Battlefield: Hardline is a game that insists upon its coolness. It’s not cool in the ways that you might expect a hardcore FPS to be cool, but cool in the ways that, say, Law & Order thinks that it is cool. Everyone is very serious and very unlikable. The bad guys are cartoonishly bad and remorseless, the “good” guys are all vaguely corrupt. Hardline is a game with no heroes and the foregone conclusion that things won’t work out in the end.
All the grit and intensity pile up like the cliche badges and guns of disgraced detectives. The only time the plot isn’t wholly predictable is when it’s just kinda confusing. You chase perps for various offenses through the filthy streets of Miami, but it’s easy to lose track of anyone’s motivation. The sense of accomplishment at completing a mission is undercut by the lingering questions of “who was that guy?” and “why is everyone so mad at everyone else?”
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The single-player campaign is broken up into episodes. And when they say episodes, they mean episodes of a cop drama complete with previews for the next episode and “last time” catch-ups. Each one is a segmented string of cinematics that take themselves too seriously, quicktime events and on-rails driving and sequences that have virtually no stakes. You just do them until you follow the correct path and the game allows you to continue.
Where the campaign shines is the almost Batman-like stealthy action sequences. You go from one criminal or group of criminals to the next using a hyper-advanced super scanner to tag and identify bad guys. If you startle them with your badge out, they drop their weapons and patiently allow you to arrest them. You also have the options of tazering them, whacking them upside the head with a baton or just mowing them down with the military-grade hardware that basically rains from the sky as the game progresses.
I don’t know if this game is uninspired or just inspired by uninteresting things, but Hardline just feels like a wasted effort. Nothing about it is bad enough to be outright unpleasant, but none of it is particularly good. The voice acting is average, the graphics are nothing special and the writing is full of tropes and lazy stereotypes.
One of my favorite aspects of the game is the way they do collectables. There are pieces of evidence hidden around the levels that must be scanned and each sheds light on some aspect of a specific case. Once a case is completed, you can hear the conclusion and unlock some new gear. There are also some named criminals you come across on each mission that give bonus XP if they’re taken alive.
The completed cases provide gear for the multiplayer modes which are predictably good. They paint the usual military shooter arenas with a layer of cops and robbers, having players break into vaults or steal money. It’s an interesting change of pace that it fun to play, but it’s just another iteration of the tried and true Battlefield multiplayer experience. There’s a neat selection of gadgets like ziplines and one player per side can take on the role of the “Hacker,” tagging foes and doing the usual commandery things, minus some of the roles’ utility in previous games. The real-cash purchasing of boosts and weapons feels a little gross, but I guess that’s just the way of things when you’re dealing with EA.
Overall, I’d say pass on this one. It’s got a little bit of a unique flavor with the cop aspect, but it’s so mired in the generic Battlefield thing it just feels like a million other games that did it better. If it gets down to the $20 range, it’d be a worthwhile diversion, but don’t pay full price. It’s just not cool enough to justify the price tag.
