1.5/5 ★ – theebigbamtheory's review of Battlefield Hardline.

Talking strictly about the singleplayer campaign here. Played on Expert difficulty. To put it simply, Battlefield Hardline's campaign is stupid. You're stuck in stupid scenarios full of stupid people and you're doing stupid things yourself. The game showed some promise early on, as you drive through night time Miami in a criminal hunt gone wrong. The game consists of levels where you can stealth around and takedown or arrest enemies silently, and also shootout sections. The idea of arresting anemies while sneaking through their territory is fun, but you'll be quickly left thinking why don't the enemies just react violently in order to attract their friends to your presence. It's hard to get immersed in the game when you're just doing these nonsensical things. The controls and the gunplay at least feel decent, but they're not enough to make it enjoyable the whole way through. The enemy AI are also very easy to stealth around, with small vision cones and lackluster reaction times. Not to mention there are some laughable action set pieces, which display the game's most unpolished side, with glitchy animations and weird enemy AI. The game is still fun to play, but that feeling will taper off not long after it starts. The best thing about the gameplay is the progression system. You'll only get experience points if you takedown/arrest enemies during stealth, or if you collect intel items that are scattered throughout the levels. It's a neat way to encourage non-lethal approaches, which is very appreciated. Unfortunately the things you unlock are mostly lethal weapons, which is funny to think about. Meanwhile, the story is just bad, with many of the story moments feeling very forced as if they're written to intentionally be frustrating, and with mediocre writing. You'll meet barely likeable characters (with decent voice acting, on the plus side) that will either bore or frustrate you. Your main character is somewhat likeable, at the very least. Battlefield rarely had great campaigns, and this one is certainly not one of them. It's the most Hollywood kind of story, in the worst way possible. What's worse is that the spirit of Battlefield is barely felt here. I'm not sure why this campaign is in a BF game. Heck, I'm not sure why this game is called a BF game. What an anomaly of a game.