E3 2014 - Battlefield Hardline Hands On

One of the biggest leaks prior to E3 was the reveal of an all new entry into the Battlefield series, what was so surprising about this reveal was that it was all about cops and robbers, but it was still battlefield.

Going into the show, I knew I would have to go hands on with Battlefield Hardline, I mean it made appearances at 3 of the 5 press events, so it was something special. When I saw the booth that EA had constructed for Hardline I wondered what could possibly be inside of it, what would be on offer? Well I joined the queue to find out and boy was it impressive.

After entering a mock police station I was presented with a Hardline ID, using this I was able to do things like have my photo taken and pass through a metal detector. I then waited in a room with many other people and we were treated to some interactivity between the cops and a suspect in an adjoining interview room. We passed the time here waiting for our shot at the game, which we still had no clue as to what form that would take.

All of a sudden alarms went off, doors flew open and we were being yelled at to “Go, Go, Go”. We were being funnelled into the space on the outside of the booth where people had been playing the multiplayer before and now it was our turn. We each took a station and were assigned into teams and then squads and the match begun.

The first round had me acting as a policeman and working alongside my fellow officers we were tasked with foiling an armored truck heist that was happening in the middle of downtown Los Angeles. I made the mistake of attempting to run to the heist location on foot, which meant I was late to the party, but its ok because when I did arrive it was in full swing. There were explosions going off around everywhere, police cruisers were skidding around corners and robbers were on bikes taking off with the loot.

I took to the plaza above the armored truck and saw a few robbers, so I took aim and felled one before, I myself was taken down. I spawned inside a cruiser and then jumped out at the best time because not a moment later did it blow up from bad driving. I proceeded back to the plaza but this time I entered a building and took up the higher ground, fighting from the upper levels meant I was able to target the people below but also fight there as well. I soon heard the tones of a helicopter coming in and as they did a pass overhead I was able to take out more of the bad guys.

At the end of the round, after a few deaths but many more kills I was happy that I came second, even more so that it was on PlayStation 4 and I play Battlefield on PC. Of course everyone was happy but it was not over, we had another mission to do. This time I was on the robbers team and it was a free for all. Both teams were tasked with location and looting cash from a massive pile in the middle of the map and then returning it to your base. But here is where this simple rule is challenged, at any point the opposing team can kill you and steal the money you were carrying. But they can also attack you at your base and take from your pile of money there.

In this match type I also came second, which I attribute to one of the dev team standing by offering up some hints about the map. Overall my time with Battlefield Hardline was brief but it was in this short experience that I knew that this was battlefield. Sure the theatre of war is now different, but the chaos and overall fun was still there. I can’t wait for this game to release later this year.