New Expansion Pack Coming To Battlefield Hardline Next Month

Electronic Arts and Visceral Games are updating Battlefield Hardline with a brand new expansion called Betrayal, set for release this March for Premium members. The expansion contains four new maps, seven new weapons, two new vehicles and a new way to customize and play-test weapons on the gun range.

PC Gamer offered a rundown of the new expansion and the short story behind the content. Players will be part of a crew assembled to steal from various high-security locations but apparently there are “new enemies” that the heisters will have to deal with lurking in the shadows and hiding out in alleys, waiting for the perfect time to strike.

Over on the official website they don't really explain how the “betrayal” aspect fits into Battlefield Hardline: Betrayal. Maybe there's something more to it but we won't find out until it releases in March for the Xbox One, PS4 and PC (and presumably the Xbox 360 and PS3, but they don't make mention of those two systems on the website).

The four new maps in the game will include a visit to Alcatraz, the Cemetery, Chinatown and a map called Thin Ice. I have no idea how these maps will play out but we do know that the Alcatraz map will center around the cell blocks based on an image they have up on the website. Other than that we'll have to wait and see how the maps play in Battlefield Hardline since they did not release a video touring each of the maps.

However, we get a brief glimpse of the Chinatown map's alleyway and it features a standoff between a masked robber and a fully armored police operative. Now usually this wouldn't mean much but what makes the standoff interesting is that both individuals are carrying large, claymore swords.

Part of the pack of seven new weapons will include a medieval claymore. How they use the weapon and how much damage it does is completely up in the air. It seems crazy that they would even include something like that but it might open the door for some new rule-sets for Battlefield Hardline when it comes to showdowns with melee weapons. They used to do similar things in the game Gunz: The Duel, where players would face off in an alley and duke it out with just swords or other melee weapons.

The update in March won't just feature paid content, though. According to the post on the website, they will also roll out 11 new weapons and a new server preset for everybody. The base game of Battlefield Hardline will get a nice content overhaul along with the new Gold Battlepack feature that will allow users to potentially get a weapon license voucher, which is a rare item that will automatically unlock an entire weapon license for a player.

Alternatively, players will be able to customize primary weapons and uniforms using the new Gun Bench Super Feature. They don't exactly explain how it will work but rest assured that more details will likely surface before March. They also announced that there will be new assignments and legendary weapon camos.

Battlefield Hardline has had a hard time on the market and a lot of people feel it was a misstep coming off of Battlefield 4. EA and Visceral Games have been working hard to repair the damage, but a lot of gamers haven't taken the bait. We'll see if they can turn things around when the DLC launches in March.