I was very happy that the Battlefield franchise steered away from the War/Military genre and took on a new direction with the Cops and Robbers genre with Battlefield Hardline. I was eagerly looking forward to Battlefield Hardline and once the game came out last Thursday 19 March 2015 I went straight into the nearest store and got my hands on this bad boy. I was very impressed with Battlefield Hardline and it did not disappoint. Battlefield Hardline lived up to its hype before its release.

The single player campaign seemed like I had stepped into an action packed movie similar to Bad Boys and Lethal Weapon that would make producers Jerry Bruckheimer and Joel Silver proud. For the single player campaign you are the honest and hard nosed young Miami Police Detective Nick Mendoza (Nicholas Gonzalez) who is taking on a drug ring as well as investigating links of police corruption. At the start of the game Detective Mendoza is teamed with Detective Carl Stoddard (Travis Willingham) but is later partnered with Detective Khai Minh Dao (Kelly Hu). Mendoza and Khai answer to Captain Julian Dawes (Benito Martinez), a person who is seemingly being groomed for a higher position with the top brass and may or may not have a secret agenda.

Battlefield Hardline is different from previous Battlefield games where the player relies on arrest, stealth, a scanner, and distraction methods rather than relying on shooting and killing countless bad guys. You also have the option of knocking out the bag guys with a baton or even take them down with a taser. You can still shoot the enemy if you cannot arrest them or should you come under fire. It goes without saying that you have a huge arsenal of weapons at your disposal and more weapons are unlocked as the game goes on as well as finding evidence in missions in order to complete cases.

I also liked the previous reference to the Battlefield franchise such as commandeering a turret on a disused military aircraft and an army tank in one mission.

Multiplayer is similar to previous Battlefield games but with a few changes here and there. The various modes including Conquest, Hardwire, Blood Money, Heist, Crosshair, Rescue, and Team Deathmatch. You also get to play with a variety of vehicles including police cars, sedans, motorbikes, armoured vans, and helicopters.

All in all Battlefield Hardline is a worthy entry into the Battlefield franchise and is well worth the money spent. It was good to see the Battlefield franchise take on the cops and robbers genre and it has worked wonders. Perhaps the flagging Call of Duty franchise could benefit from a change in direction.

9/10.