Hardline is here for all of us now, and it is a solid game. It has run well for me, and a day one NVidia driver update works fine and fixes issues for many people. There are some reports of problems, but most people are playing a game which is running just fine.
The Beta played well too, so I’m not surprised by this, but it is encouraging that we had a launch of a new Battlefield game without many day one problems for people trying to play. I had an issue with EVGA’s PrecisionX utility and my GTX670 — the OSD has compatibility problems with Battlefield — but was able to quickly solving by disabling the on screen display in its menu. So the game works, on the technical side. But how about game play?
Again, most of the things from the Beta hold true in the retail as well. We have more maps, which is very nice, but the basic game mechanics are unchanged. A quick thing: the weapons and gadgets from the Beta are the same as in the retail, with the exception of the three pre-order exclusive weapons. There were some tweaks to weapon parameters for balance, but no major changes.
Bonus Battlepacks
People have had many questions about the preorder and premium Battlepacks available on day one in the game. Same for the pre-order bonuses. I used Gamestop for this preorder, and they sent me an email with codes for the bonus items. EA has this: http://help.ea.com/uk/article/battlefield-hardline-players-receive-battlepacks/. The advertising didn’t always make it easy to figure out, but some of the Gold Battlepacks awarded as bonuses will be released over time, rather than available at the start of play.
I played some on 64 player Heist and Conquest and the action was extremely intense. The battles gave a feel reminiscent of Battlefield 3’s Close Quarters DLC at times. The time to kill is fairly fast, still very much like that from the Beta, and it makes quick reflexes and accuracy important. Hotwire so far works on every map just fine, a very fast playing action game. It was great to play Blood Money again, and it also seems like a very solid action game mode on all maps. I had fun with this game so far, and expect that to hold up well.
Starting Play Purchases
What should you spend your hard earned game money on first? I believe that Hardline is very flexible, and you really can’t make bad choices as long as you pick things you will actually use. But there are some things which you really should get sooner than later.
First, you really want to have a 2nd class gadget for every class you play. This greatly improves the capabilities of each class, and will help you get more money faster. It also helps that many of them are among the cheaper purchases, thus easy to make early on.
Operator: the classic Revive/Defibrillator.
Mechanic: the Repair Tool. Especially useful to keep Hotwire vehicles running.
Enforcer: the Breaching Charge (aka Jeep Stuff). This is a bit more expensive, but it is just so useful it is hard to resist.
Professional: the Camera.
Next up on useful gadgets are the four universal gadgets. Any class can use them, so buying them once gives you it for any role you take. While they are map and game mode situational in usefulness, having them when you do need them will make your game play much more effective.
Gas Mask, Grappling Hook, Zipline, Stunt Driver.
For vehicles, it can be worth picking up one of the cheapest upgrades simply to give you a slight edge when you use them, but the big game changer upgrades are the three Armory packages. All are expensive, all only work on Sedan and Coupe, and they give you the ability to pull a battle pick up weapon out of these common vehicles when you need them, rather than looking for them. The Anti-Air Armory is especially good to counter a good enemy helicopter team. Get a different one for each vehicle first, so you can have both available in every game.
The two special sidearms, which are for all classes, are also good picks for early unlocks. The T62 CEW stun gun and the Tracking Dart are both fun to use and add capabilities above simply killing your opponents.
Last up are new weapon attachments and new weapons. Both of these are best put off until you need them, as long as you find the starting weaponry adequate. It doesn’t cost much for some of the Optics and other attachments, but the weapons are fairly pricey. It is worth considering getting an Assault Rifle for the Operator (if you don’t have the Precision bonus battlepack), and a Battle Rifle for the Enforcer, to open up more options for engagement range and the awards for using them.
Last quick advice is to use your boosts. We don’t know yet when any double XP events might come along, but it seems as though we will get plenty of new boosts from battlepacks as we advance in rank. Have one on for each class you play.
Oops, one more thing: Hotwire as Mechanic with Repair Tool is the current fastest way to earn money in the game. Grab one of the target cars and keep it going, and you’ll get lots of points.
