YMMV / Battlefield Hardline

• Alternate Character Interpretation:
  • Was Stoddard a Rabid Cop Dirty Cop and Hate Sink who had no redeeming qualities? Or was he actually someone who saved Nick's life multiple times and was hurt that he didn't extend him the same trust that he extended Khai?
  • Was Khai someone who was The Corruptible who found Even Evil Has Standards or did something happen that was more personable to turn her away from Dawes after she set up Nick as in a Frame-Up? Is she just getting revenge on him for something like not paying her enough or even more petty?
  • Is Dawes motivated by pure Greed or is he a Visionary Villain who realizes the War on Drugs is a complete failure and the better option is to just try to contain it? Is he a Death Seeker when Nick finally arrives and wants someone to carry on his legacy via Thanatos Gambit or is his offer just a final snide "Not So Different" Remark from The Corruptor?
  • How true was Dawes' accusation Nick is more criminal than cop? He ends up killing multiple people no matter what in a Roaring Rampage of Revenge against Dawes as well as takes part in heists against his fortune. Not to mention guns him down in cold blood. However, is this because he was always darker than he claimed to be or did prison harden him? Some combination of both?
• Anti-Climax Boss: You end up killing Stoddard in a short battle that comes at the beginning of a level rather than the end and only after dealing with a couple of minions. It is notably lacking in build-up and punch.
• Anvilicious: The War on Drugs is a complete failure and everyone would be better off just looking the other way.
• Awesome Music: In spite of everything divisive about the game, the rock rendition of the Battlefield theme is awesome.
• Base-Breaking Character: Khai due to her betrayal of Nick in Episode 4, leading to Nick spending three years in prison. While she later helps in freeing him alongside Tyson, she admits it came more of wanting revenge on Dawes for manipulating her into his corrupt scheme than feeling guilty for ruining Nick's life. While Nick doesn't forgive her until the final Episode, she didn't face any consequences for her betrayal.
• Broken Base: Battlefield fans fall into two categories- you hate the game and everything it stands for from EA and won't buy another Battlefield used again (Common reasons being that the story is generic, not enough is changed from the last game or Battlefield Premium making a grand reappearance), or you think it's an enjoyable game, and praise the single player for allowing for non-lethal runs of most of the levels, not being another "USA and Russia go to war," story (Or for simply having a story after the last two Battlefields), and the new multiplayer modes being exciting (Or the fact that the multiplayer doesn't require patches before you can play online).
• Cliché Storm: The entire first half of the story is one gigantic homage to police dramas, the more action-packed and procedural alike, that brings to mind Miami Vice and other such well-renowned series, and thus you either like it because you want more of that, or roll your eyes at the twists you can see coming a mile away combined with how it doesn't try to push past those cliches. The second half of the story is a bit more unique and out there once Mendoza is framed and teaming up with criminal characters from the first half for a Roaring Rampage of Revenge.
• It's the Same, Now It Sucks!: Just like how Battlefield 4 uses the same engine and assets of Battlefield 3, Hardline also uses assets from both prior Battlefield titles. Consequently, it was derided by fans as simply being a generic modern military FPS but with cops and criminals instead of soldiers and terrorists.
• Magnificent Bastard: Captain Julian Dawes leads a group of corrupt officers to cut deals with drug lords, wherein the latter groups are offered protection for agreeing for swearing a truce and ceasing violent conflict on the streets. When his attempts to corrupt Officer Nick Mendoza fail, Dawes manipulates Nick into giving him the evidence which would implicate Dawes and has Nick framed for corruption. Taking over Miami over the next three years with his organization the "Preferred Outcomes", Dawes begins expanding his operation to Los Angeles and becomes aware of the recently released Nick killing a number of his associates. Predicting Nick would try to steal his money, Dawes tricks them with a bomb rigged on his vault, badly injuring one of Nick's comrades and lures him to his remote island. Offering Nick a position in his organization when they confront each other, after Dawes is shot dead by Nick he leaves a letter revealing he knew Nick would kill him, that he did what he truly believed was best for society and details the location of his money, offering Nick the chance to take up his position.
• Narm: Episode 9: Independence Day suffers from an utterly ridiculous scene where a zipline is caught up in a helicopter and Nick smashes through a window and crashes with the plane but is able to get away unharmed, even as the helicopter crashes.
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Character: Stoddard is your ex-partner who much of the early game is about bringing down for his corruption. Then, after escaping from prison, you are hunted by him. In the end, he dies in an anticlimatic fight at the start of Episode 9 with no real resolution between him and Nick.
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot: The switch of Dawes from Dirty Cop ringleader to working with Private Military Contractors trying to privatize the police seems like its two plots that are diminished by being combined instead of following up one or the other. Working against the crooked Miami PD in one game versus a bunch of hardened mercenaries in another might have been better or they could have expanded the length of the campaign.