Battlefield Hardline Reviews
I have no doubt Hardline represents the best efforts of two talented studios, Visceral and DICE, to cough up a satisfying cops-and-robbers Battlefield. Despite best efforts, the pairing doesn't work.
Battlefield Hardline transcends its mod-ish origins to offer a compelling spin on a venerable franchise.
Visceral have create a perfectly good functioning Battlefield game in Hardline. It shoots as good as the best of them, the car-chases are fun, and the small tweaks made to the core formula are very welcome. But a little refinement does not mask that this is a very similar game to what we bought in 2013; despite the strong efforts to make a variety of new game modes, you can't shake the feeling of playing classic Battlefield. And quite honestly, Battlefield without tanks and jets is only half as fun. Curiously the single player campaign is the most interesting element, which is surely due to the studio's strength in solo-play design from their days on Dead Space. That's not enough to make it an essential purchase, though. Players new to the series may find the urban setting interesting and will certainly benefit from the refined mechanics. Series veterans, however, are best sticking to what they already have.
Even with a new setting and a new developer, Battlefield Hardline is still a Battlefield game which means it can be a rough road to travel for more casual shooter fans. The story campaign is fun but has zero lasting appeal once you beat it and the multiplayer is something you can only really enjoy for the long term if you're willing to invest in the game's Premium service or you have a dedicated group of friends to play with. Battlefield Hardline may have taken strides to shake up the core Battlefield experience but, in many ways, it's still more of the same old Battlefield, for better or for worse.
Whether your a fan of the Battlefield series already, or looking for something new to try, you certainly can't go wrong with this one.
Minor gripes like the netcode and kill trades aside, the game delivers an online experience that can be cathartic, tense, and ultimately an adrenaline rush – something that echoes the core tenets of a "Battlefield" game.
Battlefield: Hardline can be ridiculous, with stealth and arrest mechanics that stretch the very limits of credulity. All the same, the single-player campaign works brilliantly as the video game version of a big, dumb action thriller. Cracking set-piece firefights are mixed with stealth, escape and exploration, and there's scope to play some sequences your way, not just follow the objective marker. Multiplayer, meanwhile, is fiercely enjoyable, and in Hotwired boasts one of Battlefield's finest hours. Look past Hardline's minor faults, and you'll find the best all-round Battlefield since the great Bad Company 2.
With the new opportunities available for a cops and robbers setting, Visceral didn't take enough chances and produce enough content to make this game truly great.
Battlefield Hardline has an amazing single player campaign, with some very unique ideas. Where it fails the most is when it quits trying to be different from past installments.
A mighty fine bite-size Battlefield experience that takes a franchise synonymous with being a military shooter and establishes it in new territory. Battlefield Hardline is not as grand or epic as you'd perhaps expect a core Battlefield title to be, but it's certainly a damn fine alternative.
Battlefield: Hardline offers both returning and new players a slightly more fresh take on the classic Battlefield formula. But where the game delves into new territory, it often returns to the classic formula after getting cold feet. The strongest points of Hardline are when the game tries to be something different, but the fallbacks to old ways are where the game keeps itself from being great, rather than just good.
And Hardline could be better. There are shades of it here, now and then. Games in general can be better. But they never will be until we raise our expectations. When even the best of us feels limited to writing "narrative rosaries strung with beads of pure chaos," how do the least of us stand a chance?
Battlefield Hardline is a semi-unique game in the Battlefield franchise that features an enjoyable, if forgettable, campaign and a great multiplayer mode. Those looking for the more traditional Battlefield experience will still find it here, as will those interested in Hardline's twist on the franchise.
If you're looking for a fun, solid-though-not-brilliant cop drama to play through that then lets you jump into multiplayer and be the cop or the robber, this is the game for you.
Battlefield games have always featured huge maps and plenty of vehicles. Hardline strays from that formula to provide a different experience that is still fun, but it would almost be more impressive if it wasn't a Battlefield game and wasn't held to the same standard. In other words, Hardline is a great game if considered on its own merits, but it's not the best Battlefield game.
There isn't anything particularly bad about Battlefield Hardline, it's solid enough, but one cannot help but lean towards those initial detractors who were very vocal in the run up to launch. Despite a clearly big effort and no doubt a ton of money, we are still without a decent Battlefield campaign and what we are left with is a Battlefield off shoot with no long term life in it.So there we have it, a Battlefield game with weak single player and solid if underwhelming multiplayer - absolutely no one saw this coming.
Hardline is certainly a different Battlefield experience, but it retains a lot of the core mechanics that should keep fans of the franchise content. The action is faster, less strategic, and less deliberate than it's predecessor, but there is a reason why this isn't titled Battlefield 5.
Battlefield Hardline takes the franchise to a totally new level with the inclusion of "cops" and "robbers" that is pure fun!
Hardline both succeeds with flying colors, and fails miserably in various aspects of its game design but the good outweighs the bad with its sandbox style mission design, handful of addicting multiplayer modes, and rock solid Battlefield gunplay players know and love.