Battlefield Hardline

[BlitzPuppet]

pfft, I haven't played single player in years, spent like 15 minutes in BF4's single player and never again bothered with it, the fact that you have to unlock certain weapons in MP with completing SP missions kind of blows though. Last SP I finished or went far in was Bad Company 2, never bothered with CoD single player since CoD1/UO.

BF4's single player was awful and seemed to have been written by a 13 year old who REALLY wanted to be a Marine. I won't give any spoilers, but my god it was such a terrible story.

BF3's singleplayer is one I actually never played. I did the COOP over and over and over to unlock the G3A4 at 400K Coop points. Of course once I got it they of course lowered the bar to 160K .

Never finished BC2's singleplayer, but "played" all the others (Vietnam, BF2, BF1942). Those were the days...stupid AI and multiplayer maps.

I really really really miss health bars and no weapon attachments/Sergeant First Class 1 gold star. Does anyone remember how ridiculous the BF2 ranks were when it first came out?

 

[QuantumPion]

BF3's single player was half-way decent. It was more of a showcase for the new frostbite engine but the levels were pretty well designed and enjoyable. Bf4 was total garbage by comparison.

 

[Josh123]

I decided to give the game a shot this weekend. Both times I tried firing up the game to join a server I got a DirectX error 2 minutes into the game which caused it to crash.

 

[darkewaffle]

I was too busy playing FFXIV to play hardline at all but my friends dumped a TON of hours into it. Far as I can tell they had a blast though the servers/battlelog were down at times - I did keep hearing from them "Oh I won't buy it as a full game" but I'm not buying that lol.

 

[sze5003]

I just was not impressed enough by the beta to buy it at launch this time. Unless they make the campaign actually decent.

I got bf3 on PC and bf4 on console because they were slightly similar but this one just seems like a faster paced skinned bf game.

 

[gothamhunter]

I skipped 4, and had fun in Hardline, so I'll probably grab it eventually. Not new, though.

 

[TeknoBug]

I skipped 4, and had fun in Hardline, so I'll probably grab it eventually. Not new, though.

Yeah eventually, having seen the pattern from BC2, BF3, BF4, a year after launch the price drops significantly and often has the premium edition by then, that's when the game's playerbase grows exponentially. So chances by next Christmas or early 2016 Hardline will be $30 for premium edition and $15 for standard.

 

[swilli89]

Can we just have Battlefield 2 with updated graphics? (NOT volumetric fog and effects) just like higher res skins and better models.

Thats the game that came so close to perfecting the formula. It seems every BF since then has just felt "smaller". Does anyone else know what I'm talking about?

I enjoyed Hardline as a standalone game but, can I have my classic Battlefield style along with this new style they are promoting?

 

[Stuka87]

Can we just have Battlefield 2 with updated graphics? (NOT volumetric fog and effects) just like higher res skins and better models.

Thats the game that came so close to perfecting the formula. It seems every BF since then has just felt "smaller". Does anyone else know what I'm talking about?

I enjoyed Hardline as a standalone game but, can I have my classic Battlefield style along with this new style they are promoting?

Just what about BF2 is so great to you? Everybody rants about how they want it back, but when I did go back to it, I found it unplayable. Sure it was good for the day, but for todays standards it is pretty bad.

Plus BF4 has "Classic" mode now which was taken from BF2, and its my favorite game mode.

 

[swilli89]

Just what about BF2 is so great to you? Everybody rants about how they want it back, but when I did go back to it, I found it unplayable. Sure it was good for the day, but for todays standards it is pretty bad.

Plus BF4 has "Classic" mode now which was taken from BF2, and its my favorite game mode.

I apologize in advance for answering your question in part with another question but, what in particular made it unplayable for you?

I miss a few elements:

It wasn't "too crazy". Game play on wake Island was so awesome. It had great visibility all over the map. The newer Bf's have so much atmospheric effects and camera shakes etc. It just really tries too hard to be realistic which just pulls me right out of it. Jet and helicopter mechanics were much better, I tried bf3 helicopters and I was instantly turned off, they simplified flight in my opinion.

But really, it's just hard to put into words. It's just a feeling I got when I played bf2 that I don't get when I play the modern ones. It was truly a team game with squads often sticking close together.

 

[BlitzPuppet]

Just what about BF2 is so great to you? Everybody rants about how they want it back, but when I did go back to it, I found it unplayable. Sure it was good for the day, but for todays standards it is pretty bad.

