Battlefield: Hardline releases March 17, but you can play it for 10 hours starting today if you have an Xbox One and EA Access.
EA Access is Electronic Arts’ monthly subscription service. It lets Xbox One owners play a selection of full games, and it also offers lengthy trials for new EA titles. This month, your $5 subscription will get you a 10-hour trial of EA’s latest first-person shooter, Battlefield: Hardline — heading to PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and PC — including the prologue, the first level of the single-player campaign, and full multiplayer access.
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EA likely limited access to the single-player campaign in the trial to prevent players from blasting through it completely as it’s only around 8-10 hours long.
Game length is a hot topic right now, with the PlayStation 4-exclusive, The Order 1886 attracting criticism for offering a relatively short campaign for its $60 price of entry. The Order 1886 is a completely single-player experience, though, while the Battlefield series is generally driven by the multiplayer side of things. I personally clocked in several hundred hours playing Battlefield 3 and Battlefield 4, and I didn’t touch the single-player campaigns in either title.
Battlefield: Hardline’s executive producer, Steve Papoutsis, spoke to TrustedReviews back in November 2014 and explained that Battlefield: Hardline’s single-player campaign clocked in at 10 hours or less, depending on your play style. “I would estimate for an average player it probably takes about 8 to 10 hours to complete,” he said. “Now, if you’re just a crazy shooter guy, it might be faster.”