Topic: Battlefield Hardline

[PyroMenace]

The new Battlefield game is going cops and robbers. It's the BF4 engine (Frostbite 3) so it looks nearly the same as BF4. Anyway, its doing some cool things, grappling hooks and hook lines. Also Visceral (the Dead Space team) is doing the single player campaign, so perhaps it won't be shit this time.

I got into the beta today so I'm gonna check it out.

[W7RE]

I got into the beta the day they announced it, but only had the chance to play a few matches. It didn't run all that well on my PC. BF4 runs ok, but this seems a little more taxing. (not by a lot though)

I only tried Blood Money, which has both teams grabbing cash from a stack in the middle and carrying it back to their base. You can also go steal from the enemy base. The stack of cash is inside a building and up some stairs from street access. So you end up with gunfights in and around the building, and then car chases between bases, which really fits the theme of the game. Also the cars feel way better than the vehicles in BF4, the street cars feel more like something from an arcade racing game.

It still seems like something that seems more like DLC than a full game, but with a full set of maps and some more modes, maybe it'll feel more full-featured. I like what I've played so far, but it's tough to really get into it when it doesn't run so hot for me.

[PyroMenace]

[W7RE]

lol that's so good

[PyroMenace]

[W7RE]

lol wait, wasn't that bug in BF3?

[PyroMenace]

I have no idea, maybe? Because the title of it was The Neckmen Return.

[W7RE]

[PyroMenace]

Haha damnit, that's not creepy at all....

[Cools!]

Haha

[PyroMenace]

I have played a fair bit of it and I really like it. I'm hesitant to play more just so I don't get burned out on that map. But it's pretty neat, once I got a good grasp on the area layout, I started to do fairly well, even pulled off some crazy kill streaks. Vehicles play a pretty important part (as they can in any BF game), typically on heist mode. I would immediately try to setup a vehicle by the bank truck when the door blows so I could grab the person with the loot and drive off immediately, being quick as the heist team is pretty important. Then if I was playing the cops, I would park the mobile spawn vehicle near one of the getaway locations to cut the heist team off. I wanted to use a zipline on the rooftops sooo bad for the heist mode, but never could pull it off. In blood money, using the assault vehicles as either defense for your team's vault or offense on the opposing side's vault was pretty critical. At the same time, you can activate the garage's entry ways to prevent vehicles going in our out to prevent that from even happening.

I've seen some worrisome impressions that the game requires too much organization from people, but I don't know. I feel like knowing those simple tricks can help out a team a lot if not completely win matches. There have been matches that have been pretty one sided, but I have that same experience in BF4, those kinds of things are impossible to design against. Overall, I'm excited to check out more maps it will launch with.

[MysterD]

Bluesnews -> BF: Hardline delayed until March 17th, 2015.

[MysterD]

IGN -> BF: Hardline will be set at 720p on XB1; 900p on PS4; & PC will be set at "whatever your rig can handle."

[Xessive]

As much as I love the Battlefield series I'm passing on this one, and perhaps all future BF games. I'm done with Battlelog and its half-ass integration in the PC version.

My brother, friends, and I stopped playing BF4 because of Battlelog and its many issues. When we saw that the Hardline beta continued to use it we just lost hope that EA and Dice are ever going to see the light and drop this redundant addition to the PC version.

[W7RE]

I hate Battlelog too. It takes so long to just get into a game because of Battlelog. The only reason it hasn't soured me on the series is because I play mostly on console.

[MysterD]

DRM issues have arisen from Battlefield: Hardline PC

[Cobra951]

According to the 4th comment, there is a hardware-ID spoofing tool.  I'm assuming it can be used to maintain a consistent HWID, regardless of hardware changes, so that it's useful for honest tinkerers as well as for cheaters.  Who knows, though.  Not my problem, though it may be fair to argue that EA is everybody's problem.

[MysterD]

PC Gamer -> More info on the BF:HL PC version's DRM limit.

Guru3D assumed this was a specific DRM check by Battlefield Hardline—likening it to the hard activation limits once imposed by Ubisoft in games like Anno 2070. (Or of previous EA games like Spore.)

In fact, the error is the result of an Origin-wide activation check.
An EA spokesperson told PC Gamer that, "Origin authentication allows players to install a game on up to five different PCs every 24 hours."
 
"Players looking to benchmark more than five hardware configurations in one 24 hour period can contact our Customer Support team who can help," the spokesperson said.

Is that better or worse? On the one hand, if the Origin client is responding to graphics card changes, that's hardly the same as "five different PCs".
On the other hand, is such an activation limit something an average PC user is going to be affected by? Probably not.

[Xessive]

I like the way EA are handling it by readily making their support available. They've certainly changed their image in my eyes.

I still have a core problem with how the Battlefield series is being handled.

[MysterD]

I like the way EA are handling it by readily making their support available. They've certainly changed their image in my eyes.

I still have a core problem with how the Battlefield series is being handled.

I've always had no problems w/ their support, in the past - it's actually excellent. Never ever had problems w/ support, over the years.

One time, I had one game I tried getting activated on Origin (b/c it's old - I think it was Sims 2) - and the support rep asked me if I more EA games that needed activation! I told him, "We'd be here all night and maybe for days b/c I had such a huge collection." He accepted the challenge and wanted to do it. I said, "I got nothing better to do - you sure you want to do this?" I think he basically wanted to see what I had for games + keys, since I was a long-time EA member and wanted to see if I wad for real. Literally, I was there for a few hours, giving them my CD keys (of stuff Origin hadn't added yet for activation or maybe won't even add) - and they supplied me new keys to get them onto Origin and were amazed at my EA Collection - LMAO! Maybe it was a slow night at Origin? I don't know!
I've dealt w/ EA before w/ trying to get activations on old keys and usually succeeded - but never like that!

I also had to deal w/ EA when accidentally activating wrong version of Bulletstorm PC - I activated Japanese version, not English; they pulled it from my account, gave me new key, and told me to activate top version in English.

And when I bought Dead Space 2 PC not too long after it's release at a half-price limited flash deal when it was in my cart at half, they charged me full price in the e-mail + charged my CC at full. I contacted support via phone - they refunded me some money on the CC + even gave me some money back - and it wound up being $20 even...instead of $25 plus tax. Awesome.

It's the decisions from the top normally (the suits) and other nonsense that drive me nuts w/ them - what they use for DRM, how they deal out DLC at Premium pricing, not having Re-Release Ultimate Editions, how they close Studios, and other business practices.

[gpw11]

You know what?   After I built this new PC I tried to play BF3 to test it out and fuck me, Battlelog is the absolute worst bullshit idea on the planet.  I remembered how much I hated it and quit before I even got into a game.

I was thinking about buying BF4 or BF:H, but remembering the whole Battlelog experience has really turned me off.

[MysterD]

Battlefield: Hardline - Criminal Activity DLC is FREE currently on EA Origin's service.

Go add it.
And even if you don't own the BFH base-game yet, you can still add DLC's on Origin.  

This is the last of the major DLC's in BFH.
If you've been adding the BFH DLC's as they've been giving them out for FREE over Origin, you should have all of the major BFH DLC's by now.