Plus BF4 has "Classic" mode now which was taken from BF2, and its my favorite game mode.

Have to ask this, did you play when it was popular and THE game to play? I have fond memories of being an admin over at the FCW servers and having so much fun with my clan and the various regulars that would come on.

I miss the variation of tactics and vehicles that were available as well as the general kits and gameplay mechanics. Things now a day in the Battlefield franchise feel too much like Rock, Paper, Scissors.

I apologize in advance for answering your question in part with another question but, what in particular made it unplayable for you?

I miss a few elements:

It wasn't "too crazy". Game play on wake Island was so awesome. It had great visibility all over the map. The newer Bf's have so much atmospheric effects and camera shakes etc. It just really tries too hard to be realistic which just pulls me right out of it. Jet and helicopter mechanics were much better, I tried bf3 helicopters and I was instantly turned off, they simplified flight in my opinion.

But really, it's just hard to put into words. It's just a feeling I got when I played bf2 that I don't get when I play the modern ones. It was truly a team game with squads often sticking close together.

I'm with you on what you're remembering.

• Dog fights were a lot more fun, the controls of the aircraft and helicopters didn't inherently punish joystick users.
• No MANPADs to deal with, just static AA emplacements along with AA vehicles. Nothing was more frustrating to me in the more recent BFs than taking off and immediately being locked on to.
• Kit benefits translate into vehicles automatically. Engineer-Repairs nearby vehicles automatically. Medic- Heals close infantry, etc.
• Fewer ranks. I can understand the drive for wanting a less "grindy" game, but it still irks me to this game to rank up to a level and a "Sergeant First class two star". BF2 came out and seemed to just have enlisted ranks (8 or so) and each rank required a god awful amount of points. Then a patch came out and introduced Officer ranks into the mix effectively bringing it up to 22. I liked that.
• Special forces introduced some of the cool and usable tools. Tear Gas, Gas Masks, Zip Lines, Grappling hooks...those were all fun as hell to use and get good vantage points. Sure I didn't play SF as much as Vanilla BF2, but it was an awesome concept.
• As I said previously, I miss the simple kits with various primary weapons to choose from...and that was it. No AP bullets, vehicle unlocks, or other things that tended to put new players at an extreme disadvantage. I DO NOT understand why you have to unlock Defibs as a medic since BC2. It makes no sense.
• Only Outside/Big maps. Karkand was one of the most popular maps that took place in a city. The good thing about it is that it didn't have corridor shooting like Metro Station did. What a terribly designed map Metro is.

There are probably many more things that I miss, but I just can't think of them at this time.

 

[swilli89]

Have to ask this, did you play when it was popular and THE game to play? I have fond memories of being an admin over at the FCW servers and having so much fun with my clan and the various regulars that would come on.

I miss the variation of tactics and vehicles that were available as well as the general kits and gameplay mechanics. Things now a day in the Battlefield franchise feel too much like Rock, Paper, Scissors.



I'm with you on what you're remembering.

Dog fights were a lot more fun, the controls of the aircraft and helicopters didn't inherently punish joystick users.

No MANPADs to deal with, just static AA emplacements along with AA vehicles. Nothing was more frustrating to me in the more recent BFs than taking off and immediately being locked on to.

Kit benefits translate into vehicles automatically. Engineer-Repairs nearby vehicles automatically. Medic- Heals close infantry, etc.

Medics actually were useful. The classes in bf2 were near perfect imo. I hate the constant push to "improve everything" spurred on by execs hungry to see bullet points on PowerPoint slides when devs pitch sequels in conference rooms.

Like I said, it doesn't have to be either or! I'd love a classic bf2 esque game updated with modern graphics, and also a slightly more consolish hardline franchise

 

[Midwayman]

Just what about BF2 is so great to you? Everybody rants about how they want it back, but when I did go back to it, I found it unplayable. Sure it was good for the day, but for todays standards it is pretty bad.

Plus BF4 has "Classic" mode now which was taken from BF2, and its my favorite game mode.

BF2 squads really really mattered. A team of mediocre players that worked as a squad would absolutely destroy a team of better players going lone wolf. Now you can spawn on any member and regen reduces team dependency a ton.

BF2 had less no-skill weapons. There is lock on everything in bf4, lots without even a lock on period to warn you. Less fight from out of danger weapons like ucav, mortars, etc.

