Action
Battlefield™ Hardline
The first 3 hours are a test
Gets good by 3h almost every game dips in hours 2–3
Fully opens up by 5h rated like by long-time players
Reach the ending 37% of players who started
Started playing 58% of owners
Steam reviews 69% positive of 5,492
What the data shows
- In the first 2 hours 1 in 2 reviews are negative (64%); after 5h it's 1 in 6 (17%).
- Fully opens up by hour 5.
- The opening is criticised more than in 92% of games we track.
- 37% of players who start reach the ending.
- The biggest drop-off is between “On the Job” (Complete the Prologue in single-player) and “Pressure Applied” (Complete Ep. 1: Back to School): from 100% to 81% of starters.
- Only 58% of owners have even the first achievement — the rest barely played.
When it gets good
Share of positive reviews by how many hours the reviewer had played when writing the review.
before it gets good opening up fully opened up
Based on all 5,550 Steam reviews in every language. Median playtime in a sample of 297 reviews: 8h for positive, 3.1h for negative. Almost every game is rated lower in the first 2–3 hours: that window includes refunds and quick first impressions. What matters is how deep the dip is and how fast the game recovers.
Where players quit
Share of players who started the game and reached each story milestone. 100% is the most common achievement (58.1% of owners), so people who bought the game and never launched it don't count.
- Started playing 100%
- On the Job Complete the Prologue in single-player 100%
- Pressure Applied Complete Ep. 1: Back to School Most players quit here 81% −19
- Bumpy Ride Complete Ep. 2: Checking Out 70% −11
- Deal? What Deal? Complete Ep. 3: Gator Bait 56% −14
- Good Guys Complete Ep. 4: Case Closed 49% −6
- You Probably Have Questions Complete Ep. 5: Gauntlet 48% −1
- Snow Blind Complete Ep. 6: Out of Business 44% −4
- Hollyweird Complete Ep. 7: Glass Houses 42% −3
- From Their Cold, Dead Hands Complete Ep. 8: Sovereign Land 40% −2
- Some Damn Fine Fireworks Complete Ep. 9: Independence Day 39% −1
- Served Cold Complete Ep. 10: Legacy 37% −2
story milestone ending biggest drop-off
Story milestones were labeled by AI from achievement names and descriptions; mistakes are possible.
All achievements (62)
story milestone ending side
- On the Job Complete the Prologue in single-player 100%
- Keep Digging, Detective Complete any case file in single-player 85%
- Pressure Applied Complete Ep. 1: Back to School 81%
- By the Book Do a Non-Lethal takedown on 10 criminals in single-player 77%
- Bumpy Ride Complete Ep. 2: Checking Out 70%
- Cape and Ears Not Included Climb a total of 10 meters with the grapple gun in single-player 62%
- Motley Crew Tag all criminals visible from the rooftop in Ep. 1: Back to School 62%
- You're Getting Good at This Reach Expert Level 5 in single-player 62%
- Deal? What Deal? Complete Ep. 3: Gator Bait 56%
- Good Guys Complete Ep. 4: Case Closed 49%
- You Tazed Him, Bro! Stun 5 criminals with the T62 CEW in single-player 49%
- You Probably Have Questions Complete Ep. 5: Gauntlet 48%
- Damn Thing Doesn't Work Disarm 2 alarm boxes in single-player 47%
- Almost an Expert Reach Expert Level 10 in single-player 47%
- Snow Blind Complete Ep. 6: Out of Business 44%
- Hollyweird Complete Ep. 7: Glass Houses 42%
- From Their Cold, Dead Hands Complete Ep. 8: Sovereign Land 40%
- Some Damn Fine Fireworks Complete Ep. 9: Independence Day 39%
- Watched, Dawg Identify 10 warrants with the scanner in single-player 38%
- Served Cold Complete Ep. 10: Legacy 37%
- Knock Knock Blow up the meth lab in Ep. 5: Gauntlet 33%
- One Good Cop Reach Expert Level 15 in single-player 30%
- Case Closed Complete all single-player episodes on Officer difficulty 28%
- Fast Rope Expert Travel a total of 90 meters with the zipline crossbow in single-player 27%
- A Craftsman's Tools Find your weapons in Sovereign Land before instigating combat in the trailer park 24%
- Their Own Medicine Steal a T62 CEW from the back of a police cruiser in Ep. 5: Gauntlet 22%
- Social Climber Find the hidden access to the mansion grounds in Ep. 10: Legacy 18%
- True Detective Complete 3 case files in single-player 15%
- Hollywood Hideaway Find Roark's hidden room in Ep. 7: Glass Houses 13%
- Super Cop Complete all single-player episodes on Veteran difficulty 13%
- Real Action Hero Kill a criminal in Independence Day from mid-air after escaping the penthouse 12%
- Dare Devil Jump the dirt bike into the mansion grounds in Ep. 10: Legacy 11%
- World's Greatest Detective Complete all case files in single-player 9.6%
- Graceful Exit Don't get spotted in the Ep. 5: Gauntlet 9.5%
- BYOB Use the BBQ to take out the chef in Ep. 7: Glass Houses 9.1%
- Bring 'em to Justice Capture all warrants alive in single-player 9.0%
- Blue Eagle Complete all single-player episodes on Hardline difficulty 6.5%
- The Big Score Win 5 Heist and 5 Blood Money matches in multiplayer 5.7%
- Electric Company Take down 25 enemies with the T62 CEW in multiplayer 5.2%
- Dead or Alive Pick up 100 Bounties in the Bounty Hunter game mode 4.8%
- Got Your Back Deny 100 Bounties in the Bounty Hunter game mode 4.6%
- Tommy's Favorite Earn a Gold Service Star with the M1A1 4.6%
- That's Not a Knife! Kill 25 enemies with the Throwing Knife 4.6%
- Small Crew, Big Job! Win 10 Squad Heist matches 4.6%
- Become Legend Reach Rank 150 4.6%
- Bag of Tricks Get an RPG kill while carrying the bag in a Capture the Bag match 4.6%
- I'll Be Back! Earn a Gold Service Star with the 1887 4.6%
- Bio-Beware! Kill 50 enemies with Inquisition Swords 4.6%
- Dressed to the Sixteens Enter a match after customizing all 16 Class and Faction outfits 4.6%
- Ghost Ride the Whip Get a Roadkill with the Hearse without being inside it 4.6%
- Menz in the Hood Kill 25 enemies with a MAC-10 and 25 with a Double-Barrel Shotgun in multiplayer 4.5%
- Enforcing the Law Get 10,000 kills with the Enforcer class 4.5%
- Operation Successful Get 10,000 kills with the Operator class 4.5%
- Mechanical Trigger Finger Get 10,000 kills with the Mechanic Class 4.5%
- Have Some Professionalism Get 10,000 kills with the Professional class 4.5%
- Nailed It! Get 100 kills with the Nail Gun 4.5%
- Grandpa's Automatic Earn a Gold Service Star with the M1 Carbine 4.5%
- Here's Johnny! Kill 75 enemies with the Fire Axe 4.5%
- Test Your Mettle Complete 25 Competitive Matches 4.5%
- The Ultimate Betrayal Win a Heist match as a Cop and as a Criminal on each of the Betrayal maps 4.5%
- Locked & Loaded, Good to Go Enter a match after crafting weapons in all five Gun Bench slots 4.5%
- Bolt From the Blue Get a Gold Service Star with the M1903 4.5%
Steam page Updated: 2026-10-19.