Battlefield: Hardline is the first Battlefield game to be developed by Visceral Games. Before this, DICE was the main developer responsible for the series. Hardline has employed a wide variety of talent ranging from actor Alexandra Daddario to Composer Paul Leonard Morgan.

The switch in development team wasn’t the only difference in this recent integration, but the premise itself is quite new. Rather than putting you as another soldier on the battlefield, this game sees you play as either a cop or a robber. The entire game has been revamped, minus the U.I (User Interface) to feel more urban and crime based. Even the campaign stays away from war shooter tropes that we’ve grown accustom too.

I have to admit, the main reason I wanted to play this game was for the campaign, and why wouldn’t I? It has quite the powerful cast and crew. On one hand you have got experienced actors like Benito Martinez (Sons of Anarchy, House of Cards, Supernatural) and Alexandra Daddario (Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters, Texas Chainsaw 3D), and on the other hand you’ve got talented writers such as Bill Johnson (who was also the director, and is responsible for TV shows such as The West Wing and House), Wendy Calhoun (responsible for Justified’s quality writing) and the amazingly talented composer Paul Leonard-Morgan (responsible for the score to Dredd and the upcoming Minions), who not only built up on the music of Battlefield, but also gave it a unique sound that would fit nicely in any cop-show. Not to mention, the main song Karma was written by Jammie N Commons.

Fortunately, after playing the game, I can definitely say that the gameplay for the campaign was awesome and not a mindless shooter. The game puts you in the shoes of a Rookie cop, Nick Mendoza who is betrayed and wrongly accused of a crime he didn’t commit, prompting him to get revenge with the help of his friends.

Each area you played in was open and breathtaking. Unlike most games, it never felt that the places were empty or dull, but instead were full of life and realistic. Now, the main reason for that is the stellar sound work which I can without a doubt call Flawless. There is not a single issue I had with the sound and everything is so clear and crisply mixed, that everything from the siren of the police to the gunshots sounds amazingly realistic. It is even better when played with a surround sound headset or home system as it is then the game truly comes to life.

As I mentioned before, each area you playthrough is open and can be approached how you choose. Either stealthily or guns blazing. Furthermore, since you are a cop, you have a unique badge ability called Freeze. Basically if you manage to get close to some perpetrators (maximum 3), you can flash your badge at them, prompting them to freeze with their hands-up. However, if you have more than one person targeted, you will have to make sure that you point your gun at them equally, or else one of them will draw out their guns and start shooting at you. The way you can know if someone is about to do something stupid is by looking at the arrows that form on your screen, turning wider and red if you look away from a perpetrator too long. Basically after that all you have to do is get in close and arrest them. You get more points awarded for arresting than taking down or killing someone.

These points help you unlock different weapons and equipments throughout the campaign and raise your experience level. So for the first time in I would suggest you to arrest as many people as you can to unlock a lot of items. However, do note that the guns can also be unlocked by picking them up from certain enemies.

There are tons of guns from assault rifles to shotguns to choose from before you start a mission or at a weapons locker point while on a mission. You can also change the attachments on them, suiting them to the situation at hand. There are also gadgets like explosives, and grapple hooks available that come to use during some campaign levels and especially with the multiplayer. One thing I really like about Hardline is how it gives you a tutorial to use every heavy gadget and vehicle, unlike the previous games where some items and vehicles were only accessible through the multiplayer and even though present in the singleplayer, they were only there for show.

The AI is not too bad either with your companions helping you keep an eye on perpetrators during specific missions, and providing good protection during firefights. Still there are these occasional hiccups and glitches that make them ignore certain enemies, even when they are so damn close. One thing that really irks me is that you are always the only one to actually cuff the criminals while the other just watches. They could help arrest the other crims, granted there was one for each of you. I think they stayed away from this because they wanted you to earn points for the arrests, and even though they could’ve still given you points during the arrests no matter who did it, they couldn’t implement it properly if they wished.

The coolest thing in the campaign is that the stealth aspect actually works. You can sneak in all you like and won’t get caught if no one spots you, and you can forget about anyone magically spotting you through half the map. This implies good coding of the game. You can also throw shells to distract people away from groups or certain openings, then through the open window either arrest or silently taking them out.

Moving on to the story, it was quite a mixed bag at times. The writing was quite good for most of the part, and the story locations were varied and interesting, but at times it felt as if it was trying too hard, frankly coming off as a bit stupid. The game’s characters are solidly written and voiced by their actors. Not to mention, the banter is quite humorous , and really makes you chuckle at times. I especially love the episodic nature of the game, showing you either a recap of an early episode when you come back to play or showing the promo for next one when you quit.

