Introduction
In today’s discussion I will be reviewing Battlefield Hardline, personally I’ve played this game on the Xbox One console but it is available on multiple platforms. Battlefield Hardline is a first person shooter (FPS) game and its backbone is based on various “cops vs robbers” scenarios.
Game Summary
Battlefield Hardline was primarily developed by Visceral Games and was published by Electronic Arts (EA). Since the Battlefield series is very popular, the game can be purchased at many different stores (Walmart, Target, GameStop. etc.). With so many technologic advances in the digital gaming world in the last few years, consumers are able to buy Battlefield Hardline and digitally download it to their designed platforms. The standard version of the game is priced at $59.99 and the deluxe version of the game comes in at $69.99.
The Battlefield series tends have a modern combat outline with its games, meaning the style of gameplay is based on current military operations such as the war in Iraq and Afghanistan. It would seem the player base of the Battlefield series wanted something new and creative, thus we have Battlefield Hardline. Battlefield Hardline has two different types of playing styles, the single player campaign as well as multiplayer.
Single Player Campaign
In my experience the Battlefield single player campaigns have been sort of a letdown, short and not so sweet. Battlefield Hardline single player campaign is based on cops vs drug criminals. The game has a 10 episode outline, in other words there are 10 missions to play in the single player campaign. The storyline is very bland and very predictable, “go do this then report back”, “collect x amount of items”, things of that nature. Each episode consist about 10-15 minutes of gameplay with another 5-15 minutes of cut scenes. The interface of the single player campaign is well designed, icons, maps, on screen text, etc., are all very well placed and not in the way of gameplay. Battlefield Hardline visits cities such as Miami and Los Angeles, the design of the scenery and buildings are very realistic. There are many different things going on in the game that require many types of sounds, Battlefield Hardline does an outstanding job with sound. For instance, if the user shoots a weapon in an open environment (like a field or desert), it would make a unique type of sound, if the user shoots the same weapon inside an enclosed area, something like a stairwell it would have a loud, muffled sound that would echo. Environment noise is also very well done. An example would be walking up to a few people having a conversation, as the user walks closer their conversation is louder and more clear, when the user walks away the conversation becomes soft and harder to understand. The use of controls is very polished, each button is easy to remember and easy to use. The visuals of the game is also well designed. For the most part the objects in the game tied in with the whole scheme of the game. In the journal, “Game Usability Heuristics (Play) for evaluating and Designing Better Games: The Next Iteration” the author describes the importance of enduring play, personally I found the single player campaign to be boring and repetitive with little desire to continue playing the single player campaign.
Multiplayer
Most people that have played the Battlefield series only play the game for its multiplayer game experience. The multiplayer game experience in Battlefield Hardline consist of multiple game modes that uses 16 vs 16 player matches or 32 vs 32 player matches format. Each game mode has unique features that differ from one another, one of the more popular game modes of Battlefield Hardline is “Conquest”. Conquest is basically like a capture the flag type of game, each team must take different points and hold the points to win the game. Another popular and new edition to the Battlefield multiplayer game mode is a called “Heist”. In Heist, the objective for the criminals is to rob a bank and take the money to a drop off point, whereas the cop’s objective is to stop the criminals from robbing the bank. The interface is much like the single player interface, it is very well designed and does not get it the way of gameplay. The multiplayer graphics seem a bit bland and not as detailed as the graphics in the single player campaign. Some of the controls are not “fine-tuned” for multiplayer, for instance, the user is able to jump or leap over small objects such as fences or chairs, in some cases the user isn’t able to jump over a rock that is smaller than a fence or a chair. The sound quality and the use of sound is just as amazing as it is in the single player campaign, the sound is just absolutely amazing. The controls of multiplayer could use some work, the user is able to set their designed “turn sensitivity”, however there isn’t an option to set a vehicle’s “turn sensitivity”. Use of objects is very well done in Battlefield Hardline multiplayer.
Game Review
Overall I like Battlefield Hardline and I think the $59.99 price tag is justified. Like many others who played the Battlefield series I bought the game for its multiplayer experience and find it very entertaining. In my opinion the single player campaign brings this game down, I would go as far as saying that not having a single player campaign would be better for future games. I really enjoyed the use of sound in this game, at times I was blown away and knew the amount of work the developers had put into the sound. For a “next gen” game I found Battlefield Hardline lacking with the graphics
Targeted Audience
The targeted audience for Battlefield Hardline is people that like a first person shooter with a multiplayer experience. Battlefield Hardline is also for people that want large multiplayer battles on large maps as well as using teamwork to accomplish a common goal. Since Battlefield Hardline uses foul language I would assume it’s for people 18 or older.
Reference
Hardline. (n.d.). Retrieved March 4, 2015, from http://www.battlefield.com/hardline
Desurvire, H., & Wiberg, C. (2009). Game Usability Heuristics (PLAY) for Evaluating and Designing Better Games: The Next Iteration. Retrieved March 8, 2015, from https://sharklearn.nova.edu/webapps/blackboard/execute/content/file?cmd=view&content_id=_3946496_1&course_id=_208028_1
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