The Battlefield 4 Hardline Beta has been publicly available for several days now, and it ends on the 22nd according to DICE & Visceral Games. Being a former avid BF3 and BF4 player, I wanted to get my hands on it for at least a little bit if I could. And luckily I did. The concept itself is interesting enough. Basically taking on the idea of the game Payday and expanding on it. Larger maps, larger player count, vehicles and a larger assortment of weapons. But how does it stack up against other games in the genre, or even other Battlefield games for that matter? Well in my opinion, not well.

Before my brief review, bare in mind that this is a beta, far from a finished product and as such, some of the problems I outline in this post may be fixed by release time. There was also only one map to explore and two game modes. That being said, allow me to elaborate further on my experience.

Story, Concept & Origins: This is hard to rate because there isn't any available for the beta release. As far as people can make out from videos, it features members of SWAT who go above and beyond the call of duty (no pun intended) to bring above average criminals to justice. The actual concept of the game itself though, seems to be stolen from a group of folks working on previous Call of Duty games. A couple of years back, those folks wanted to make a game on their own using Kickstarter funds called 'Call of Duty: Police Warfare'. It looked promising, and they did get some funding, but I've heard nothing about the project in gaming news since its inception. And with EA's financial backing, DICE & Visceral Games beat them to the punch. I can appreciate that there are indeed some intelligent criminals in the world (albiet very small numbers of them) and I can appreciate that there are plenty of elite police forces ready to take them head on. But again, they are in very limited numbers, and they respond to all sorts of intense criminal situations, not just bank robberies. That being said, if you can enable suspension of disbelief in yourself in order to play this game, that shouldn't bother you too much. Being a law enforcement aficionado, as many of you also are, it's tough for me to do that. And I will admit that this is a concept that hasn't been explored much. Certainly not on this sort of scale. So this game is unarguably unique in that regard.

Score: 7/10

Graphics:

Bad for what the game engine's capable of. It's using the same engine as Battlefield 4, which should be very well understood by now, as DICE has had years to work with it. That being said, in order to allow DICE to continually address the technical problems and content updates BF4 still has ongoing, DICE was forced to hand this game off to another studio called Visceral Games, albeit with some supervision. Again, this game is a beta, not a finished product. So much like with the BF4 Beta's first map; it may be spruced by the time the finished product is released. But currently, what you get is a mixed bag, and it doesn't need to be at this stage. The newest Frostbyte engine is capable of wonderful outdoor scenery, great environmental destruction, and cities made of concrete can indeed look good. This particular map is supposed to be set in downtown Los Angeles. For those of you who have never been to L.A., it can be a pretty city, even during the day time. In game, everything in your surroundings looks grey and bland. Textures are muddy, there are clipping issues with objects like walls or fences, and vehicles are very obviously low polygon inside and out, although styled nicely after real world police cars. Environment destruction however, looks great, as do explosions, character models and burning vehicles. Weapon models could be better at this stage, but we'll see how that progresses when the finished product arrives this fall.

Score: 6/10

Sound:

Weapon sounds are on point, though they are ripped from the previous two Battlefield games, so that should be a given. Explosions sound nice and are convincing coupled with the screen shake you may get if you're nearby a grenade blast or a building coming down. They have added a little new dialogue for both criminals and cops, making it less militarized since we're more or less dealing with paramilitary trained (at best) criminals and police forces. The music is intended to be pulse pounding, but in my opinion ends up just being annoying. It's similar to what you'd hear in a Payday game, or Counter Strike Global Offensive, which I turned off in both. I'd rather hear people coming around the corner than listen to a generic electronic audio track that rips off the soundtrack to the movie Heat. The police sirens are "canned" effects, but I'm sure that's the least of Visceral Games's worries, and truth be told, it should be, because of the gameplay mechanics.

Score: 7/10

Gameplay & Lasting Appeal:

And here we arrive at the most important part. What does it play like? Well, it plays a lot like a Battlefield game, which is a problem. You see, those past games revolve around big maps, with a multitude of different roles to play and a toy chest of weapons that are virtually only limited by your imagination. Ground troops, assault vehicles, PT boats, tanks, helicopters, even jet fighter support. These are all important roles to play and are extremely commonplace in large scale fights between powerful armed forces defending a country. This is NOT the case for a bank heist. Common equipment for even the most sophisticated criminals would include a getaway car, some assault rifles, C4 and some ski masks. That's about it. Instead you get some of the most inaccessible and imaginative equipment ready to go whenever you like. "Stealth" Cadillac Escalades with retractable mounted machine guns, that look normal when you drive around not shooting at people. Armored Personnel Carriers that appear out of nowhere, and somehow weren't noticed driving around by the police prior to the robbery. Laser trip mines obtained from god knows where, secretive military optics and attachments for weapons, and a small army of heist members. Not three man crews, but crews of 16.

