Battlefield: Hardline "Not Just a Re-Skin" Claims Dev

[Steven Bogos]

Battlefield: Hardline "Not Just a Re-Skin" Claims Dev

Visceral games claims that Battlefield: Hardline is more than a mere Battlefield 4 expansion pack.

If you've tried out the Battlefield: Hardline beta, you may have walked away with the same thoughts as me, namely, "This is a basically a Battlefield 4 expansion pack, or mod." Developer Visceral has now spoken out against such kind of criticisms, claiming that there is actually a lot more that they are not showing us, and that Battlefield: Hardline is "not just a re-skin" of Battlefield 4.

"I think you'll understand where the value proposition is with this game. There is a lot of new content. It's not just a re-skin or a re-use of assets," Visceral's lead multiplayer designer Thad Sesser told PlayStation Life Style [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UaJYB-F2SVY]. "We've got all new assets, we got a lot of stuff still coming in, so look forward, check us out in the future, play it, tell us what you think."

He stated that what players are seeing in the beta "is just a small portion of what we got. Obviously, we got a wide range of maps. We got a lot more weapons. We got a lot more cool gadgets," and that it isn't an accurate representation of the game.

He did admit that "Well, obviously the engine's the same. We're using Frostbite 3," but added that his team had "improved the vehicle physics and so on because, in a cops and criminal setting, vehicle collisions are way more important than in Battlefield."

"So, we're making fundamental changes under the hood to some of these systems. In terms of the UI, we still want it to be recognizably Battlefield, but we've got some changes, we're listening to user feedback, we're always soliciting comments and feedback from the players, so if you've got specific comments, you got specific feedback, let us know."

He ended the interview by stressing that his team "still has some time before launch," (for the record, Battlefield: Hardline is due out in October) and that he is listening very carefully to fan feedback.

What were you impressions of the beta? For me, I'm pretty sure this is where I'll be drawing the hard line on a Battlefield title, and refuse to buy it.

Source: VG 24/7 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UaJYB-F2SVY]

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[Elfgore]

Oh my God! He's logic is just fantastic! "Buy the game, either like it or hate it, doesn't fucking matter we got your sixty bucks." Depending on where you buy this, you could be paying sixty bucks for an expansion pack with no refund. Origin at least offers one, but console players are screwed.

The beta wasn't bad, the theme was nifty, the modes were fun, and I didn't have to run away from vehicles. But it is not worth a day one purchase of sixty bucks. Nope. I'll buy it eventually, just nowhere near launch.

Edit: So I finally got around to video. We have him saying right on the spot, that micro-transactions will not be happening. I'm gonna hold them to that.

 

[laggyteabag]

"There is a lot of new content. It's not just a re-skin or a re-use of assets," Visceral's lead multiplayer designer Thad Sesser said. "We've got all new assets, we got a lot of stuff still coming in, so look forward, check us out in the future, play it, tell us what you think."

He stated that what players are seeing in the beta "is just a small portion of what we got. Obviously, we got a wide range of maps. We got a lot more weapons. We got a lot more cool gadgets,"

Y'know what else was all of these things? I personally hated the Hardline beta, and I was so glad that the beat was released now instead of a few weeks before the game launches as there is a lot to improve on.

 

[Smooth Operator]

Well he is right somewhat, this really isn't en expansion pack, I would have expected this to be added to the existing game as a new mode at $10 tops (decent studios do that for free even). But hey it's EA doing what EA does best... EA business.

 

[Rozalia1]

Yeah sure I'd accept that. Its a shooter what do people expect really? It to have a romance mechanic?
Its a shooting game, you shoot things. What is the difference between it and the other shooty games that makes it "lesser"?

Oh my God! He's logic is just fantastic! "Buy the game, either like it or hate it, doesn't fucking matter we got your sixty bucks." Depending on where you buy this, you could be paying sixty bucks for an expansion pack with no refund. Origin at least offers one, but console players are screwed.

The beta wasn't bad, the theme was nifty, the modes were fun, and I didn't have to run away from vehicles. But it is not worth a day one purchase of sixty bucks. Nope. I'll buy it eventually, just nowhere near launch.

Does this "expansion" as you put it offer around as much content as Battlefield 3/4? Honest question as I care little for shooters so don't honestly know.

