Visceral Games’ Battlefield: Hardline may have won the appeal of the masses through its multiplayer but the developer has been working hard to ensure the single-player experience is up to snuff. Speaking to Examiner, creative director Ian Milham says the story is taking an overall different approach from previous games by introducing a bit of player choice into the mix.
“From the beginning there were a couple things that were important for us. Number one, and from a gameplay perspective, was to get off of the rail a little bit. [We wanted] to provide a lot more choice, action and player involvement. There’s nothing wrong with a good ole fashioned thrilled ride, super-scripted single-player experience, but I think that leaves a lot on the table and we wanted to do more than that.
“We wanted to bring as much player choice, agency and variety into our experience as we could, so structurally it works a little bit differently than any Battlefield has before.”
Milham also feels that a certain tone is necessary to properly convey the story. The TV episode-style presentation is one aspect of the presentation that goes towards this. “The other big thing was tone. I felt like there was a kind of story and world that were underrepresented in games. Some typically use a lot of time explaining some super-complicated plot about a guy trying to take over the world. My favorite stories were much more character based, so we wanted something with a really different tone that gave players a lot more choice.”
Battlefield: Hardline will release on March 17th in North America and March 19th in Europe for the Xbox One, Xbox 360, PS3, PS4 and PC.