![]() The other major addition comes in the form of a new stealth approach. Again, this is Battlefield, not social commentary. It’s largely a voluntary mechanic, though, and you can happily arrest one guy then shoot his buddies. It’s a fun mechanic that certainly FEELS coplike, especially if you try to arrest a trio of thugs, carefully training your gun on all three as you put them down one-by-one. The primary change is the inclusion of nonlethal takedowns you can now approach an enemy, flash your badge, and then “arrest” the baddie. This permits several new mechanics, none earth-shattering, all somewhat fun. This game was always going to be a different brand of Battlefield, a move from military world to urban environment. The episodic structure of a TV series sets the backdrop for a surprisingly entertaining campaign (a rarity in the Battlefield series), a marriage of “A-Team” and “CSI: Miami” that instantly forces musings on justice and fairness to take the backseat to shootouts and body count. So it thoroughly and skillfully sidesteps the tricky subject matter of police armed to the gills by turning every single cop into a sleazeball and sensationalizing every setting. But developer Visceral Games prefers a far more safe approach. In some ways, it’s a missed opportunity, a chance for gaming to provide its audience a unique insight into a grave issue. This is Battlefield: Hardline, and it’s pulse-pounding action, not social commentary, attempt to entertain, not attempt to provoke thought. Yes, if you model your game after a 90s TV cop drama, thereby leaving the gamer absolutely no opportunity to even consider the deep ramifications of all the carnage they will wrought. Can you make a video game that overflows with police violence, yet manage to tiptoe around anything meaningful about a subject that’s risen to national prominence over the last year?
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |