Battlefield: Hardline

Battlefield Hardline is another installment of the series, which this time focuses mainly on street clashes between police departments and groups of criminals who, wanting to get rich, commit crimes and escape from justice. The game offers both online and offline modes, which add an interesting variety to the gameplay.

Unfortunately, the offline mode, from which I expected a lot, completely disappointed me. The plot is shallow and predictable, and the characters do not have deeper motivations - they are even exaggerated. The main character, Nicholas Mendoza, is a character who can be found in almost every series, movie or game with a similar theme. He is devoid of depth and presented as a stereotypical "good cop".

Unfortunately, the online mode also does not meet expectations. The game suffers from numerous bugs, and the gameplay itself is too fast and lacks any elements of strategy. Small maps additionally take away the fun of the game, and the whole thing does not meet the standards that players expect from the Battlefield series.

The game had potential, which unfortunately was wasted in a concert way. The campaign is passable, but too short to keep the player engaged for long. The online mode, however, leaves much to be desired.

A new take on the BF series, definitely fun to play in different modes and break the traditional gameplay. Installing the content takes hours, and you are limited to the 7min prologue when you first set up the game. I've read forums and reviews and apparently there is not much that users (or EA) can do about it but just sit and wait for hours on end. Estimated wait time is around 7.5 hours to install full game. And yes it's 2020 and still no solution for a game that was released more than 4 years ago.

Some cool actors added to the cast, although the story is sometimes a bit predictable and too much cliché if you ask me.

Great fun outside of the traditional with new game modes, but if you are new to the game you better be patient when installing it.

It starts off pretty good but gets boring. Either way it was fun for the couple of missions. I played it for a while until the game crashed and I lost my progress for the mission i was doing.

'Battlefield: Hardline (2015)' takes its long-running, military shooter franchise to the streets. Its aesthetic is unmistakably 'cops vs robbers', seeming similar to pretty much any police procedural you can think of. In multiplayer, this translates to the same large-scale battles you'd expect from the series (even if they're pared back somewhat) and some game modes that attempt to capitalise on its new dynamic (or, rather, the milieu surrounding it). In single player, this translates to a story that could be straight out of 'NCIS: Los Angeles (2009)' or any some such TV show. It's styled as if it's a TV show, too, with chapters that represent episodes and open up with recap montages of the story so far. It's chock-full of the tropes and stereotypes you'd expect from a police procedural, ultimately feeling rather generic. However, it's still enjoyable and the schlocky narrative has a certain, perhaps unintentional B-movie charm to it. The gameplay is standard for a first-person shooter, except for the fact that you're given the option to arrest criminals instead of killing them. In practice, this just means you can sneak up behind or tase an enemy and then activate a prompt to cuff them (effectively eliminating them). This is much harder to do than to just shoot enemies, especially since the stealth is very basic and most missions inevitably escalate into full-blown firefights, and there's no real incentive to do it. That's a shame because it could have been a strong, perhaps even stand-out feature. As is, it's an interesting side-challenge if you're so inclined to take it; I played the entire thing only using my taser and handcuffs, aside from the few instances in which pulling a trigger is literally required to progress (which is really annoying). Overall, the game is a decent effort. It's rather enjoyable to play and its story does what it needs to. It isn't a masterpiece, but it's a solid spin-off from an established franchise. 7/10

The most interesting thing about Hardline is the change of direction. For the first time in this series we see something special. Set in modern day, in the city, no battlefields, no soldiers. It's a cop procedural. I found it interesting. Since we haven't seen Battlefield this way I was excited to see what was waiting. Playing as a detective is fun and amazing. This story feels like a playable tv series with a Netflix-feeling. Sure the story wasn't that deep or emotional in that way. But it was enjoyable to discover Los Angeles and Miami, in a gangster environment. A bit too much cliche sometimes and too less storytelling, actually the beginning of the campaign gave us some time to get to know Kai and Mendoza still. And the ending, I found it likeable. It shows were Mendoza have gotten for this point of time. And the face off between Mendoza and the "antagonist" pretty cool. And of course like the Hollywood movies this game tried to represent, it had a little twist ending. The story wasn't deep, but it was a fun Hollywood experience with evident antagonists.

Multiplayer is cool. All these game modes, this cop vs criminal style is perfect setting of the game. I feel that this game suceeded with making something special and it gave Battlefield some fresh air.