The only reason this map is in rotation at such a high frequency is because people who rent servers put it on all the time to score cheaper helicopter kills”, explains Redditor moistman_761. Many active Battlefield 4 players were eager to describe their love-hate relationship with Siege of Shanghai to me, and offered their take on why the map remains so popular despite its contentious nature. In reality, Siege of Shanghai is as controversial a map as as it is ubiquitous, not to mention a user experience made up of extreme highs and lows, thanks to the way in which fights now play out.