Battlefield: Hardline – is it a problem to play war as a cop?

The latest title in the multimillion selling shooter series swaps soldiers and terrorists for cops and robbers. But is the fantasy now too close for comfort?

A helicopter swoops over a palatial mansion as armed gunmen burst in, jamming cartridges into their shotguns, preparing for an epic firefight. Pretty soon bullets are tearing up the interior as bodies crash through glass walls, and grenades pass the camera in slow-motion arcs. Quickly, the action cuts to a high-speed car chase, with vehicles plummeting along LA's iconic storm drains. The shooting never stops.

This is Battlefield: Hardline, the latest game in Electronic Arts' long-running series of frenetic first-person shooters. As in previous instalments, players team up online to capture control points or carry packages through a gauntlet of enemy fire. But this time something's different.

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