E3 is upon us, (well, almost) and the preview shows have begun. In an upcoming article (probably posted tomorrow) I'll provide a quick run-down of my thoughts on all the biggest announcements, but right now I'm writing to you about one thing. My initial reactions on the Battlefield Hardline beta. Luckily I got instant access, and I've now been playing it for roughly 2 hours.
First of all let me clarify. As you all know, this is a early beta so yes, it does pack it's fair share of bugs. They are anything from minor spawn bugs (such as the gun spawning before the character model) all the way up to a still vehicle jumping several feet into the air, hitting you and giving you a "Killed In Action" screen as you where 10 feet away from depositing $500 000 into your teams base in the all new gamemode "Blood Money". At times (such as the time described above) I wanted to smash my PS4 into little pieces and burn them on a pile, but I didn't; for two reasons. #1: Because that would be insanely stupid of me, and #2: because that would mean I had to stop playing Battlefield Hardline. Although the Beat only features one map and two game modes, I got a general impression of the game and overall I have to say I absolutely love it. It truly does capture the classic Battlefield feel of gameplay, something I was worried a new developer wouldn't be able to do, whilst at the same time it's the most fast-paced, high-octane FPS experience I've ever had. 12 player Free-for-all Games on Nuketown in COD: Black Ops aren't as intense as BF:H, and that's truly saying something. Especially when it's taking place on a map with of the scale you've come to expect from Battlefield. The two new game modes has the same need for strategy, team-work and precision as any Battlefield game before it, yet at the same time it delivers gameplay that's more fast-paced and intense than any other shooter I've ever played.
Both game modes has one team playing as the cops, and one as the criminals. The Heist-mode has the criminals blowing up a armored car, stealing two bags of loot and delivering them too an escape location. The cops must stop them at all costs. The bags of loot do not re-spawn at the armored police truck after being dropped by a killed criminal carrying the loot, instead they stay right there and the cops can't pick them up. This may seem odd, but it creates for extremely diverse combat, with the center of the battle constantly being moved around.
The Blood Money-mode puts a big money pile in the center of the map, with a base for cops and one for criminals, each on their own side. The goal is to collect money from the pile and bring it back to your own base. The team with the most amount of $ in their base when the game ends, wins. This would make for a pretty cool game mode, but what puts an amazing edge to it is that you can actually go the enemies base and take cash from them. This gives you 3 locations to, two where you attack and one to defend, all of witch are always sprawling with players from both teams, as well as a highly trafficated and very dangerous path in between. Another great twist that ads to the excitement is that as you come to either the money pile or the enemies base, you hold down a button to collect cash. This takes a few moments; but if you're willing to take the risk you keep going and collect more. Each time the progress-indicator-circle thing goes around, you collect another $100 000 (max carrying amount is $500k). Keep going and risk loosing both valuable time as well as your life, or safe it, taking home only $100k each time. The choice is yours, and this makes for an extreme thrillride. The adrenalin rush of driving of at high speed with $500k strapped to the back of your motorbike, hoping you'll make it back without dying; hoping no-one from the enemy team is waiting at your base, ready to blow you away; is absolutely unmatched by anything I've played before.
Next up, I'd like to mention how there are a lot more vehicles to drive around in; and they're all for the better. They handle differently and provide different amounts of cover. The motorcycles are extremely agile and fast, but the trade-off is that you're very exposed. The armored trucks provide great cover, but in return they're fairly slow and getting around tight corners or navigating inside buildings can quite the challenge. The fact that the amount of vehicles pr game is so much higher also ads a great edge to each game you play. Everything is more fast-paced, yet it's all still battlefield.
A lot of COD players often rip on Battlefield for being slow. Well, not anymore they can't, because BF:H provides games with the intensity level of COD4's Shipment map, yet it does it on an epic scale with huge, destructable environments, gorgeous graphics and fun, new game modes we've never seen the likes of in either franchise. I myself have been with both franchises for years, and I have countless hours in both COD and BF. I'm not going to lie; I'm pretty dissappointed with what we've seen of COD: Advanced warfare so far, given the fact that it's so called COD game, featuring Jet-packs, lasers, giant Halo mechs and exo-suits. With Battlefield Hardline take a huge step forward for the franchise, without dropping what's made earlier Battlefield games so good, It's starting to be clear to me; you don't need to completely re-think everything about what your game is actually about; in order to create an entirely new, much improved and different experience. Thusly, it becomes more and more clear what FPS I'll be playing, come this fall and winter.
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