BF2's maps felt expansive. You could circle around fights and backcap easily. I had endless fun driving to the enemy base in a jeep and c4'ing armor, etc and in general causing havok in the rear area. Its much harder to do that now with smaller maps and closer flags. Battle tended to only happen around flags where it really mattered.

In general BF has been moving towards a game that tries to be n00b friendly by compressing skill levels, making it so you always spawn directly into the action, and lessening the reliance on a team. BF2 by comparison was pretty unforgiving and had a hell of a learning curve.

Sure the graphics are dated, and they're doing neat stuff with destruction and physics, but they've made some fundamental changes in game design. It sacrifices 'team game' for 'mass market'

 

[BlitzPuppet]

Medics actually were useful. The classes in bf2 were near perfect imo. I hate the constant push to "improve everything" spurred on by execs hungry to see bullet points on PowerPoint slides when devs pitch sequels in conference rooms.

Like I said, it doesn't have to be either or! I'd love a classic bf2 esque game updated with modern graphics, and also a slightly more consolish hardline franchise

I went ahead and added a lot more examples to my post since you quoted me.

BF2 medics were awesome...They were definitely one of the more useful units and being as I was always SL I tended to always be medic.

BF4 Classic mode ≠ BF2. I tried it for quite a while and couldn't love it. The destruction was nice, the ragdoll effects were cool, but the weapons/loadouts/perks/projectile physics all felt alien to what I really wanted.

Arma 3 actually did the same thing but that's an entirely different subject.

 

[mizzou]

Again, too much of the frostbite engine feels like I'm a flea shooting other fleas in a flea circus.

Just a bunch of fast moving little dots that do acrobatic moves, never really getting a good glance at what you are shooting at.

Has anyone else felt this about modern BF games?

 

[swilli89]

BF2 squads really really mattered. A team of mediocre players that worked as a squad would absolutely destroy a team of better players going lone wolf. Now you can spawn on any member and regen reduces team dependency a ton.

BF2 had less no-skill weapons. There is lock on everything in bf4, lots without even a lock on period to warn you. Less fight from out of danger weapons like ucav, mortars, etc.

BF2's maps felt expansive. You could circle around fights and backcap easily. I had endless fun driving to the enemy base in a jeep and c4'ing armor, etc and in general causing havok in the rear area. Its much harder to do that now with smaller maps and closer flags. Battle tended to only happen around flags where it really mattered.

In general BF has been moving towards a game that tries to be n00b friendly by compressing skill levels, making it so you always spawn directly into the action, and lessening the reliance on a team. BF2 by comparison was pretty unforgiving and had a hell of a learning curve.

Sure the graphics are dated, and they're doing neat stuff with destruction and physics, but they've made some fundamental changes in game design. It sacrifices 'team game' for 'mass market'

Man you and blitz put it way better than I could.

But THIS^ so much. Backtracking and circling around. That's one of the feelings I was having trouble putting into words.

In bf2 and other games, one of my most favorite thing was to spend a crazy amount of time going "out of the way". Like doing a trek so long NO ONE on the other team would expect. All to get setup behind an enemy cap or base to get those wonderful 3 or 4 kills before I was found out.

Now every map has predesigned action corridors that they expect you to assult/defend. I miss the ability to choose to either fight in the trenches or go be sneaky and subvert the enemy that way.

 

[Stuka87]

Yes I played BF2 back in the day. And at the time I thought it was great.

My issues with it now are partly the infinite visibility that an above poster loved. The game these days feels very arcade like (It didnt back then, but does now). Much like Counter Strike, which is almost the king of arcade military shooters. Very twitch like with no realism.

Now I am not saying BF4 is perfect, because its not. I do think Classic mode is a big step in the right direction. You can only spawn on caps, vehicles, or your squad leader. No auto regen health for people or vehicles, no 3D spotting. If you reload your weapon while ammo is still in the mag, you lose that ammo. Medics and Support classes are very important in classic mode. Where as in Normal mode there is almost no point to them.

But me wanting more realism is probably why I dislike BF2, and prefer BF4. But I would still love to see BF4 move away from being a "lets try and please everybody" game and be a "lets be this, and stick to our guns" game.

EDIT: I would love for their to be some larger, more open maps in BF4. I am fine with some maps having choke points. But would love a very large map that allowed for real flanking.

 

[BlitzPuppet]

Yes I played BF2 back in the day. And at the time I thought it was great.

