The Battlefield Hardline multiplayer beta will operate just like the ideal criminal justice system: fast, thorough, and fair to all participants regardless of where they come from. In theory, anyway. EA says the upcoming test will be conducted across all of Hardline's planned platforms (that's PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One) and will include both the new Hotwire mode and the tried-and-true 64-player Conquest mode across two maps.

The beta won't impose a level cap (aside from the progression limits of the full game, anyway) and players will be free to unlock as much gear for their favorite cops-n-criminals loadouts as they can manage. Even though we don't yet know when the beta will begin, it likely won't be too much longer - Battlefield Hardline is set to release on March 17, and it's clear that EA wants a much smoother launch than what it got with Battlefield 4. Click on for fo about what you'll get in the beta and what you'll have to wait for the full release to see.

If the title didn't give it away, Battlefield Hardline's hotwire multiplayer mode is all about stealing cars. Though, during my play session, no one really gave a damn and just ran around shooting each other (myself included). If we HAD been playing for the objective, we would have needed to control certain vehicles for as long as possible to earn victory points. The longer you control those vehicles - which are all horribly cumbersome vans and tanker trucks - the more points you earn for your team.

Also featured in my demo was the new glades map. And while It was certainly big, this map was essentially a giant oval with some dilapidated buildings in the middle. I think there might have been a ramp at one point. This meant that when someone DID bother to hop behind the wheel, all they could really do was drive in a circle. Ideally, the other players would pile in the back of another vehicle and give chase, but in practice it was just pure chaos.

Visceral is taking the stern, world-ending military situations involving nukes and evil Russians, and trading that for more small-scale conflicts like bank robberies and heists. Instead of the hardened soldier, the developers are saying they will introduce characters like cops that don't play by the rules or slick criminals that you'd see in a TV police drama. So, you can expect characters to be line with Battlefield: Bad Company's troublemaking squad of misfits.

Visceral isn't sharing any concrete details on the single player story yet. What the developer has said is that the solo mode will incorporate the tactical choice of the multiplayer gameplay, and that the single player will include the tools, gadgets, and vehicles you see in the competitive game. As far as single player goes, that's all we've got, but there is another reason to play Hardline.

Yes, Hardline will have multiplayer. Even though the setting has changed, you're still going to get dozens of guns, heavy vehicles, and massive maps that the Battlefield series is known for. You'll spawn into your squad, capture objectives, and mount a mobile turret to take down the opposing faction, but thanks to the relatively confined, urban environments, and some clever game modes, the gameplay feels distinctly unique from the other titles in the series.

You won't see the open tank fields of the militaristic battlefield games, but you also won't be forced into the stringent, tactical mentality of a close quarters-fighting SWAT team. From what we've played, the game strikes a good balance between giving players the space they need to create the "did you see that?" Battlefield moments and keeping the action contained to one (or several) action-packed areas of the map.

Like its predecessors, Hardline gives players four classes to customize, leaving each to function as a valuable member of a squad. Enforcers are armed with light machine guns and ammo packs. The Operator carries a standard assault rifle, health packs, and can revive allies (you can also take health and ammo from teammates by pressing the interact button next to them). The mechanic can repair any vehicle if he has a repair tool on hand. Lastly, the Professional is your long-ranged sniper.

The classes all sound like carbon copies of their militarized brethren from previous games, but once you start earning cash for better weapons and gadgets (more on progression later) you can customize your urban soldier to play many different, vital roles for your team. How? Well, by equipping some of the new gadgets...

The most prominent new items you can equip to your cop or criminal are stun guns, gas masks, blunt melee weapons, gas grenades, grappling hooks, and ziplines. Most of these items are fairly self explanatory, and when you use them by themselves you don't really get much out of them. It's when you combine multiple items that things start to get interesting.

For example, equipping your Operator with an ammo bag, gas grenades, and a gas mask lets you flood enemy defensive areas with an unlimited number of vision clouding, accuracy-screwing gas canisters--making opponents easy kills in the maps' chokepoints. Stun guns, blunt weapons, and grappling hooks make it easier to sneak up on perching snipers. Just shoot a hook up a ledge behind the sniper, climb up, and incapacitate them with a stun gun or police baton. Interestingly, you're then free to interrogate them (which gives you their allies' locations).

To get all of those lovely new gadgets, you'll need to earn experience and cash. Experience works the same as it has in previous games. You'll get points for every kill, assist, and support action for your team. Each class then levels up its own progress bar to earn medals and higher ranks.

By bringing in cash as well as experience, Hardline gives you more flexibility when it comes to class customization. With the money you earn from killing cops or arresting criminals you can buy new weapons and equipment whenever you want. So, you won't necessarily have to wait until you're rank 120 to use the gun you want. You can just buy whatever items you like, save up for specific attachments and equipment, and build your unique class.

Just because you're playing as a bunch of cops and robbers doesn't mean you won't get to ride in some heavy vehicles. Along with police cruisers, four-door sedans, and motorcycles, you'll also be able to jump into armored cars with machine guns mounted at the top.

We haven't seen tanks yet, but the existing armored ground vehicles are formidable to say the least. And for those flyboys out there, you'll also get a chance to pilot various machine gun-mounted helicopters. Only, the skyscrapers and narrow flight paths will surely weed out the pilots lacking skill very quickly.

In keeping with the fresh setting, Hardline will introduce a number of exciting new modes. In the two we played, the focus is on successfully holding giant bags of loot. The Blood Money mode challenges both teams to grab money from a central location and bring it back to their vault--which the opposing team can also steal from. Even if you're behind on the loot grab, good teamwork and coordination in defending the money drop and vaults can lead to a victory. The Heist mode has even more of a cops and robbers feel. The criminals start the match by blowing up two armored trucks carrying tons of cash, which land in two separate locations. From there the criminals need to breach the trucks and take two money bags to two separate locations while the cops try to stop them. The result ends up feeling like Rush and Capture the Flag, all mixed together.

Battlefield 4 made completely destroying the map a thing in the Battlefield series, and that trend continues in Hardline. In the High Tension map, you can set a few breaching charges on a construction crane's support cables, bringing it crashing down. On the way it knocks into buildings and brings tons of debris down with it. In the aftermath, the collapsed crane makes a handy bridge shortcut for the criminal team, allowing them to move from their spawn point to the center of the map with ease.

Apart from the huge levolution events, there's still the little bits of destruction that make the battle feel more realistic. Low eaves on the sides of buildings can be blown down to make a handy ramp to higher levels, bullets chip away at concrete barriers, and underground road supports can be destroyed to make a sinkhole shortcut.

EA has confirmed that Battlefield Hardline will release on October 21, for the Xbox 360, Xbox One, PS3, PS4, and PC. It appears that the yearly release cycle for the Battlefield series is in full swing, and you won't have to wait long to play the next entry. In fact, you can download the beta on PC and PS4 right now--first come, first served.

Those are all the details we have so far about Battlefield Hardline. Are you ready to step into the urban war zone? What do you think of the series' new direction? Let us know in the comments below.

Want more on the future games coming soon? Check out our list of the .