Battlefield Hardline Reviews
if you go into this wanting a Battlefield game? I guarantee you're probably going to come away disappointed. A shooter, this is not, and if you try to play it as a shooter you're going to find a pretty short, boring campaign.
[T]here's a lot to like about Battlefield Hardline, while there's stuff there that won't thrill you. It feels like Visceral really discovered the game they wanted to make during development, so you see some brilliant ideas that make for great gameplay, but while also being stuck with what is expected of the Battlefield franchise
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.
Battlefield Hardline takes the franchise to a totally new level with the inclusion of "cops" and "robbers" that is pure fun!
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.
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.
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 was a fantastic entry in the franchise. It was fresh, new, stealthy, comedic, and overall a damn good time to play. There's a little something for everyone here.
As it stands, Battlefield Hardline's slick single-player campaign makes it worth your while. Its well-paced, good looking,and a treat to play. Visceral Games' subversive take on the series might be a B-side to the usual military fare we're used to, but playing cops and robbers was never this fun.
Battlefield Hardline doesn't want to be a hero. It wants to be a toy. And despite what Harry Zimm might think, that's okay.
With two great new multiplayer modes, solid maps and interesting gadgets, Battlefield Hardline carefully folds a police theme into the franchise. The result is a chaotic and rewarding experience.
Multiplayer is, of course, the main reason that you buy into a Battlefield game, and it's generally enjoyable, even if it doesn't do anything to revolutionise the genre. However, both Activision and EA, and every other FPS developer that aspires to become the top dog franchise, needs to learn that if they are going to persist in putting single player narratives into their games, then they need to do a far better job. Telling a good story is not about throwing in more explosions. It's about understanding the context that the story is being created within, and then doing something with that context. That's art. That's what separates Battlefield: Hardline from a genuinely intelligent game like Spec Ops: The Line.
As far as Battlefield Hardline is concerned, the 1980s may as well have never ended.
In the end, Battlefield: Hardline is its own worst enemy. There are some great ideas here, but they aren't fully realized, and the game suffers for it. It's not a bad game, but it's also not an exceptional game. Battlefield: Hardline does an excellent job of being downright average. You probably don't want to pay full price for it, but it's one to keep on your radar when a good sale pops up.
While we weren't particularly impressed with Battlefield Hardline's multiplayer offering, we did like the intense ride that the campaign took us on. The story might be fairly throwaway, but the environments, set pieces, and the gameplay scenarios you'll often find yourself in are memorable and make up for the clichés and nonsensical plot details.
Battlefield Hardline is a fresh experience in the series that manages to pull off its novel concept of cops vs. criminals. It still has technical issues and the story may not be for everyone, but its multiplayer mode is a blast and, so far, isn't suffering from the many technical problems that affected past titles.
Battlefield: Hardline tries very hard to be something fresh in a world of familiarity. It just doesn't quite have the chops to pull it off, at least from a campaign perspective. It's cool to have enemies with cones of vision, the option to arrest without killing everyone in sight, and to encourage a more methodical, tactful approach.
Against all the odds, it's the single player campaign that's proved to be Battlefield: Hardline's biggest selling point. Trying to play through as a 'good cop' by arresting baddies instead of filling them with lead is very rewarding. But the gunplay is as fun as ever if you want to play that way too. The multiplayer feels scaled down due to the smaller maps and the heist and assassination missions generally favour the defenders too much. Hotwire's car chases are essential though and will hopefully become a series regular.
Battlefield takes on the police state scenario embedded into modern politics and does nothing with it short of making itself appear restless.
As a whole, 'Battlefield Hardline' manages to reinvent 'Battlefield' as a goofy cop drama, and as a successful one, though its ambitions and advancements are few. It does, however, succeed in freshness, a much-needed course correct away from its grim wartime roots into something far more likely to warrant repeat binge viewing ahead of the next season--er, game, even beyond its ever-lively multiplayer.