It’d be safe to say Hardline hasn’t had an easy time of it. People were a bit confused when a non-military Battlefield was announced, with many seeming particularly attached to the modern military shooter aspect of the franchise. It also had problems with its first beta during last year’s E3, seemingly due to PSN not being able to cope with the sheer volume of people trying to grab hold of it after its announcement. Has the second beta done much to improve that situation? Well lets see what you had to say.
We’ll start with gazzagb, who wasn’t overly impressed, saying that while “The game modes are fun at first,” the lack of an overall objective leads you to “just repeat the same objective until you run out of tickets.” He does suggest that shorter games could improve the game, but feels that even these “will still get tiresome.” gazza’s overall feeling is that Hardline should be DLC for Battlefield 4, noting that whatever the single player offers won’t be “enough to interest me.”
On the same side of the fence was Avenger, although they were slightly more positive about their time with the beta. They enjoyed both Heist and Hotwire, noting that the former “best suited the cops versus robbers premise.” However, they felt that even Heist “could get quite boring quite quickly. After all, there’s no vehicles and no big sweeping battlefields, just a small map which provides the niche setting of a heist.”
As for Hotwire, the lack of anything to do outside of a vehicle was its downfall for them, saying that “traversing the map to try and either get into a vehicle or ambush one was laborious.” Ultimately, they thought the game was “bogged down by the Battlefield name,” with the Conquest mode in particular feeling out of place in a non-military setting.
Fortunately for EA, some of you were a little more positive about the game. Among them was UseTheInkRibbon, who started off their comment by saying they “quite enjoyed” the beta. They highlighted Hotwire as being particularly fun to play, and said that “the core gameplay is as solid as it has ever been.”
However, even this positivity couldn’t last, as they didn’t think that “the Cops vs Crims theme works particularly well,” and that without a bit more differentiation from a traditional Battlefield title it just feels “like a BF4 mod, albeit a pretty enjoyable one.” On the upside, they are still interested by the game’s single player component.
The most positive commenter, however, was argusmanargus, who’s already committed to buying the game. They actually broke their time with the beta down into 10 hour long blocks, with their initial impression being that Hotwire is where the game really shines, saying that “Hanging out the car window rolling through town with the wind in your hair as you hunt the other team’s cars is invigorating to say the least.” As they moved into the ten to twenty hour range they started to get a bit annoyed with the game, finding it difficult to play as the engineer.
However, once they reached the twenty hour mark and unlocked more powerful guns things swung back in argusmanargus’ favour, and they remembered “how fun it was initially to hang out that car window.” They also praised the game’s graphics, saying they were smoother than Battlefield 4, even if the games does have a somewhat cartoonesque look in their opinion.
For our final comment this week, we turn to cam_manutd, who felt that the game’s multiplayer has potential, but it would be the single player campaign swings it for him:
The single player is what this game hinges on despite its Multiplayer focus. Its theme could give a solid single player offering if they approach in the way in which COD approaches its single player-mostly. It is too optimistic to expect a ‘Spec Ops’ esque single player offering but something along the lines of Modern Warfare I would be cool with.
To wrap things up, lets take a look at your overall opinion of the game. It’s somewhat of a mixed bag for Hardline, with just one of you saying you’ll Buy It, while another two say they’ll Avoid It. However, Might Buy It just about swings it, with three votes.
Tomorrow’s WeView will have you busting out your driving gloves, as we’re taking a look at Driveclub. The poll to vote for next week’s game returns below, and you’ve got until Sunday to get your vote in.
Amphlett
I loved this 2nd BETA/demo. Heist was so fast and focussed that I can’t wait to play it again on the demo map and more. I’ve just laid down my money on this game as a pre-order.
ackack
This will be the first BF I’ve not bought since BF1942.
The concept of cops and robbers doesn’t interest me and the fact they’ve tacked on the BF name to it is quite frankly desperate.
Kudos for the sub headline. Games need more Clash.
minerwilly
And me too , I’ve bought every single one but won’t be getting this. I’m ready for a new WW2 battlefield game like the original with destroyers , submarines etc.
Dark-Marmot
Yea,nope I’ve played 3 of the BF series 1942,3,and 4 and don’t have any desire to pay full price for it or even half for that matter since it had no redeeming qualities beyond DLC. BF5 is still gonna be a 2016 release perhaps I’ll circle back then. I’m hoping EA gets burned a little here,and decides to think twice about the cash grab tactics they have resorted to. If they can’t put out a game that costs less than $120 to get all of it and still thinks they can get away with releasing anything no matter how weak,then I hope they are just shunned till they are run by someone who gets gaming.
double-o-dave
I’m not gonna bother with this and stick to BF4.
One thing I didn’t like was the character animations. Looked too cartoony for me.
arkhamrazor
I WILL GIVE IT A TRY ONCE I FIND A FRIEND WHO IS WILLING TO BUY ONE, OTHER THAN THAT I WILL KEEP CIRCLING THE BF4 FLAME, SORRY BUT IT IS TOO GTV FOR ME. I WOULD LIKE TO SEE BATTLEFIELD USING 3RD PERSON AS AN OPTION IN THE FUTURE AS WELL AS BEING ABLE TOO SLIDE INTO COVER QUICKLY AS OPPOSED TO JUST STANDING BEHIND A WALL AND LEANING OUT. FIRST AND THIRD PERSON VIEWS BOTH HAVE THERE MOMENTS AND WORK TO DIFFERENT STRATEGIES IN CERTAIN SCENARIOS. IT WOULD BE NICE TO HAVE YOUR BACK TO THE WALL LOOKING OUT AT THE AREENA YOUR IN AND THEN WITH THE PULL OF A TRIGGER OR TOUCH OF A BUTTON BE LOOKING AND LEANING AROUND A CORNER READY TO SHOOT. ANYWAY JUST A PENNY.
double-o-dave
“IT WOULD BE NICE TO HAVE YOUR BACK TO THE WALL LOOKING OUT AT THE AREENA YOUR IN AND THEN WITH THE PULL OF A TRIGGER OR TOUCH OF A BUTTON BE LOOKING AND LEANING AROUND A CORNER READY TO SHOOT.” – A bit like Rainbow 6s player mechanics.
Another Penny… Stop SHOUTING! ;)
Forrest_01
Yeah, all shouting aside, other games have the things mentioned. Battlefield never has, so why would they choose to change something that has always been a first person shooter into a third person cover shooter?
It’s a bit like saying that Driveclub is a good game, but I wish they had floating cars like in Burnout Paradise. If that is what you want then just play Burnout Paradise I guess.
Then again, Battlefield has never been about cops vs robbers either so…
double-o-dave
I don’t want it, I was just giving an example with R6.
I’ve made quite a few cars float in DriveClub, shortly before smacking into the side of the road or another car.