'Battlefield Hardline' Beta Starts Now; First Multiplayer Footage Unveiled

Game Rant

By Anthony Taormina

Published Jun 9, 2014

At Electronic Arts' E3 2014 press conference, Visceral Games gave attendees their first look at 'Battlefield Hardline's multiplayer in the form of the new 'Heist' mode.

Battlefield Hardline Multiplayer Footage

At their E3 2014 press conference, Electronic Arts officially unveiled one of the biggest unkept secrets of the year. Battlefield Hardline is real, it's coming later this year, and gamers have an opportunity to play it right now.

But first, Electronic Arts showed off the same trailer that leaked last week, only this time in an officially official context. The trailer teased some of the game's story, which reportedly follows an LAPD beat cop named Nick Mendoza.

Following that brief trailer, Visceral Games gave gamers their first official look at the Battlefield Hardline multiplayer. Much like in past years, the footage featured a high intensity look at the online, which in this case focused on the new Heist mode.

In Heist, players either side with the cops or the robbers, and try to prevent the opposing force from completing their objective. In the case of the cops, that objective is fairly simple: take down the robber with the heist money. On the robbers' side, however, their goal is to sneak away with all the loot.

The match itself played out as fans might expect a Battlefield game set in Downtown Los Angeles would. Tons of explosions, plenty of destructible environments, a cornucopia of vehicles, and all of the requisite Battlefield mainstays, only done up to fit within the cops and robbers motif.

Some highlights of the footage included robbers zip lining across the LA skyline (and even jumping onto speeding motorcycles), a massive collapsing crane that then tore apart nearby buildings, and a collapsing portion of an overpass.

What we saw was impressive, but it's clear that Battlefield Hardline is not trying to venture too far out of the franchise's wheelhouse. The Heist mode certainly seems like it could ignite a little excitement in to the proceedings by giving players an opportunity to live out their cops vs. robbers fantasies, only on a massive scale, but whether or not it will feel that much different is unclear.

Thankfully Battlefield fans can get their hands on Hardline very soon, as a closed beta for the game is set to go live today (June 9th). Anyone who owns Battlefield 4 on Ps4 can simply download the beta straight from that game's launcher, whereas those who don't own last year's game can head to Battlefield.com to sign up for the beta.

And even if you can't get in on the action, rest assured that Game Rant will have more hands-on previews for the game right around the corner.