The scores are in for Battlefield Hardline

Battlefield Hardline releases for the PC, PS4, PS3, Xbox One, and Xbox 360 on 20 March in South Africa, giving you a couple days to decide if you want the new FPS title from EA.

The international reviewers have had a go with the game, and their impressions are now at your disposal – use them wisely to decide whether a bit of cops and robbers is what you need in your life.

Before we get into the individual reviews, let’s take a look at the game’s aggregated scores on Metacritic.

Battlefield Hardline
PC	N/A
PS4	76
Xbox One	74

Now, the reviews.

Gamespot – 7/10 (Xbox One)

Even in Battlefield: Hardline, multiplayer competition remains the series’ heart and soul. It wasn’t that long ago that the ability to eject from a fighter plane and seamlessly continue the battle on foot was one of the most awe-inspiring things you can do in an online shooter.

That’s why many gravitated to the Battlefield series in the first place, and Hardline isn’t short of similar transitional vehicular moments.

You can spawn in a chopper, do your part as a gunner to take out valued targets on that ground, and then jump out with a parachute so you can capture a marked car. This isn’t Iwo Jima or an Arabian oil field–but it’s still pure Battlefield.

Polygon – 7/10

In areas where Battlefield has always excelled and pushed forward, Hardline presents experiments, rather than refinements or fixes.

The result is multiplayer that feels very familiar, very quickly. But its campaign, while feeling not completely sure about what it wants to be, is more interesting and certainly all-around better than the last few years’ worth of Battlefield games.

The result is something that’s both less and more than its predecessors.

IB Times – 7/10 (PS4)

In my play-through I was tactically considerate and arrested criminals much more than I fired the first bullet – and I enjoyed that.

For a stealthy approach it is surprisingly robust and satisfying, as is the whole single player – which we haven’t been able to say about a Battlefield game for a long time.

Destructoid – 6/10 (PC)

While Hardline is tone deaf at times, mostly it is just deafening. Explosions and bombast are used not to distract from a troubling narrative as much as a stale one perfunctorily paced and reminiscent of network television emptiness.

Battlefield Hardline

US Gamer – 3.5/5 (PS4)

In a way, Battlefield Hardline feels like it’s trying to live up to its name in terms of its big-scale combat, and that’s prevented it from realizing its full potential as something completely new, focused on what it does best – epic shootouts in tighter, close-quarters locations.

The single-player mode starts out promisingly, but bogs down into a rather weak stealth game whose action feels hit-and-miss. Multiplayer is where the game works best, especially on its smaller maps, which can deliver truly thrilling and intense action.

Eurogamer – No score

What the campaign is good for is unlocking a hefty selection of Battlepacks – the blind bagged power-ups that send you into multiplayer action with additional perks, or supply new patches and camos for your weapons.

That side of the game, based on a few days of early access play, already seems more promising.