Highlights
- Battlefield: Hardline's unique concept hasn't been revisited since its release, despite the FPS genre changing over the past decade.
- A Hardline successor could benefit from embracing asymmetric gameplay, with law enforcement being better equipped.
- The concept of "cops and robbers" style FPS is an untapped goldmine that could be enhanced with unique features, even outside the Battlefield franchise.
Battlefield: Hardline was a cool concept that didn't enjoy a lot of praise. It took a break from the strictly militaristic roots of the franchise for a more "cops and robbers" inspired take on the core gameplay fans know and love. But the public wasn’t ready for it and the title stalled out, especially with the stiff competition in the FPS genre at the time. Today, Battlefield: Hardline is mostly remembered as a curiosity: a footnote in the series but not much else.
But it’s been nine years since the game dropped and nothing remotely like it exists in today’s FPS landscape. The genre has changed a lot in the past decade, with a noticeable pivot away from traditional multiplayer and with a focus on more battle royale gameplay and hero/class-based shooters, with any outliers of those trends still focused on military vs military combat. Battlefield: Hardline had a unique concept, and it would be a shame if EA left it in the past.
Battlefield Has a Golden Opportunity To Beat Call of Duty to The Punch
Attention is turning to the next Battlefield release, and the IP has a head start on a narrative direction that Call of Duty may take in a few years.
Why The FPS Market Needs More Games Like Battlefield: Hardline
Battlefield: Hardline was and always has been the black sheep of the franchise since its release, but its premise is something that no other game has touched since, maybe because of the icy reception Hardline got in its day. The game came out shortly after its predecessor, Battlefield 4, was finally patched into a playable state after its disastrous launch. This essentially meant that two separate Battlefield titles were competing with each other for players, and of the two, Battlefield 4 felt the most familiar to the traditional formula and ended up winning out.
The Hardline name is mostly synonymous with failure in the Battlefield community, so any attempt to revive the cops and robbers concept would probably be in need of a rebranding. But it’s still a concept worth revisiting. Battlefield: Hardline took the classic Battlefield formula and applied it to a setting inspired by over-the-top 80’s action movies like Die Hard, Commando, and Lethal Weapon. Those movies, for all their flaws and cheesy datedness, are nothing if not cool, and players want to feel like they’re constantly pulling off cool stunts in-game. There’s a lot a talented developer can do when using this type of beloved source material for game content.
What Should a Battlefield: Hardline Successor Look Like?
A Hardline follow-up can and should deviate from one key aspect of its predecessor. The original game was much too afraid to embrace the asymmetric nature of Battlefield's conflicts it was trying to portray. While cartels have been known to have some pretty sophisticated gear in real life, it’s not especially common. More often than not, law enforcement is the better equipped of the two, and keeping that true in-game would lead to some interesting and fun asymmetric gameplay. In a follow-up, don't have both sides equally kitted out.
While certainly a break from the normal Battlefield formula where everyone has access to the same gear regardless of their side, forcing players to adopt different strategies and tactics depending on their faction can go a long way to keep the game fresh over time and distance itself from unfair comparisons to other titles in the series.
A true Battlefield: Hardline successor doesn’t even have to be a Battlefield game proper. The original game came out almost a decade ago now, with neither EA nor DICE showing any inkling of interest in continuing the spin-off series. The concept, however, is open season. A "cops and robbers" style FPS is an untapped goldmine that dev teams should pick up and turn into something amazing, and can even incorporate some features that, while may feel out of place in a Battlefield game, might enhance the experience further. A good example is giving an XP incentive to law enforcement players to use non-lethal weaponry to disable and apprehend enemies rather than outright killing them.
Battlefield
EA's Battlefield franchise is a series of first-person shooter games. The games have predominantly been set in the modern day, though there have also been titles set in World War 1, World War 2, and in the near future.
The Battlefield franchise is often compared to Call of Duty, with both franchises offering single-player campaigns and online multiplayer.
