DICE has just detailed the new Disable system for vehicles in Battlefield 4’s multiplayer. Originally, when your tank or aircraft was damaged beyond a certain point, you wouldn’t be able to move unless you had an Engineer around to repair it.
But in Battlefield 4, DICE is introducing something called the Critical Hit system. Now when vehicles are hit, the amount of damage is checked and adjusted with the angles and zone. If it’s high enough, then it will serve as a Critical hit and the tank will lose power. However, give it some time and it will recover, right as rain.
This is done in order to have players being more skilled as drivers or pilots. It also offers a bit of risk and reward, since you can regain control of your vehicle eventually but will have to risk being out of commission and vulnerable for a few seconds.
While it does also lend some more credence to taking an anti-vehicle approach, will it negate the role of the Engineer? We’ll find out when Battlefield 4 releases on October 29th for Xbox 360, PS3 and PC, with a PS4 release on November 15th and an Xbox One/PC release due in Q4 2013.