Battlefield Hardline Beta Impressions – Round Two

It’s been almost a year since gamers were presented with the first Battlefield Hardline Beta. Without question DICE has given the game a facelift well worth the attention; however, it wasn’t enough to sell it. EA then decided to put the team back to work, pushing the Oct 21^st release date to March 17^th and addressing the online feedback. Now, the Beta is back for round two. Heist has made a return in the beta, joining Hotwire and Conquest Large. But before I dive into gameplay I want to make note of a few additions; squads, customizations, my agent and battlepacks. The last beta placed you straight into the battlefield where the new test run is allowing you to group with friends and this time, personalizing the experience. Based on the map and squads loading, you can also customize your player load outs and outfits by earning XP and cash. Gameplay this time around is more fluid and more intense, definitely moving away from rivals at Activision. Hotwire is a high-speed version of conquest, requiring you to capture vehicles and locations, depleting your opponent tickets by driving across the target zones and eliminating anyone that attempts to stop you. Then there is Conquest Large , similar to Call of Duty’s domination, where your team must attempt to hold down as many point of interest as possible until the opponent’s tickets are all gone.     Hands down Conquest Large is likely to be the fan favorite this time around as there’s more structure in the game mode. Heist is fun and extremely fast-paced, Hotwire puts you in the driver’s seat and helps you earn plenty of cash to upgrade your character load outs, but Conquest gives gamers a better opportunity to embrace the environment, tactfully earn kills and most importantly enjoy the beta. Connectivity and server issues did however plague and take away from the experience. You will find yourself shooting and getting late kills, or running into people and objects more than expected. But on a good note, both the character models and environment supported better visuals than the last beta. Audio was another thumb up to the beta as characters had more unique voiceovers, interacting with their movements (throwing grenades, etc.) and teammates when called for. It was also pretty awesome to hear a few songs on the radio and drove inside of certain vehicles. Overall, this was a much better experience than we had the opportunity to test last year. The game’s fluidity, mechanics and tone is allowing to Battlefield Hardline to seem promising. But even with as much fun as the one mode offered, it’s not enough to honor the selling price.     March 17^th is right around the corner and Battlefield Hardline will be available on PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Xbox 360 and PC.