Battlefield Hardline

“Battlefield Hardline is a two-pronged success, with a killer cops-and-robbers story backed by a speedy take on competitive play.”

Battlefield Hardline impressively manages to please several different audiences at once. Its campaign is both a great shooter and a great stealth game, and its typical plot is spiced with interesting characters and sparse but punctual humor. The large-scale tactical multiplayer combat the series is known for is still as good as it’s ever been, but the speedy new Hotwire and round-based 5v5 modes p...

For this review, Battlefield Hardline’s multiplayer was primarily tested at a dedicated event last week, but also subsequently with public servers in the last few days. With testing during the public beta and netcode that has much in common with recent BF4 patches, multiplayer at launch should be relatively smooth, but watch the news if you are wary of issues.

No summary available

With the new opportunities available for a cops and robbers setting, Visceral didn't take enough chances and produce enough content to make this game truly great.

Battlefield Hardline is a semi-unique game in the Battlefield franchise that features an enjoyable, if forgettable, campaign and a great multiplayer mode. Those looking for the more traditional Battlefield experience will still find it here, as will those interested in Hardline’s twist on the franchise.

While we weren't particularly impressed with Battlefield Hardline's multiplayer offering, we did like the intense ride that the campaign took us on. The story might be fairly throwaway, but the environments, set pieces, and the gameplay scenarios you'll often find yourself in are memorable and make up for the clichés and nonsensical plot details. When it comes to multiplayer, Hardline's slight mod...

We all know what police officers are like, don't we? If semi-documentaries like The Wire, CSI, The Shield, and A Touch of Frost are anything to go by, there's barely a person in law enforcement on either side of the pond that isn't addicted to meth and good-hearted hookers. As easy as it is for us to identify with these fictional characters' lives, though, it's all very familiar at this point. The...

Multiplayer gets by with some intriguing new modes, but it doesn’t deviate enough to bring new blood into the mix. Battlefield fans will find plenty to enjoy in Battlefield Hardline, but they would have been equally satisfied with a DLC expansion as well. In other words, don’t go into Battlefield Hardline expecting something different and you’ll likely come away satisfied. Actually, that’s a perfe...

Overall, Battlefield Hardline is an unremarkable release, and it really depends on what you want from a Battlefield title as to whether it’s worthy of your hard-earned cash. Those looking for more of the same Battlefield multiplayer action will no doubt lap this up; it changes very little to the tried and tested formula, and is therefore very easy for fans to jump into in order to experience new m...

Hardline doesn’t sufficiently evolve interesting mechanics in the terrible single-player and is only saved by an at times enjoyable multiplayer component.

Hardline does show occasional flashes of brilliance, though, so there's definitely something worth pursuing here. With a stronger emphasis on open area stages and multiplayer modes that utilize the police arsenal, Visceral could craft something much stronger in the future. Further investigation is required.