 

[Elfgore]

Yeah sure I'd accept that. Its a shooter what do people expect really? It to have a romance mechanic?
Its a shooting game, you shoot things. What is the difference between it and the other shooty games that makes it "lesser"?

Oh my God! He's logic is just fantastic! "Buy the game, either like it or hate it, doesn't fucking matter we got your sixty bucks." Depending on where you buy this, you could be paying sixty bucks for an expansion pack with no refund. Origin at least offers one, but console players are screwed.

The beta wasn't bad, the theme was nifty, the modes were fun, and I didn't have to run away from vehicles. But it is not worth a day one purchase of sixty bucks. Nope. I'll buy it eventually, just nowhere near launch.

Does this "expansion" as you put it offer around as much content as Battlefield 3/4? Honest question as I care little for shooters so don't honestly know.

Before I answer, I'd like to put a lot of emphasis on my use of the word "could." I don't have enough to judge the game right now. If I seem judgmental it's only because I've been burned before, which I'll explain below.

But to answer your question, three did change enough from two to be considered its own game. They did a massive update to graphics, weapons, and the style of play. The difference between three and four is almost unnoticeable. I think the graphics somehow got worse and there is barely any change to weapons. Just new maps. Sixty bucks down the drain. I beat the campaign and haven't touched four again.

Hardline does have some hope from me. The new modes are nice, but then again, I don't have enough to give final judgement.

 

[dumbseizure]

There is a lot of new content. It's not just a re-skin or a re-use of assets," Visceral's lead multiplayer designer Thad Sesser told PlayStation Life Style. "We've got all new assets, we got a lot of stuff still coming in, so look forward, check us out in the future, play it, tell us what you think."

Look, I'm sorry, but if you do supposedly have "all new assets", and "a lot of stuff coming in", how about fucking showing some of it off in the beta, instead of giving us what essentially boils down to the same old stuff in the past Battlefields.

Cause from what I played of the beta it really does seem like Battlefield 4 with a re-skin, and I am not buying the whole thing to try out the new stuff.

So as far as I am concerned, I won't be buying it, and the beta hasn't given me any reason to change my mind.

 

[Denamic]

Wow, they improved the vehicle physics! So, since they use the same engine, why can't you implement that into BF4?

 

[RJ 17]

To be fair, what was this guy supposed to say? "Yeah, you got us. We got lazy with this one and just wanted to crap out a new title so we slapped this together in a couple weeks and are just trying to make some easy money from the franchise's core fanbase."

All I'm saying is at this point in the game we should really expect to be lied to. Not that that makes trying to insult our intelligence like this any less offensive, just saying we should stop getting upset about it and just stop buying games from the companies that do this. Because that's really the only way we'll tell these pricks that what they're doing is unacceptable.

I'm looking at you too, Ubisoft.

 

[DTWolfwood]

A resounding MEH on the beta.

They can't very well admit to it lol Given enough iterations, they maybe lucky enough to turn out like Treyarch, and start making the good Battlefields over time.

I am done with the Battlefield franchise until they revert back to WWII.

 

[shirkbot]

All I'm saying is at this point in the game we should really expect to be lied to. Not that that makes trying to insult our intelligence like this any less offensive, just saying we should stop getting upset about it and just stop buying games from the companies that do this.

Do those two things need to be mutually exclusive? I mean, I'm not going to buy the game, but can I still be vocally bitter and angry about it? Otherwise they might not know why I'm not buying it, which would be a travesty.

 

[RJ 17]

All I'm saying is at this point in the game we should really expect to be lied to. Not that that makes trying to insult our intelligence like this any less offensive, just saying we should stop getting upset about it and just stop buying games from the companies that do this.

Do those two things need to be mutually exclusive?

Not necessarily. What I was really trying to get at is that we should actually start expecting crap like this. That doesn't justify it or make it better, but the AAA companies these days seem hell-bent on causing another game crash like there was back in the 80's. If they want to drive themselves out of business then let them. Yeah, it'll suck for us for a little bit considering there'll be a big drop-off in games once the crash happens, but it's time to separate the wheat from the chaff. Trim the bloated fat of all the AAA companies that believe themselves too big to fail, let them all go bankrupt and close up shop because they insulted the intelligence and abused the loyalty of their consumer base too many times. New companies will arise and correct the mistakes of the old ones.......then in another 30 years they'll become corrupt and "abusive" and we'll just tear them down and wait for the next round.

