Visceral Games' priority is providing a great and stable experience from day one

Jul 4, 2014 07:29 GMT  ·  By

DICE and Visceral Games are delivering a spin-off of the Battlefield series at the end of this year, swapping the traditional warfare theme for an urban setting, delivering a fresh take on the consecrated action by following a criminals-versus-police force theme.

An interview with Lead Multiplayer Designer Thaddeus Sasser reveals more about the upcoming Battlefield Hardline, and points out the similarities and differences in gameplay between it and the regular titles in the Battlefield series.

"It's still a Battlefield game, so we still have that rock, paper, scissors relationship between the vehicles, the classes, the weaponry and the gadgets, so it's not so much of a stretch as you might think," Sasser assures curious gamers in an interview taken by Resero at E3 2014.

He adds that there are a ton of equivalents to the vehicles in Battlefield, only adjusted to a cops-and-robbers theme. In a nutshell, Battlefield Hardline disposes of the tanks and jets, and swaps them for assault helicopters, fast motorcycles and armored transport vehicles, while staying true to the overall Battlefield experience.

He also mentions that they added some new things to the game in order to streamline the gameplay, such as the ability to interact with your teammates and get ammo and health off them without having to chase them around like it happened some of the time during Battlefield matches, when players wouldn't listen to you, which Sasser describes as "a very cool way to passively reinforce teamwork."

The Battlefield franchise is known for a wide variety of scales when it comes to its maps, offering from small quarters engagements to ample desert environments. Visceral aims to provide the same variety of locales, and Sasser warns fans of the series that they may be surprised by some of the locations that they might not have thought about.

Destruction will play a much greater role in Battlefield Hardline, and Levolution will also make a return, with a slight twist that will deliver more excitement in matches.

"One of the big things we heard about Levolution is that players really love the spectacle, but what they want to see more of is more gameplay changing moments that they can individually trigger, and they can control the flow of the map, and that's what we've really focused on with Battlefield Hardline," Sasser explains.

Sasser promises increased emphasis on the game's storyline, as the game delivers an episodic narrative that took inspiration from various cop shows on TV, and most important of all, a working and stable game experience right from the get-go.

Battlefield Hardline is currently slated for an October 21 release, for the PC, Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 platforms.