On the police end, you have a similar problem. Extremely easy access to helicopters that respawn, limitless numbers of backup SWAT members when an entire platoon is wiped out, police cars that do 0-100 in two seconds, motorcycles to drive around during a massive firefight with assault rifles and grenades being used, tasers that can somehow penetrate kevlar vests, batons that are seemingly as effective as a large combat knife. Police can even have access to weapons that would never be allowed for use by our government. Soviet assault rifles, advanced technology the state would never pay for, limitless vehicles... While I appreciate the variety in this game, it's just downright unrealistic and overwhelming for somebody walking around on the ground. Each faction needs to have their own weapons that they are required to stick to, much like in Counter Strike games. Games quickly become ridiculous and frustrating faster than before due to the abundance of these items and the inexclusiveness of them to a specific faction. The bottom line is that the correct way to do a game like this is to model it after Counter Strike GO or Payday, and instead it's more or less a Battlefield game with some new character skins, maps and vehicles. I can't see myself paying for this game in its current state, let alone continuing to play it on a regular basis.

Score 5/10

Overall: 6.25

The Good:

-Tried and true shooting mechanics.
-Virtually unlimited backing from EA for ongoing support.
-The beta's free.

The Bad:

-Bad netcoding from BF4 was transferred to this game.
-No real identity for each faction since they share almost every weapon in common and they spray an equal amount of bullets everywhere.
-Lack of realism.
-The finished product won't be free, and they're probably going to introduce yet another premium service to charge you another $70 after the initial release of the game.

I like Battlefield games, and I like cops & robbers, but this isn't done right. I don't see myself buying this game unless I have money to burn, and if I do, I don't see myself playing it for very long. This is not a game where I absolutely need to have it upon release and purposefully set money aside for. It's a rushed expansion to an existing game that EA will charge full price for, plus a premium service for DLC.

Screenshots in no particular order. All taken at 'Ultra' detail settings:



Clever loading screens designed to look like news reports. A nice touch.



Pinned by snipers. I'll expect sniper crews during military battles between ground infantry, but I'm not aware of any criminal organization that has 10 sharpshooters stacked with each other at all times.



Apparently there are fleets of Cadillac Escalades running around U.S. major cities that have retractable machine gun nests and bullet proof body panels that can go from 0-60 at the drop of a hat. Who knew?

 

You're under arrest! Wait... you're a cop, how did I arrest you? Oh right, because I can have a baton and handcuffs as standard issue even though I'm a bank robber. Nice watch texture, by the way.



You get many choices of vehicles to drive and take cover behind. Even ones that would make absolutely no sense to be near in a war zone, such as a gasoline tanker truck full of ignitable fuel.



Okay, that should be enough to bust these doors open. Now lets get the money, and go out into the street to get run over by APC's and strafed by helicopters 20 seconds into our robbery.

 

Wait... so you're telling me that I get to stuff as much money as I can into a duffle bag and take it away with me, even though I'm a SWAT member? Sweet. Man, I'm in the wrong business.

 

Best vehicle to charge headfirst into a complete war zone with: A standard police cruiser. Come at me, bros.

Edited June 22, 201411 yr by unr3al

Like I have said for the most part this is just a 60 Dollar DLC and yeah its in beta but I couldn't understand anyone buying this game but I am sure they will anyway.

Can you drive the Caprice police cruisers, or are they only objects in the street? 

 

 

Can you drive the Caprice police cruisers, or are they only objects in the street? 

 

Nope, unfortunately.

It is a BETA keep in mind, just good to find out quick won't be in the game if you're looking for a more police-based game.

Can you drive the Caprice police cruisers, or are they only objects in the street? 

Not that I saw, but there is quite the variety. There was a Dodge Charger look-alike, a Mustang look-alike, a Chevy Suburban look-alike, and what appeared to be a Ford Interceptor look-alike. That's along with a motorcycle, an APC, a helicopter and a few command center SWAT trucks. And that's on the cop side. The criminal side has some really unbelievable crap I talked about earlier. lol The car models aren't nearly as nice as the ones from games that are truly about cars, but the art design is nice.

 

 

It is a BETA keep in mind, just good to find out quick won't be in the game if you're looking for a more police-based game.

Yup, and this is a review of the beta I played. Maybe the final release will be very different (but I doubt it). I'm sure there will be graphical and animation improvements along with a few small gameplay changes. But I don't think they're going to change the way weapons are assigned to people and I highly doubt they're going to remove the over the top vehicles and gadgets they worked hard to create and put in the game.

Edited June 22, 201411 yr by unr3al

I like Battlefield games, and I like cops & robbers, but this isn't done right. I don't see myself buying this game unless I have money to burn, and if I do, I don't see myself playing it for very long. This is not a game where I absolutely need to have it upon release and purposefully set money aside for. It's a rushed expansion to an existing game that EA will charge full price for, plus a premium service for DLC.

