But the shootout across Downtown Miami during a hurricane, later on, is very cool. The Everglades section is a bit dull and an otherwise very exciting escape sequence mid-way though is let down by a rather unsubtle linier path.
The Miami neighbourhood at the start is particularly well done. The environments are generally very nice, but with the odd hiccup. The game rewards players for subduing the enemy, especially those with an arrest warrant. Also, the fact that you can often avoid a firefight by stealthily arresting perpetrators rather than killing them is inspired. The investigation and evidence collection mechanic is inspired, finally giving players a narrative reason to hunt levels for collectables. Episode 5 is a game changer, shifting the action to Los Angeles, which comes in to play just as the gameplay starts to tire. For the first four episodes players are investigating a drug ring and dirty cops in Miami, with the action flicking from Downtown to the alligator infested Everglades and then into the heart of a hurricane. The campaign follows an episodic format which in includes a TV style “previously on Hardline…” opener as you continue your game and a very cool “next time on Hardline…” as you quit. Throw in an angry pock-cheeked captain, a reluctant partner and dirty cops and you are ready for Hardline. The result is a police drama where detectives slide across bonnets and drive sports cars. Visceral have managed to work in every police procedural cliché they can think off. The game’s story-based single-player campaign wears its cop show inspiration on its sleeve. To be honest, sometimes it feels more like Raindow Six than Battlefield. The solo campaign has players collecting evidence, sneaking about and arresting people. But this time Visceral have thrown in a load of other stuff as well, especially in the single-player game. If Battlefield for you is just about firing guns and driving vehicles in a first-person shooter, then Hardline is a Battlefield game. Hardline swaps all that cool military stuff out and replaces it all with the hard boiled world of cops and criminals. Bad Company still had soldiers and still had tanks. You could argue that DICE, themselves, have already done this with their more narrative-focused Battlefield Bad Company games- but you’d be wrong. Taking over the stewardship of this particular entry from the franchise founders DICE, the Dead Space developer has taken Battlefield in a totally different direction. What happens when you take an established franchise and throw the rulebook out the window? Well, you get something akin to Visceral Studios’ Battlefield Hardline.
0 kommentar(er)
