Battlefield: Hardline

Now that hype for Call of Duty has well and truly died down, It’s time for EA to release the next instalment to their renowned FPS series, Battlefield: Hardline. The new title in the series takes a radical change in direction, swaying from the military warfare themes and develop a game that centres on the warfare at home between law enforcement and the criminal master minds of the drug trade. As you could imagine, this would be the Heat of video games and be something of a dynamic experience that differs from Call of Duty. How wrong we are.

Sadly the ill written narrative for this instalment delivers a tale of a good cop turned criminal after being betrayed by a series of dirty cops in the Miami law enforcement. Suddenly things become slightly more James Bond than Miami Vice, as these dirty cops soon become part of some radical super power that can police the whole world. I felt the game could have easily given a series of voyeuristic journeys through the eyes of the law enforcement and even the bad guys. So you could play as a humble detective solving the crimes, or lead a swat team for the more action filled segments and even to become involved in the criminal side of things once in a while. But sadly Hardline gives what could be one of the dullest narratives that tries too hard to impress or over shadow Call of Duty. Yet we're left feeling uninterested for our heroes or their journey on this confusing up tale that tragically ends on a flat note.

Gameplay does not fair better. Battlefield has now become Splinter Cell (minus the fun factor) as it near enough forces you to progress through the game using stealth. Making actual contact with NPCs by firing a weapon will most likely result in you being met with dozens of overpowered enemies who seem to closely resemble an army of Terminators. It’s nice to have the choice between stealth and action but as said, the game does seem to push the use of stealth more on the player. Which is even more irritating by its dull and unimaginative gameplay with mechanics that would shame even Metal Gear Solid on the PS1. Making arrests and scoping out areas is the most dynamic features aside from throwing an empty shell casing to attract enemies. It’s dull gameplay is also met with punishing checkpoints, made worse with overly long stealth segments in-between. As for the more action orientated moments, the gunplay does intensify to a high standard but these moments don’t last long and indeed aren't at all original in the slightest.

Multiplayer is also a complete mess, with only two games that are worth playing, the rest are unbalanced, broken and host a whole lot of graphical glitches and bugs that mean you can level up ridiculously quickly. Aside from this, the game lacks a major deal of content compared to the much better Battlefield 4.

Sadly, Battlefield Hardline is a major disappointment and not worth the time of any gamer or even the hardened fans. Due to the poor story, dull gameplay and broken multiplayer. My advice is either go play Battlefield 4 or watch the Shield.