With Battlefield: Hardline scheduled to release this week, the major focus appears to be on how well the Visceral Games-led entry is going to fair once the game is on store shelves. After the disastrous start of Battlefield 4, there's a lot riding on Battlefield: Hardline to provide a stable experience out of the gate and to help restore the franchise's image.
Even with all of the pressures to deliver a satisfying product, developer Visceral Games has made sure to include some fun surprises for perceptive gamers to find while playing. Players with early access have started coming across some interesting Easter Eggs in the game like a drivable couch and also some items from Visceral's previous franchise, Dead Space.
Fans of the horror franchise can see the first Dead Space related Easter Egg during one of the campaign missions. As players infiltrate an enemy compound, it's possible to come across criminals huddled around a TV fighting off Necromorphs as everyone's favorite space engineer, Isaac Clarke.
For something a bit more obvious, another Dead Space related item can be found on one of the multiplayer maps. As highlighted by Reddit user ErMahGerdPerkemern, the Black Marker can be seen as a sort of landmark in plain sight on the Hollywood Heights map.
Fans looking for more Dead Space related content will be happy to note that Visceral has made sure to add a lot more nods to the sci-fi franchise according to Hardline's Creative Director, Ian Milham, in a Tweet during a Q & A session.
The Battlefield franchise is no stranger when it comes to Easter Eggs, featuring some really elaborate and fun items like a giant megalodon shark, a Battlefield 2143 reference, and a bunch of fun holiday themed cosmetic items. DICE also seems to love teasing their fan base with various Dinosaur related easter eggs, as seen with dinosaur fossils spotted in the Armored Kill DLC pack for Battlefield 3 and even players hearing a Dinosaur roar on the Battlefield 4 map, Rogue Transmission.
Visceral has promised that Battlefield: Hardline won't repeat the same mistakes and issues as seen back in 2013 with the launch of Battlefield 4. With a delay that moved the game out of last year and into it's current release date, as well as the recent open beta and the developers list of changes based on the feedback they've received, it certainly appears that Visceral is working hard to ensure a stable product at launch. The game releases tomorrow in North America, so gamers won't have long to wait to find out for sure.
Could this be a signal for a future entry in the Dead Space franchise or is it just a nod to their previous work? Let us know what you think in the comments.
Battlefield: Hardline releases March 17, 2015 for Xbox One, Xbox 360, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, and PC.