Visceral is making major changes to Battlefield Hardline following feedback and mixed reception from the recent beta.
They revealed three major changes immediately. One is cops and criminals getting different guns. This change suits the game’s premise, but will also improve gameplay, so this may have been something Visceral should have done on their own.
The other two changes are all about access, to heavy duty weapons as well as explosives. Both items are major gamechangers, so changing how they can be accessed also changes the game’s fundamental balance, and the tenor of specific matches.
The greater weapons will now be pick-ups, functioning as secondary objectives. For example, in combat racing mode Hotwire, you will need to get to the RPG cache to gain access to said weapon. Subsequently, vehicles will have their own loadouts, filled with unique weapons and explosives that best suit them.
Visceral claimed that these sweeping changes, and more, are part of the reason why the game went through a major delay.
Battlefield Hardline will be released in early 2015 to Windows, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One.