OK, I have Battlefield Hardline beta queued, about a 10 GB download. Not too bad, with any high speed connection (an hour or so here). I intend to play this thing to death, just like I did with the first Hardline Beta — played right up until it closed. I expect to have a blast playing it.
But the hard question is “Should I buy this at full price?” Or for that matter, buy it at all. I get asked often if I’m going to get it, and if the game will be worth it.
Now, figuring out which games to buy and when — preorder, full price, wait for sale, wait until the price really drops down, or skip it — is a personal decision. You are the only one who knows whether a given game is worth the money to you.
Hardline, as a standalone game, no worries about its Battlefield 4 connection or the impending release of GTA 5, or any other games which might compete or influence it, seems like a decent fast paced modern FPS with vehicles. A definite cop action movie feel shows in both the single and multiplayer.
http://www.ign.com/wikis/battlefield-hardline/Game_Modes
There are seven game modes revealed so far. I’m going to break these down into three groups.
First, the fast action crime games: Blood Money, Heist, Hotwire. Recover stolen money, escape with stolen money, steal vehicles — all three get lots of fast car chases and intense action around the objectives. The pacing is fast, the objectives clear, and the action definitely should make for great cinematic videos.
Second, the classic Battlefield games: Conquest, Team Deathmatch. Hold the territory (flags) or just kill everyone you can. The pacing is slower and more tactical, the goals clear but not tied, as such, to the crime theme of the game.
Third, the mission objective games: Crosshair, Rescue. Escort a VIP to safety or eliminate him, save the hostages or keep them. Both with limited (or no) respawns, a definite challenge requiring tactics more than quick reflexes and speed.
We don’t get to see the last two in the Beta, at least for now. I don’t know that they couldn’t do a bomb defusal sort of mission (as in BF4) and keep to the mission theme as well. I’m sure they can come up with other good game modes — I’d expect a straight capture the flag (grab the evidence/jewels/etc.) sort of game to play well.
All in all, it looks like the multiplayer is shaping up to offer an exciting environment and new challenges.
Unfortunately, it has two big immediate competitors for the gamer’s money. First is the PC (and current gen console) version of GTA 5. No, the game play isn’t the same — GTA is a single open world, and focused more on the single player than multiplayer, though there is plenty to do there, and the new heists should expand on that. But it is more of a coop game vs the mission enemies rather than pure player vs player gaming.
Second is Battlefield 4 itself. If you’re looking for modern large scale combat, you already have BF4 and can play that. If you don’t have it yet, the price is less and you get more. BF4 is not going to die off just because Hardline comes out. DICE is continuing the CTE development for BF4, and is not going to forget about it yet.
If you have the money and like it, you can just get it anyway. If your friends play it, that is another incentive. If you’ve played GTA 5 on the 360/PS3 and don’t feel the need to upgrade, this could give you a cops-view of the crime world to play in.
Ultimate answer: play the Beta, see if you like it. Spring game releases tend not to go on sale for a while, but you could take a chance and wait if you’re unsure about it — or don’t want to pay full price.
