EA has announced its latest entry in the Battlefield series. This marks the first time since Bad Company that the series has decided to mix things up, and this time around it’s gambling on a completely new style to kick things up a notch for next-gen.
Instead of the large-scale warfare focus of past Battlefield releases, Battlefield: Hardline is more focused on a micro environment, and its setting is based around the war on crime. Very little was said about it in the official announcement, but a leaked trailer has let the cat out of the bag.
The game includes several gameplay modes that emphasize teamwork and coordination. Here are just a few examples:
- Heist – Players attack a vault and try to make out with a big bag of loot.
- Rescue- Counter-terrorists break into an installation to save hostages from their captors.
- Hotwire – Huge chases with fast cars and explosive weapons involved.
- Bloodmoney – A battle between cops and criminals over a sum of cash.
The footage makes it clear that this is a game with a more small-scale focus, with some traits from Counter-Strike and Payday thrown. Although, it has the added benefit of the Frostbite engine, which delivers realistic destructible environments and next-gen visuals.
In addition, single-player is going to be more prominent with this release. Based upon the trailer, it may be worthwhile to dive into the campaign and see what it’s all about.
So what does this all mean for the Battlefield franchise? Well, it’s just expanding. The typical Battlefield games are likely to be released every other year (Battlefield 5 in 2015~?), but if Hardline goes according to plan we could have a second set of shooters that fill in the gaps with some co-op gameplay. And really, other than the Battlefield tagline and Frostbite engine, this game looks nothing like Battlefield.
Battlefield: Hardline has targeted a Fall 2014 release. You can check out footage of the game, including the trailer and a bunch of GIFs, on NeoGAF.