 

This right here, is exactly how I feel about this. I got my key just 15 minutes after the beta was announced, but couldn't play it at the time because I was still in Quebec and since, of course, I hadn't brought my gaming rig with me. So I watched dozens of videos on YouTube. Then I realized how flawed the gameplay is (IMHO). The more I saw of the game, the less I wanted to play it. Now I've been back for a week and I still haven't played it. In fact I didn't even bother downloading it. I'm just not interested at all...

I'm sorry... but this is fucking retarded... 

 

That's like taking the Grand Theft Auto series and adding golf or yoga to it... oh wait...

 

Ok, it's like taking the Star Wars Battlefront series and making making it about gambling or something.

 

Like the other guy said, this is just some $70 Cops n' Robbers DLC for BF4....

That's like taking the Grand Theft Auto series and adding golf or yoga to it... oh wait...

 

The game itself does not revolve around golf and yoga.

QUICK UPDATE:

Visceral Games has unlocked access to all weapons and mods for the remaining days of the beta (which has been extended to the 26th now). This is to see what weapons people use and how they use them, and then from that data they will make balancing changes to them so they become less or more powerful to ensure a more equal experience for everyone. While balances are going to occur all throughout the games life, I am glad that they are addressing this early on rather than releasing what they have and ignoring it until people complain about it on launch day. Kudos to Visceral Games for thinking ahead.

Visceral Games has also supposedly added in the same Net Code fix DICE used for Battlefield 4 to improve hit detection and lag issues. We'll see how that takes shape with the intense strain on the existing test servers.
 

 

This right here, is exactly how I feel about this. I got my key just 15 minutes after the beta was announced, but couldn't play it at the time because I was still in Quebec and since, of course, I hadn't brought my gaming rig with me. So I watched dozens of videos on YouTube. Then I realized how flawed the gameplay is (IMHO). The more I saw of the game, the less I wanted to play it. Now I've been back for a week and I still haven't played it. In fact I didn't even bother downloading it. I'm just not interested at all...

If you have access, I do suggest that you at least try it since there's nothing wrong with a free video game. I felt the need to critique it though based on my observations through live game play and previous experience with similar games. You may form a different opinion of it once you actually get your hands on it. I went in with high expectations and I was a little let down. You may be on the opposite end of the spectrum. It was a quick download and install, and you can jump into a full server pretty easily, so I'd suggest giving it a shot anyway.

 

Edited June 22, 201411 yr by unr3al

I guess I'll give it a try then. I just wanted to play BF3 so badly after all these weeks.

I guess I'll give it a try then. I just wanted to play BF3 so badly after all these weeks.

Funny you should say that, I told a friend last night who played BF3 and BF4 with me a ton that this new game makes me appreciate Battlefield 4 a lot more despite being on the same game engine.

Funny you should say that, I told a friend last night who played BF3 and BF4 with me a ton that this new game makes me appreciate Battlefield 4 a lot more despite being on the same game engine.

 

This may be just what I need, then. I haven't played BF4 in months due to its numerous issues at the time and haven't gotten around to playing it now that I'm back.

Just a way-too-expensive Battlefield 4 DLC. 

This should actually be a DLC for Battlefield 4, the other things should have only been called "Map Packs" or "Weapon Packs" since they are not really adding much to the base game. We, the customers, are basically getting ripped off over and over again... and as long as we don't boycott it all together, nothing is going to change.

 

I know it's off-topic, but I hope they aren't going to screw up "Star Wars: Battlefield".... uhm "Battlefront [3]". I don't want to see "Premium" stuff there or golden stormtroopers....

Just a way-too-expensive Battlefield 4 DLC. 

This should actually be a DLC for Battlefield 4, the other things should have only been called "Map Packs" or "Weapon Packs" since they are not really adding much to the base game. We, the customers, are basically getting ripped off over and over again... and as long as we don't boycott it all together, nothing is going to change.

 

I know it's off-topic, but I hope they aren't going to screw up "Star Wars: Battlefield".... uhm "Battlefront [3]". I don't want to see "Premium" stuff there or golden stormtroopers....

You know what's funny about that, DICE did what you're suggesting with Battlefield Bad Company 2: Vietnam. It was half the price of Battlefield Bad Company 2, and offered a complete and brand new game. I bought it for $20. I thought it was a bargain, and I liked it a lot but people didn't play it for long for some reason.

I really didn't like the beta...granted I have liked many of the battlefield games since 2 (or was it 3 that introduced destructible worlds) came out. Oh well, as some others have said, its better to find out early and for free that it's not worth what they will sell it for. Make it a DLC for those who like this sort of gaming and charge way less.