Battlefield Hardline
Visceral Games was the best developer to handle a new take on the Battlefield formula, and it certainly showed upon Battlefield Hardline’s release. Focusing on crime, heists, and the life and times of the police as opposed to military warfare, this “war on crime” game played very much like a cop drama. Fans were given the ability to make choices that drastically changed gameplay experiences compared to prior entries in the series, including the option to take out a police badge to intimidate criminals to lay down their weapons. Stealth mechanics were also introduced to slip by enemies unnoticed.
The main draw of any Battlefield is its multiplayer portion, of course, and Hardline didn’t disappoint in that regard either. The title shipped with a variety of fun modes like Heist, which saw criminals extract money out of a vault before the police stopped them, Blood Money, where two factions were pitted against each other in order to retrieve money from an open crate in the center of the map, and Rescue, where S.W.A.T. officers were tasked with trying to rescue hostages held by criminal forces. Each was a unique take on the standard multiplayer deathmatch and fit the game very appropriately, cementing Visceral Games as an observant connoisseur of its craft.