Review: Battlefield Hardline (XBox One)
Battlefield Hardline is the latest installment in the Battlefield franchise and brings a multitude of new features to the table. Hoping to keep the series alive and fresh, Visceral Games brought along a brand new shooter type for the first time in the series, choosing cops and robbers over the military-type setting the series is known for.
Battlefield Hardline includes the fastest gameplay I have experienced of any Battlefield game and because of this the game makes itself accessible to veteran Battlefield players, Call of Duty players and newcomers alike. Hardline brings innovation to the table but in a way that feels comfortable and natural. With the tradtional squad based gameplay Battlefield players have come to know and love, the game still feels team oriented, however it doesn't feel like you are fighting an uphill battle when playing when you are playing with people who aren't pulling their weight. The gunplay is fast, the hitboxes are accurate, and unlike the last iteration of Battlefield, the "rubberband effect" is minimal and almost unnoticable. When you get killed you'll understand why rather than getting killed by someone who can bend bullets around corners.
The campaign throws in a lot of twists and turns that keep you on the edge of your seat throughout the entire campaign and what's more, Battlefield Hardline doesn't have the short four to five hour campaign mode we have come to expect from first person shooters which is not a bad thing, There are 10 epiodes in the Battlefield Hardline campaign; well, 11 if you include the prologue, and the took me about 7-9 hours to complete. The neat thing is that the way the campaign is designed made me feel like I was watching a cop drama on Netflix, which is awesome. When players shut the game off and then pick it up later, the game gives players a recap of what happened during the last episode. it made the experience very immersive.
Previous Battlefield titles have had a rough start in the multiplayer area, however this time around DICE hit the nail on the head. Battlefield Hardline lunched almost flawlessly. I worked my way up to level 21 and played every game mode available in multiplayer during my review process. These game modes inculde; Heist, Blood Money, Rescue, Crosshair, Conquest, Team Deathmatch and my personal favorite, Hotwire. There are currently nine maps available with the game, and with Battlefield Premium, four more multiplayer map packs will be released over the next year.
I know graphics in the console wars are a hot button issue but when it comes to visuals the game looks great on both consoles, but still not quite what I've come to expect from a AAA title in this new console generation. Please note that I have not played the PC version.
I am a stickler when it comes to audio, especially when it comes to gun sounds and automotive sounds, but I can proudly say that in Battlefield Hardline the explosions are large and loud, guns sound as if you were at a firing range shooting them yourself and cars sound great. Visceral used the tech for car audio that Ghost Games used in Need for Speed Rivals, the cars don't sound 100%, but sound great for a game that isn't a racing game. Visceral has made the guns, like in Battlefield fashion, sound amazing as always. Sampling between the round being fired to the spring of the firing mechanism; every little thing can be heard. So as usual, Visceral and DICE go above and beyond when it comes to the video and audio of Battlefield.
My overall impressions of Battlefield Hardline have been positive, and I have yet to experience anything negative, it has gone above and beyond my expectations, and I expect more that the upcoming content will keep this game fresh and exciting for the next 1 - 1 1/2 years, or at least until the next Battlefield comes out.