I understand that a lot of people won’t agree with me when I say this, but I really hope more games are episodic based with their chapters, where you can either see what happened last time or will happen the next time. It makes a lot of sense with videogames as a good level can take quite a while and when you are done with it, you can be given a teaser for the next one, keeping you hooked into continuing the game.

The thing that I absolutely hated was the stupid ending of the campaign. I mean wow… were the writers sleeping during the final chapter? How could they let it get so farfetched. It is even more frustrating that the story was getting extremely good by the end, and all of a sudden it just went down the drain. It became extremely generic, it just didn’t fit with the theme of the game in my opinion.

Still, I have to give a hats-off to Visceral as they sure know how to do their action sequences well. One of my favourite sequences sees you sneaking into this car dealership to steal valuable info from a computer. However, the mission goes tits-up when the enemy becomes aware of your presence and comes at you in full force. In that adrenaline pumping scene, you are hiding, crouched behind a computer desk as everyone’s guns tear through everything like razors, destroying computers, cars and the cement around you. It was a hectic scene, even more impressive with how much particle effect and destruction the game has. Basically everything was blowing to smithereens around you.

Another one of my favourites sees you rappelling everywhere dangerously, when your rope gets stuck on an aircraft. All of sudden, you crash through this window, into the room where a highly elite police force is gearing up. They just stop and start staring at you, as you slowly put your hands up… only to be pulled back out again. It is scenes like those that had me laughing half the time. The game has some damn good action sequences it has to be said.

I also like how you get to drive quite a bit throughout the campaign as the responsive driving controls make it a really enjoyable and meaty experience. Not to mention, the graphics are absolutely stellar at times, complementing finer details in both people and objects. You can literally see water seeping from the pores when a character is sweating and tense.

The game has clues, which are basically collectibles you can acquire to complete case files. If you go to your case file menu, you can see the pieces of clues required for each case and in which chapter they can be found, making it easier for you to replay certain levels. It is really interesting getting feedback from Nick of whoever is with you on the case. Also, the music by Paul Leonard-Morgan is action based rock, that uses some familiar drum based original melodies to give life to each scene. The main theme is especially impressive in the sense that even though it is classic, feels completely new and different. The original song too is amazing, and uses relatable lyrics to match the games aesthetic, such as Jammie N Commons employing an interesting set of beats.

As for the multiplayer itself, even though some modes truly give you the rush of being cops or robbers, some just seem re-skinned from previous Battlefield instalments . I really think that they should’ve reworked the entire UI, as it is too similar. Still, you have got quite the set of interesting modes here, with notable ones being those that you have to either steal certain amount of cash or stop others from doing it. Also, the game’s multiplayer is in a ten times better position than Battlefield 4’s was at this early stage of release. Everything is balanced, and the netcode seems absolutely fine as I didn’t feel any glitches or heavy amounts of lag during collisions. The load-times are much better too now, especially after a few latest patches that improved the balancing in multiplayer.

My favourite mode is Hotwire, which is a clever take on the Capture the Area formula, with the only difference being that it isn’t flags or areas you need to capture, but instead cars, and the only way to capture them successfully is by maintaining a continuous high speed. It is especially fun since the cars don’t feel like overpowered tanks and can easily be destroyed. The best vehicle you can hope to control is the massive truck which rams through cars like cardboard. All in all, the game mode provides a lot of enjoyment and action.

Furthermore, during some games you can activate Powerplay, which like Battlefield 4 changes certain areas of a map, changing the battlefield for you and your enemies. The vehicles are also really fun, and make sense with the urban terrain of the game, compared to the war settings of the previous games. Lastly, some mechanics are really interesting in the multiplayer segments of the game, and fit well with the cops and robbers theme. One of my favourite is the interrogation mechanic, which you can use on a knocked down enemy to reveal the enemy’s position. This works only in certain game modes after you’ve used take-down from behind on enemies.

Overall, this is a solid Battlefield package that not only fans and multiplayer enthusiasts are sure to love, but then on the other hand you have got a robust campaign, that even though manages to disappoint you with its farfetched ending,  has several stellar moments that are powered by strong characters played by talented actors. Not to mention the gameplay is well designed, robust and polished, giving you a varied and enjoyable experience.

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