Please support Game Informer. Print magazine subscriptions are less than $2 per issue
Battlefield: Hardline
Visceral announced Battlefield Hardline's new vehicle-focused multiplayer mode, Hotwire, at Gamescom and we played in a full 32-player match on the show floor. (The above image is not from Hotwire. We'll update as soon as we have new assets.)
The map on display is called Gator Hunt and it's set in a fracking facility in the Florida everglades. Even though it's not an option in Hotwire mode due to complications it causes for vehicles, we're told players can rig the fracking tower to blow and cause a sinkhole in the map. It's a mix of dirt roads, swamps, and a central cluster of buildings. You can get killed by a roaming gator if you're not careful in the swamp areas so it's best to keep an eye out.
Teams of cops and criminals battle for time spent driving specific vehicles on the map ranging from muscle cars to beat up pickups to fuel trucks. The latter has plenty of ramming power, but is obviously very susceptible to exploding. You can nail these vehicles with an RPG (now a battle pickup instead of class-based), try to tear them up with machine guns, or try to snipe the driver and steal it. The donut shop in the center contains an RPG launcher and its roof has a prime view of the map so it can be a great way to take out multiple vehicles.
Chasing and running down cars is lots of wild fun. Cars full of up to three passengers can unleash gunfire in all directions as long as they pop out of the windows bank-robber-style. Don't get too carried away in the madness, though. More tactical players will plant sabotage bombs on open vehicles that explode as soon as someone starts the ignition. You can counter this by checking under the car and disarming it with the repair tool, but it uses up precious seconds when the original trapper could already have you in his or her sights. Players can also rig up breach and clear charges at map bottlenecks and detonate them when an enemy car drives by. These explosions are even more satisfying when detonated right at the edge of a ramp, sending the flaming wreckage soaring.
I had a good time in the Gator Hunt map, which proves that Visceral isn't confining maps to cities as seen in the debut. This just gets me wondering how Hotwire's wild car chase gameplay would translate to other areas. Hopefully, we'll get to play more before the spring 2015 release.
Products In This Article
I’d like to ask you to support Game Informer’s continued coverage of games with a subscription. For less than two dollars per issue, we mail you a full year of 10 print magazines, each with cover stories and preview features filled with exclusive details about the most exciting upcoming games. We profile and interview game creators. We look back on the rich history of gaming, and we celebrate what’s next.
Here on the website, we offer much of our content for free, including game reviews, daily news, videos, event coverage, and more – all with minimal ads.
We do so with a small editorial team, alongside contributing paid writers from around the world – over 65 individuals from 9 countries around the world, just in the last couple of years.
It’s not possible without support.
In a time when game makers and games coverage have faced hard struggles and layoffs, the future of this 30+ year magazine and community is at risk. Our new standalone magazine subscription is the number one way you can keep us alive – and we believe you’ll get a pretty fantastic gaming magazine in your mailbox every few weeks for your trouble.
Thank you.
