Battlefield Hardline breaks free

The next Electronic Arts Battlefield game is going to be Battlefield Hardline, developed by Visceral Games. Apparently, Visceral has been paying attention to the kind of gameplay Payday has been offering. It moves the all-terrain action, vehicle mayhem, and shooting from a strictly military affair to a cops and robbers theme. Here’s a leaked promo video to prove it. The video refers to it under the working title of “Omaha” but it’s Hardline through and through. Heavily-armed hoodie wearing bad guys fight SWAT teams in alleys, rooftops, banks, and other urban locales. The singleplayer story features a typically convoluted big-budget shooter plot. Undercover cop Nick Mendoza growls as buildings explode around him in Frostbite glory.

Battlefield Hardline has been rumored for months, but the really substantial leaks started yesterday when gamers accessed hidden data in the Battlelog site. Things seem to be semi-official now. Even the official Battlefield YouTube page has a Hardline logo today. We’ll likely know more about Hardline at E3.