14 DAY TRIAL // The development team at DICE and publisher Electronic Arts might have delayed the launch of Battlefield Hardline into 2015, but the two companies are still eager to stay in contact with the fan base of the shooter and explain what changes they are planning to make on the title.
In a new blog post, Thad Sasser, the lead multiplayer designer working on the title, explains that his team is ready to offer details about the data which was delivered by the beta stage for the experience and the way it is being used to improve all the game modes.
The focus is on the guns that the community likes to use and the developer states, "We’ll start with the most lethal weapons, which is nice because it lines up nicely with what I think might be an obvious point of comparison: the AKM versus the M16A3. No contest, you think, right? The AKM wins, hands down."
The M16 was the cause of more kills and had better overall accuracy in the title, despite delivering lower overall damage than its rival weapons.
DICE adds, "These seem more balanced than we’d expected – we kind of figured the AKM would beat the M16A3. The M16 has some things in its favor for the beta – it was the default gun on the default class, for starters, which tends to push its use up for sure, and it’s easy to learn. We’ll keep our eye on these two."
Apparently, at the moment, the AKM is still seen by DICE as overpowered but that might change as more tests are carried out.
The studio also offers a look at the comparison between the MG36 and the G36C.
The first weapon might deliver more bullets on target and a solid hit rate but it has less kills and headshots, and the team has decided that it needs a big buff in order to directly compete with the AKM and the M16.
Sasser says that DICE is at the moment also considering some changes to the way characters are progressing in Battlefield Hardline and more balance modifications for weapons.
The shooter was initially supposed to arrive in the fall in order to compete with Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare from Sledgehammer Games and Activision but after a beta period Electronic Arts decided to delay it in order to give the studio more time to polish both the single and the multiplayer.