Battlefield 6’s Campaign Connects to Battlefield 3 in a Major Way

Battlefield 6 connects back to Battlefield 3 in a big way, though you may not realize it if that game isn’t fresh in your brain. Call of Duty and Battlefield are largely known for their multiplayer modes, but both have historically offered single player campaigns, too. These blockbuster shooters are a great way to get your feet wet with the respective games, but Call of Duty has largely always been known to do it a bit better. Battlefield’s campaigns are serviceable, but they’re often written off by FPS fans as fairly generic military fodder with the exceptions of the Bad Company games.

However, Battlefield 3‘s story still holds some weight for fans. The game has some standout missions, such as the jet mission early on in the story. It’s an impressive technical showcase and is highly immersive. The story was also pretty compelling as it followed a man named Henry Blackburn while in custody of the U.S. government. Blackburn was a U.S. soldier stationed in the Middle East, but was eventually interrogated by the CIA after shooting his commanding officer and warning of a terrorist attack in New York City.

Spoilers for Battlefield 6 follow below

Battlefield 6‘s Main Villain Played a Role in Battlefield 3‘s Story

Although Blackburn was only in the spotlight for one game, he has been referenced in other games, namely Battlefield 2042. In the future, Blackburn eventually becomes a villain as he forms a PMC that carries out sketchy operations and acts, though he believes it’s for the betterment of the world.

In Battlefield 6, we hear mentions of Blackburn throughout the game. The game is set in 2028 and follows a group of Marines known as Dagger 13, led by a man named Haz Carter. We learn throughout the story he was involved in various conflicts, including the ones seen in Battlefield 3 and Battlefield 4. In the fourth mission of Battlefield 6, it’s revealed that there’s a module on Blackburn’s journey that Marines learn about in training and that Carter was more or less in the background of that entire story.

He tells a story about how he was part of the operation with the SAS against Faruk Al-Bashir, the man who was harboring WMDs on the border of Iraq and Syria. Carter’s crew and the SAS were gathering intel on chemical weapons, but things went south. Kincaid, the villain of Battlefield 6, was the commander of the SAS troop on that mission and tried to save his men amidst the chaos. However, Carter had to make the call to save his own men and they left Kincaid to fend for himself. Unfortunately, that was where Kincaid was ultimately turned into a villain, and he became radicalized.

We hear sporadic references to the events of Battlefield 3 throughout the story, particularly when you go to New York to stop yet another terrorist attack. Lopez refers to the fact that New York has been attacked before, which makes the civilians skiddish. Obviously, there are real-life parallels there, but it also seems to be a direct reference to the final mission of Battlefield 3 when Blackburn stops a nuclear bomb from detonating in Times Square.

Battlefield 6‘s campaign isn’t great, but it is nice to see the developers try to weave in past games to this story. Those who appreciate the lore have been frustrated to see Blackburn’s story sidelined for so many years. Some even theorized that he’d be the villain of Battlefield 6 due to the fact that the timeline of events that lead to Battlefield 2042 align, but the studio chose not to go in that direction.

This Hidden Battlefield 6 Setting Makes The Game Way More Immersive