Quite simply: if they don't already know why we're pissed off at them, no amount of complaining on forums is going to teach them.

Still, I do understand the necessity for venting. :3

 

[seditary]

So you wanted to make the 'beta' as shit as it is?

Bang up job you're doing.

 

[fix-the-spade]

Does this "expansion" as you put it offer around as much content as Battlefield 3/4? Honest question as I care little for shooters so don't honestly know.

BF2 added commander (and the support artillery, electronic warfare and supply systems that came with it), the squad system and massively upgraded the vehicle physics over BF1942 and Vietnam.

2142 overhauled the upgrade, unlock and spawn system and added the Titans in.

Bad Company 2 added in the destruction system that meant hiding behind a chest high wall was no longer useful for anything but concealment, but removed the aircraft and cut the scale back to 32 players. Bad Company 1/2 also introduced Rush to the Battlefield series. Bad Company 2 also introduced full projectile physics, so every round from every weapon had a speed and weight (previous games used a mix of projectiles for large weapons and hit scans for small arms).

BF3 Returned the 64 players and added back in the aircraft meta game, but toned back the destruction a little bit. It's also completely gorgeous and after previous BF games being fairly consistent in scale this one brought in smaller pure infantry maps as well medium and huge vehicle heavy maps.

BF4 (had it worked) brought in networked game physics (so every player saw the same thing at the same time) and large interactive events like the sky scraper falling down and maps flooding etc. It also promised a return of a number of maps from previous Battlefield games with the physics upgrades in them. In the event it's been completely half arsed, the game works in a very round about way and the expansions have been released in half the time they were in BF3, with quality in those taking a predictably massive hit.

The shortening of the development time and lack of care really shows in BF4. BF4 only has a couple of really good maps, versus 3 only having a couple of really bad maps (Tehran effing Highway!). Plus BF4 didn't seem to have been playtested at all. In the campaign it had a tendency to just stop, the NPCs would literally stop what they were doing and just stand around until you quit the game and reloaded, even now there are still a bunch of crashes on save glitches in the campaign. Multiplayer has been even worse, hard as that is to believe. BF4 is also getting steadily more and more micro transactions added in as time progresses, bearing in mind that this is a $135 game, and it's been adding in F2P obstacles.

BF3's launch wasn't exactly a work of art either, but it more or less worked, even then it took DICE a year and a bit to get the game 'right'. Now BF4 will be finished in about three months time whether it works or not. Now they're abandoning it without properly finishing it, whilst at the same time promising the next full price sequel will be somehow better.


Hardline is just compounding all the problems of 4, the beta was littered with bugs from previous version of Battlefield and at the same time it's a downgrade in scale, the fixed wing aircraft and naval warfare elements are all gone. It's also re-using assets from BF3 and 4 (despite what that guy says), the beta just felt like someone had slightly altered the objective from a BF4 game of Capture the flag or Obliteration and replace the nations with Cops/Robbers.

It's a shame, BF4 has some potentially amazing ideas in it, Obliteration, the interactivity, the sheer scale of some of the maps, but all of it is for nothing as EA DICE have just thrown it all out or the door whether it was finished or not.

I also have a problem with the way this effectively doubles the price of a Battlefield game. The game + Premium was ok for two years and a finished game, for half assed every twelve months it's not.

 

[Glaice]

Well Visceral, you knew what you were getting into when you became subjugated by EA all those years back and look where you are now..churning out Battlefield games. This essentially is an attempt to cash in on the success of Payday's games, nothing else.

 

[DrunkOnEstus]

This is a $60 standalone game? When I saw it at E3 I thought it was a $15-20 "add-on" thing for BF4. Hoooly shit. On that note...poor Visceral. No wonder so much talent split at around the same time.

 

[shadoe14]

Oh Please, BF4 was just an expansion pack for BF3. Hardline is the equivalent of a crappy mod.

actually, scratch that. Mods such as BF2 Project Reality and BF2142 First Strike are much better than Hardline will ever be.

 

[ThunderCavalier]

Given the backlash to Hardline, I might only consider picking it up because I didn't get BF4 to begin with.

... Or I could just pick up BF4 since it should be cheaper by now.

 

[Scorpid]

It a good thing I've long since stopped buying EA titles otherwise this might piss me off.