Cop Ops: Battlefield Hardline Singleplayer To Be Less Linear
Sounds like it could be... good?
Battlefield Hardlimes might feel eerily similar to Battlefield 4 in ways that call into question its worthiness as a full release, but it's important to keep in mind that we haven't seen everything yet. And while Battlefield definitely isn't known for its memorable singleplayer campaigns, there is potential here. For one, it won't be Just Another War Story because cops and robbers. And for two, Visceral has quite the singleplayer pedigree, what with all those times they killed outer space. I spoke with creative director Ian Milham about his plans, and here's what he told me.
Milham gave a brief overview of his hopes for singleplayer to RPS during E3:
"When we were thinking about how to do this game, I think anybody who knows us at Visceral knows that singleplayer is near and dear to our heart. We've done a pretty OK job of it before, and we have some pretty cool ideas for this one."
"On the singleplayer side the stuff that's important to us is maybe not do as much of a single-path linear rollercoaster that's been done before. We want more tactical choice, more player choice. Things to do besides just shoot everybody. That's not really a cop thing as much."
He also likened the game to a Hollywood cop action flick a couple times during our interview, so probably expect some of that influence to pop up in the story's progression and themes. All of this is in line/lime with one of the leaks that the sometimes not-so-good-ship EA sprung right before Hardline's official announcement.
The not-just-shooting-dudes part, especially, is encouraging given that it is a bit odd (not to mention chilling) to have a cop game where a militarized police force runs around killing everyone. Choice is good, too. Battlefield's never been about corridors and the shooting thereof, so the campaigns in Battlefield 3 and 4 were super jarring. Also not very good.
Hopefully whatever Visceral and EA eventually reveal matches Milham's words. For now, though, are you on board with this idea? Does a less linear cop blockbuster sound like the sort of thing that'd get you interested in singleplayer Battlefield? Or is that term, singleplayer Battlefield, just too much of a contradiction for you?