Battlefield Hardline

I think that Hardline might be one of the most interesting entries in the Battlefield franchise in a long time. Each entry of the main series feels endlessly fun when you're playing with others, but the single player game is generally a horrible slog. Battlefield 4 tried its darnedest to replicate the sort of highs and super highs of a Call of Duty campaign, but failed to do so. It's hard to put one's finger on the exact reason. The game was composed of the same set piece moments and high flying stunts you'd expect from a Call of Duty game yet somehow they managed to be devoid of the intensity.

Hardline on the other hand, manages a balance of character development and gameplay that no other game in the series has managed. It's still far from perfect, but the characters are genuinely fun and funny. The tone is absurd and works best when it shies away from taking itself too seriously. Detractors love to point to the (spoilers) cocaine and train scene. In the scene the crew somehow manages to wedge a forklift loaded with cocaine in the middle of rail tracks as a train bears down upon them. The train hits it and then they are covered in what I can only assume is flour. It's silly, but it works. There is very little in the game that is believable to this point, and to lionize this scene for its inauthenticity is foolish.

In many ways I feel sorry for Visceral, who worked their butts off to deliver an accessible Battlefield entry which caters to both fans and newcomers alike. Why do I feel sorry for them? Because EA is probably going to bury them this winter with the release of Star Wars Battlefront.

Long and short version: if you're fishing for a fun first person shooter to help pass the time, I'd give a thumbs up to trying on Battlefield Hardline.

EA and the Hate Train

Full disclosure: I worked for Electronic Arts for several years in the early 2000s.

I've never understood why people dump on EA quite as much as they do. I can relate to a certain extent because they've released some pretty bad products and killed some beloved studios. Of course so has the rest of the industry.

Yet somehow EA has been voted multiple times to be the worst company in America, beating out companies who helped tank the entire global economy. EA has won numerous accolades for being an incredible employer and for its commitment to diverse representation in its games, yet they are accused of being an industry crushing force. Check out this (admittedly three year old) article on how EA is bad for a plethora of reasons including having "broad appeal". How can a company possibly win mindshare when their target audience is upset that they are catering to as many of them as possible?

Gaming culture can be incredibly entitled. Look no further than the deluge of .99 cent games on the iOS app store that get ripped for having in app purchases or for being too short for their value, while the top grossing games are free and subsist on marketing and the same in app purchases that gamers hate.

According to metacritic EA has released about 15% more games (since metacritic started recording data) than Activision and holds a 72% average rating versus Activision's 66%. These are two huge publishers that people love to hate on and yet they've managed to release hundreds of games that average very well. These are average ratings that movie studios would kill for (not that games and movies are reviewed in the same fashion, but I think the point remains valid).

Not everything that comes from these studios is going to be gold and I respect a critical eye. However, the endless thrashing and shouting into the void of negativity surrounding EA feels like a tired old routine that says more about the mindset of gamers than it does about EA as a company.