EA and Visceral want to renew fans' interest in Battlefield Hardline. With this in mind, they have shared a new dev diary and a blog post, informing fans of the story mode and the beta.
Now, Visceral won't directly address the elephant in the room. The game had the bad luck to be coming out in a time where trust in the US police is at a low. What they have done is place emphasis on the game's visibly unrealistic aspects.
The beta will introduce fans to two modes, the self explanatory classic Heist, and the high speed pursuit mode Hotwire, where you give chase to each other in cars. The game promises a host of vehicles and weapons (30 weapons overall) to play around with, including Molotov cocktails, gas compressed grappling hook, and zipline crossbow.
With the prominent screen presence of Nick's Krav Maga expert partner Ai, the story mode now comes off more as a Fast and Furious-like heist story than the aggressive cop revenge show it was originally being marketed as. They've also softened up Nick's character as someone who looks out for the other folks in badges. Of course, no trailer tells the whole story.
In their dev diary, Visceral talks up the challenge of taking over from DICE, and their need for fan feedback. With this in mind they urge everyone to try the beta.
Battlefield Hardline will have its beta February 3 and will release on March 17. The beta will be out on all platforms; Windows, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One.