They also learn of the existence of a new type of cocaine known as Hot Shot. Upon locating Tyson's associate, Tap Milstein, they forced him to wear a wire in order to locate Tyson and rescue him from a group of armed men. After arresting the last surviving suspect, Captain Julian Dawes puts Stoddard on special detail and partners Nick up with Khai Minh Dao to follow a lead to cocaine broker Tyson Latchford. Shortly after his promotion, Mendoza and his new partner Carl are involved in a drug bust gone wrong. In July 2012, Nick Mendoza has been promoted to detective in the Vice Squad of the Miami Police Department.

The player steps into the shoes of Nick Mendoza, a young detective who is traveling across the country to bring his former partners to justice after they became corrupt. Levels are inspired by crime shows on television, with each ending on a cliffhanger to lead into the next mission. Despite this, however, once the player has become detected, there is no way for them to return from the state of alert. While it may be easier to complete objectives through weaponry, players receive bonus points for taking the nonlethal approach. Players have the option to either approach situations either through typical firefights or by stealth. Similar to Battlefield 4, levels are built in sandbox-style environments but on a much larger scale, allowing players more freedom to complete objectives. The singleplayer campaign features many elements from past installments, taking place in numerous locations across the world such as Los Angeles, California and its surrounding deserts. The Battlefield Hardline singleplayer campaign structures itself as an in-universe television police drama, with individual levels being referred as 'Episodes' and having interludes between levels.

Battlefield hardline character models