Battlefield Hardline Review – Domesticated Warzone (PS4)

The Battlefield series has had it roots firmly planted in the military genre since its inception, using the sprawling landscapes of global conflicts to let players duke it out across land, air and sea for over a decade. Now, a new developer Visceral Games has been given the reins of the series and has moved it away from warring nations to a more domestic battleground with Battlefield Hardline.

Power Corrupts

Following just about every major trope that could be found in modern televised police dramas, Hardline’s main story is designed around Miami Vice officer Nick Mendoza who must investigate corruption in a dirty city. This is a drastic change from the lone soldier having to take down an opposing military force theme that’s so prevalent in military shooters, as most of the story plays out more as a drama than the massive action set-pieces we have seen in the past. Sadly, this does leave part of the campaign feeling a bit underwhelming, as none of the events ramp themselves up to the same level we have seen in other Battlefield titles. This isn’t to say that the story falls completely on its face, as it is an interesting start to a much more well crafted type of storytelling for the franchise, just one that lacks the intensity seen in the past.
Given that this is a police drama, Visceral Games has gone to great lengths to let players play out the role of a police officer, and this means that they should have the option to not kill everyone on sight. If you move within range of a “perp,” you are able to flash your badge, which will force him to drop their weapon and raise his hands. At first this feels like an interesting concept that immerses the player, but eventually you realize it becomes an overpowered ability that completely deflates any sort of tension in the game. No matter who you run into, as long as you are within range of up to three gunmen, they will all drop what they are doing, freeze and prepare to be arrested without much of any hassle.
Thankfully some of the other more intriguing aspects do work a bit better, such as the idea of hunting down enemies that have warrants out on them, and looking for evidence to fill in the game’s side story. As you go through an episode there will be a handful of targets that will have warrants out on them, and if you arrest them, they will give bonus points, allowing you to level up and unlock new gear for use in the campaign. Also, hidden throughout each episode and on certain “perps” are collectible bits of evidence that when all collected will explain about certain things going on around you.

Last Time on Hardline

Designed as if it were a TV series, Hardline moves from plot points to combat scenarios in a wonderfully balanced manner, as the player never feels like they are just filling in time with senseless shootouts, nor do they feel like they haven’t really done enough throughout the game’s 10 episodes. Each time the campaign is put down, the player is also given a TV styled “last time on Hardline” recap of the events that have led up to where the player left off — something that is fantastically produced and almost makes it worth leaving, just to watch it.
Visually, Hardline moves from being quite impressive to moments where things don’t quite line up. Most notably the character models in the game look fantastic, albeit still suffering from the creepy deadpan eyes found in most video games. Sadly, once you see one of the characters speak it’s easy to notice how far off the the lip syncing in Hardline is, which can break the immersion and the concept that you are experiencing a drama with characters you are supposed to care about — which you never do, because you aren’t really given much time to know them.
Much like many televised shows, audio plays a massive portion in Hardline, and it does it very well. While the soundtrack choices might be debatable, a great sense of tone and pacing is portrayed through its usage of audio. Instead of subtly leading a song in, Hardline pushes its music into its forefront, and lets players know that things are on, or at the very least, gives them a solid beat to blow up everything around them. On top of that, Hardline also has some quality voice work, and some of the best sound effects I have heard in a game, especially the gun shots.

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