‘Battlefield’ sets sights on crime drama
For ages, the “Battlefield” series has focused on conflicts abroad — Europe, the Pacific theater, Vietnam, South America — but never on American shores.
That changes with “Battlefield Hardline,” as Visceral Games comes up with another take on the genre. While previous entries were military shooters, the developer had to adapt the formula for the domestic front and turned to the crime drama for a template.
Much like a Netflix show, the singleplayer campaign is something on which you want to binge. The story follows Detective Nick Mendoza and his partner, Khai Minh Dao, as they become embroiled in a conspiracy involving drugs and dirty police in Miami. It takes
a while for the narrative to hit its stride, but the story will grab you by the end of Episode 3. From there, it is full of twists until the disappointing finale.
With storytelling on mostly solid ground, the campaign succeeds in its basic mission of teaching players gameplay concepts that will help them in the multiplayer modes. Gadgets such as grappling hooks and zip lines are used to reach rooftops and travel between buildings. During a car chase in Los Angeles, players learn how to lean out of a window and fire at pursuing gunmen. In a closequarters gunfight, players will discover that they can blow away an opponent’s cover and create openings by shooting walls.
Although there are plenty of ways to tackle the campaign, Visceral Games rewards nonviolent play with weapon unlocks. Instead of going into a situation like Rambo with a machine gun, players should opt for stealth. They should scout out areas with their scanner, spot the bad guys, then sneak up behind them to arrest them quietly. It’s a satisfying gameplay loop that’s reminiscent of “Far Cry.”
While players will spend a couple of hours with the campaign, the meat of “Battlefield Hardline” lies in its multiplayer mode. With seven modes and nine maps, fans of the series will have plenty to do as they join one of four factions — SWAT, Street Cops, Thieves and Criminals. Each group has its own set of weapons, and each feels distinct.
Players will have to outfit their characters for the new gameplay setups, which highlight aspects of the cops-and-robbers theme. For example, the Hotwire mode is similar to the Conquest rule-set of previous “Battlefield” games, except that instead of capturing points on a map, players will be fighting over vehicles. This leads to car chases and wild driving within a limited area. In the Heist game mode, meanwhile, thieves break into a bank vault and try to escape with money while police try to stop them.
Crosshair and Rescue modes are geared toward the eSports scene. In Crosshair, one team has to escort a VIP across the map while the opposing side tries to assassinate him. In Rescue, one side has to save hostages while the other side prevents their rescue. Like “Counter-Strike,” dying in either mode means you have to watch the action until the round concludes.
For the most part, Visceral has made a stable online game, and from what I played, the multiplayer holds up. I had only one crash, but with games like these, it’s always a work in progress, and the team undoubtedly will fix some of the bugs.