If there was one game at E3 that made an impression before I even got to play it, it was Battlefield: Hardline. Unlike most games on the show floor where there is just a themed room/area for a game; there was a whole experience for Hardline at the EA booth. All who were playing had to be "processed" and moved along into a semi-interactive experience. In the end we went through a "jail break" of sorts and brought right into an epic game of cops and robbers.
You aren't here for that though now are you. You want to know how Battlefield: Hardline plays and if it is truly a title to look forward to in the near future.
From the start of things Hardline, at least the multiplayer, loaded up just as every other FPS multiplayer title out there. No big shocker there. I was filtered into a team of officers whose job it was to protect a few bank vaults from being raided and robbed. Just like every other FPS title, from the start everyone was running around like chickens with their heads cut off trying to figure out what was going on. Fortunately, this only occurred for a short time and then those not noobs to gaming where hunting each other down with ease.
Well at least relative ease. If there was one thing that stood out to me was that the level design for the map we were on made little sense. Maybe if we all had more time to play Battlefield: Hardline before hopping into this map it would make sense but for first time players it seemed like an extremely poor layout meant to confuse more than make any logical sense. Then again, this was all based of Los Angeles' layout, so maybe that says something too.
Another odd thing that just didn't feel right was the driving mechanic in Battlefield: Hardline. It was nice to be able to hop in and drive any vehicle on the road to help hunt down the adversaries but if it wasn't a SWAT vehicle it may as well been a well oiled-machine; at least the wheels of that machine. It was like the basic physics of the world were turned off for every vehicle except the SWAT van. Especially the motorcycles. I think I died about seven times just by crashing on those damned things since the turning and braking were so far from real.
Once we got away from all of that though Battlefield: Hardline was one hell of a good time. One of the best I have had in some time with a multiplayer set up. I would have loved to also see what was in store for a campaign mode in Hardline but if nothing they have the basics of the game mechanics locked down. Visceral needs to lock down the basic driving mechanics to make this a truly amazing game but they are completely on the right track so far. This is all based on the multiplayer of the game at that so take that as you will.
Battlefield: Hardline is currently in Beta on PC and PS4 with a launch date of October 21st 2014. We'll see how much more evolving the game will undertake in the coming months but it looks like another sure-fire win for EA and Visceral games.
