Battlefield Hardline Multiplayer Maps And Modes Announced

Visceral Games has updated Battlefield Hardline's website with a ton of multiplayer information. They've released details and screenshots of each of the maps and modes from the cops vs. criminals shooter.

Maps

Battlefield Hardline's multiplayer has 9 maps in total. They're mostly set in Los Angeles or the surrounding suburbs. There are some really exotic locations mixed in, though, like the Florida Everglades and a drug kingpin's island base. Here are the official descriptions of each map:

  • Bank Job - "Money is the root of all evil. The criminals are plotting a ruthless assault on a high-security bank vault. But, they messed up and triggered a silent alarm and the police are jamming to the scene of the crime."
  • The Block - "What looks like a liquor store and bail bonds office, is actually a front. This is home to a notorious criminal ring. The police know better than to enter The Block without backup."
  • Derailed - "The industrial side of Los Angeles is home to many shady dealings. A criminal ring has set up shop in the warehouses and scrapyards, where they’re trying to make that money from illegal doings."
  • Downtown - "The heart of downtown Los Angeles is a jumping environment – the streets, the buildings, the cars – are all open to criminal deeds. The police have shut down the city center, and a heated confrontation is about to break out."
  • Dust Bowl - "The small desert town of Joad is off the beaten path and well-known for meth trafficking problems. The cops have had enough and are on the scene to shut it all down."
  • Everglades - "Florida is not all sand and beaches. Deep in the heart of the Everglades, a fracking site has turned into a battle playground as the cops and criminals wage war against each other."
  • Growhouse - "The cops located an illegal underground marijuana grow operation. The cops are raiding the place, but the criminals aren’t going down without a fight. After all, this is precious cargo for them."
  • Hollywood Heights - "A mansion high in the Hollywood Hills looks ripe for a little crime. The criminals have started a wildfire in the nearby hills to distract the police. Do you think that’ll work?"
  • Riptide - "A drug smuggler’s haven, this high-tech and expensive island crib is being ransacked by the police. A chain of small islands is connected by bridges and waterways, providing multiple access to it."

Modes

Hardline features the usual Conquest and Team Deathmatch modes. Conquest, the traditional Battlefield experience, has players fighting for control of bases throughout the map. The more bases that a team owns, the faster their enemy's supply of respawns will drain. Team Deathmatch is even simpler: kill the enemy team until they run out of spawns.

The other five modes are brand-new to the series. These new additions are all appropriate to the street war theme of the game. The criminal team is asked to pull off big scores while the cops have to stop them in the act. The most interesting modes, though, are Crosshair and Rescue. These are assassination and rescue missions respectively that have permadeath. They sound well-suited to eSports.

  • Blood Money - "A huge pile of loot has been intercepted in transit. The criminals are fighting to steal the money, while the cops are trying to secure it as evidence. Each team is trying to secure the money in their team’s vault – but it’s not safe there. Raid the enemy team’s vault to help your team score the most money."
  • Conquest - "A Battlefield staple, Conquest is based on the idea of controlling a base. Capture a base by standing near a flag on foot, in a vehicle or in the skies – if your team owns more flags than the enemy you’ll slowly reduce their tickets, which are their ability to respawn. The first team to run out of tickets loses."
  • Crosshair - "In Crosshair, a former criminal turned state’s witness is on the run from his former crew. The criminals are trying to erase the VIP’s face from the world, while the cops are trying to get him out safely. Once again, there are no second chances – one death and you are out for the match."
  • Heist - "Heist is all about pulling off that big job or that perfect score. The criminals are trying to infiltrate a cash-filled vault, and the cops must regulate them. Once the criminals break in, they have to nab two bags of cash and jam out with them back to each of the two base points."
  • Hotwire - "The criminals are trying to steal a list of marked cars while the cops are trying to repossess them. Use your driving skills to catch up with the enemy, and bring a friend riding shotgun to take them down."
  • Rescue - "This is a cop-centric mode that lets you step into the boots of a SWAT operative tasked with saving innocent lives from the hands of criminals. Lead your team carefully into dangerous environments and get the hostages back to safety. Be careful though, because there are no second chances in this mode."
  • Team Deathmatch - "Team Deathmatch is infantry only and has the easiest objective to understand: shoot the enemy team more than they shoot you."

The upcoming open beta for Hardline will let players test out the Conquest and Hotwire modes on Dust Bowl and Downtown. A new community mission launching in Battlefield 4 today will also unlock the Heist mode for the test.

"Your mission? Work together and score 2 Billion points in Battlefield 4 Rush mode," reads a new post on the Battlefield 4 blog. "The community mission will run between January 21, 9 AM PST and Jan 24, 11:59 PM PST."

The beta hasn't been dated yet. We do, however, know that the full version will debut on PC, Xbox One, Xbox 360, PS4, and PS3 in mid-March.

Some of the new screenshots released by Visceral today can be found below. If you want to see more images along with video footage from the game's various maps and modes, you can find them at the official website.

Pete Haas

Staff Writer at CinemaBlend.