My issues with it now are partly the infinite visibility that an above poster loved. The game these days feels very arcade like (It didnt back then, but does now). Much like Counter Strike, which is almost the king of arcade military shooters. Very twitch like with no realism.

Now I am not saying BF4 is perfect, because its not. I do think Classic mode is a big step in the right direction. You can only spawn on caps, vehicles, or your squad leader. No auto regen health for people or vehicles, no 3D spotting. If you reload your weapon while ammo is still in the mag, you lose that ammo. Medics and Support classes are very important in classic mode. Where as in Normal mode there is almost no point to them.

But me wanting more realism is probably why I dislike BF2, and prefer BF4. But I would still love to see BF4 move away from being a "lets try and please everybody" game and be a "lets be this, and stick to our guns" game.

EDIT: I would love for their to be some larger, more open maps in BF4. I am fine with some maps having choke points. But would love a very large map that allowed for real flanking.

I also miss the "targets" from BF2. Want to take out the enemy's ability to use UAVs or Arty? Take out their UAV Trailer and their Artillery guns. They were easy enough to fix and get back to working again...but you definitely could screw with the commander's tactics and keep them busy. The most recent game I know of that follows this sort of Commander Mechanic would be Red Orchestra 2, with the exception of having destroyable assets.

There are a lot of gimmicks in the newer games that I'd like to see gone, but then again I'm really wanting the entire style to go back to BF2 with just updated graphics.

Hardline does look like Counterstrike with cars and with a BF interface/guns.

 

[maevinj]

Hardline is Counterstrike with cars and with a BF interface/guns.

Fixed.

 

[swilli89]

I also miss the "targets" from BF2. Want to take out the enemy's ability to use UAVs or Arty? Take out their UAV Trailer and their Artillery guns. They were easy enough to fix and get back to working again...but you definitely could screw with the commander's tactics and keep them busy. The most recent game I know of that follows this sort of Commander Mechanic would be Red Orchestra 2, with the exception of having destroyable assets.

There are a lot of gimmicks in the newer games that I'd like to see gone, but then again I'm really wanting the entire style to go back to BF2 with just updated graphics.

Hardline does look like Counterstrike with cars and with a BF interface/guns.

Haha yes. The UAV and artillery targets were great additions to the game play. I remember fondly having epic 1v1 battles inside of 64 player matcesh as an engineer commanders versus an enemy spec ops that kept C4'ing them/me killing him and repairing them.

 

[BlitzPuppet]

Haha yes. The UAV and artillery targets were great additions to the game play. I remember fondly having epic 1v1 battles inside of 64 player matcesh as an engineer commanders versus an enemy spec ops that kept C4'ing them/me killing him and repairing them.

I remember being a sniper on one of the Chinese Army maps (it was Daqing Oilfields) near their airbase. I apparently killed the commander or brought too much attention to myself and either got killed by an enemy supply or car drop landing on top of me.

 

[DeadFred]

Me thinks nostalgia has some minds clouded.

 

[swilli89]

Me thinks nostalgia has some minds clouded.

Or maybe you shouldn't make statements about what multiple other people feel. Yes, its quite possible that some are just being nostalgic. Its also quite possible that some would truly prefer BF2's game play mechanics in a modern game.

Either way, how could you possibly know? Is it because you don't feel the same way? I would bet that you in fact like the newer game styles, so to support your argument you try to discredit ours by saying we are simply nostalgic, and that we don't know what we are talking about. I played the damn game just two years ago and found it to be EXACTLY what I want to this day.

So next time, instead of trying to discredit a group of people because you feel otherwise, try to post original thoughts about why you think that they are wrong.

 

[moonbogg]

I keep forgetting to download the beta. I'm obviously less than eager. It does look chaotic and different at least. I'll get around to it.

 

[Kushina]

Can we just have Battlefield 2 with updated graphics? (NOT volumetric fog and effects) just like higher res skins and better models.

Thats the game that came so close to perfecting the formula. It seems every BF since then has just felt "smaller". Does anyone else know what I'm talking about?

I enjoyed Hardline as a standalone game but, can I have my classic Battlefield style along with this new style they are promoting?

Agreed BF2 was pretty epic.

BF3 could be fixed pretty easily, fix commander mode, make better maps, fix lag-code, make better game modes. Remove rooftop field. Make vehicles more like they were in BF2, fix current game modes.

The Karkand maps were somewhat ruined by how you could go inside every building. And they just had this weird low frame issue to them.