Matimi0 posted this nice video about the Hacker role in Hardline, and I pretty much agree with this completely. I’ve only got the 2nd level of Hacker unlocks so far in the Beta, but that doubles the GPS scan radius (thus quadruples the area covered). I am not certain just how much the other functions are boosted, but if they are also doubled it is a pretty big edge over a level 1 hacker.
There are 5 levels to unlock, and it looks as though as max level Hacker will be able to reveal the entire map with GPS scans and cameras, and only an equal level Hacker will have a chance to counter this. I have over 60 stars in BF4 Commander. I don’t think that getting max level in Hardline is going to be that hard to do for anyone who plays the role much at all, so max level Hackers will be common in this game.
I honestly think that doubling the area is about as good as the maximum level should achieve, with the earlier levels being only a slight (10-20% per level) boost. That will be good enough to keep it balanced, without making the advancement worthless.
So let’s get back to this weekend’s play in the game. Hotwire and Heist mode are working well in games I’ve played with people who grasp the objectives. It is a lot of fun. The Bank Job Heist mode is infantry only, but on other maps we will have vehicles and more running room to play with. I watched some video of the Everglades Hotwire play, and that looked like it worked well too.
Here are a couple forum threads with suggestions to improve Hotwire:
http://battlelog.battlefield.com/bfh/forum/threadview/2955065239842277945/
The problem of explosives destroying the cars messes with the balance of the very fun Hotwire mode. But if the goal is to actually recover stolen vehicles, why don’t we get to deliver them someplace for cash (XP)?
First, I think that the game mode’s objectives need to play to completion. The goal is to recover the vehicles, but instead we drive them around until they are destroyed. That makes for fast play, but there is no need to actually take the vehicle to a particular location on the map.
A quick way to do this would be to add a timer — control the vehicle long enough and you’ll get a message to take it to the delivery point. That might be a random spot on the map, or the off map base. Drive it there, get out, get bonus points.
You could also have check points on the map that you must pass in order to clear the car for recovery. Same idea, just that it forces you to drive a circuit of the map rather than just hold it for a time. This risks the check points being camped as traps, unless they are randomized enough (for each vehicle) that it wouldn’t be effective.
I know this changes the game play, but I think it would enhance both the action in the game and the feeling that this is actually a real cop story and not just a video-tv-show sport.
How big a bonus? I think it has to pay off both in money (XP) for the car’s crew and affect the game score. You can get over $1000 for driving around, so delivering the car should give you at least this much. A delivered car should count, for control and tickets, as owned until the car with the same letter is captured again. Perhaps a small number of tickets could be taken from the enemy team when a car is delivered (10 or so?), or the delivery team could gain a small number of tickets.
Possibly, the delivery value of a car could go up for each checkpoint that is passed. So keeping it in play and alive gives you bigger bonuses if you can survive many circuits through the whole map. This idea is to eliminate the “do donuts by the base” camping with the captured cars, which happens sometimes now.
This is my favorite mode in this beta, and I’d like it to be as good as it can get.
PanteraPanther95
http://battlelog.battlefield.com/bfh/forum/threadview/2979150494119151064/
Hotwire during the first 24 hours of the beta was a blast because there wasn’t yet a critical mass of people that had unlocked trunk RPG’s. Now every hotwire round is just campers standing around with an RPG/SPAW waiting for EZKILLs. And $90,000 to unlock the trunk RPG is nothing – it takes 20-25 minutes.
I went into Hotwire skeptical like it couldn’t possibly be fun, then ended up having some good times, but now its more annoying than anything.
NeilDiamondMD
Which gets suggestions to slow down the replacement of trunk weapons and explosives from ammo boxes, and to reduce the utility of them in the Hotwire mode, if not every mode.
This game has grown on me. I’ll miss it when the Beta ends. If Conquest mode would have Bad Company style destruction, I think it would be better and more fun. Overall, I think that greater destruction on the small town and rural maps would make the game more exciting. There are plenty of active routes to travel, so blasting down some obstacles to make a few more (or block some with debris) wouldn’t hurt that.
Still, the Beta is live for a while, so I’m going to go and play some more today.
