My teammate’s head snaps back as his body falls to the ground, followed by a loud crack in the distance. Mud and blood cover my gun, though I’m not sure whose blood it actually is. The sound of gunfire and explosions disorients me as I rush to save my downed teammate. Although he’s taken a gnarly shot, he can still be brought back from the brink of death. I quickly grab his motionless body and drag it through a field of nameless corpses that surround us, all of whom have been chewed up and spit out by the insatiable machine that is war. Some allies rush ahead to lay down smoke and cover fire, doing their best to push the enemy back as I save my squad mate.
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As I pull us backwards, I hear the roar of a beast coming from the sky. In an instant, it’s already gone, like thunder… but like thunder, it’s typically paired with a strike of lightning. A giant bomb immediately falls from the sky, blasting my allies in multiple directions. As I finally pick up my comrade, we charge back toward the smoke and clear the nearby objective of infantry to capture the point and gain the advantage on this war-torn battlefield.
This is just one of many chaotic war stories I have from Battlefield 6, a gritty, cinematic shooter that gives you everything you want from a large-scale military action game. Although it has some sore spots, such as a lackluster campaign, this is the Battlefield experience fans have been craving for years.
Rating: 4/5
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Action-packed gameplay that is constantly cinematic | Forgettable campaign |
| Punchy gunplay that never gets old | Tiresome progression system that artificially slows down unlocks |
| Class play and vehicles provide tons of satisfying variety to gameplay | |
| One of the most polished Battlefield multiplayer experiences to date |
Battlefield 6‘s Campaign Is Largely Forgettable, But It Has Its Moments
Let’s get the not-so-great stuff out of the way first. A few weeks ago, I previewed three levels of Battlefield 6‘s campaign and I thought it seemed promising. I held off on judging the actual writing and narrative since I was playing random levels across the entire game and didn’t have full context. Unfortunately, the story feels like a generic Peter Berg war movie where you’ll forget the plot and characters within days of playing it.
The year is 2028, the United States is in a precarious situation as NATO allies begin backing out of the organization, giving a private military company known as PAX Armata the power to deliver deadly global attacks. It’s up to a group of Marines known as Dagger 13 to find the leader of PAX and put a stop to the madness. It’s actually a pretty interesting premise, but the story doesn’t go in enough interesting directions.
Battlefield 6‘s campaign opens strong with a mission that sets the stakes in an emotional way. I was surprised by how hard they came out of the gate, but unfortunately, the story falters immediately. There’s a time jump and the main protagonist is placed in a new squad who you’re never really formally introduced to. The game sort of implies a bond between this group, but you never see it fleshed out or developed. It tells you that these guys care about each other, but rarely is it shown and when it is, it’s often too late.
As a result, everyone is sort of a cliched stereotype ripped straight out of the average military blockbuster. The villain is also just as weak, with minimal screen time and a motivation that feels contrived and boring. It’s a shame because Battlefield has had compelling campaigns or at least ones that have something a bit more memorable than this, but Battlefield 6 doesn’t tell a particularly exciting story.
Where the Battlefield 6 campaign does shine is within the action. Battlefield Studios managed to weave in that signature destruction from the multiplayer into the campaign, allowing you to dynamically blow buildings apart for tactical advantages. Some cool set pieces also have you chasing trains, blowing up landmarks, and duking it out with helicopters that are raining down fire on you.
I noted in my preview that some of these set pieces are the result of characters having to make tough decisions in order to stop the bad guys, e.g., blowing up a notable bridge to stop a terrorist attack. I only wish there was more of that and that the effects of that were felt. It serves as great spectacle, but it has no larger implications on the world or narrative itself.
There were reports earlier this summer that Battlefield 6‘s campaign may come in undercooked, and while I have no way of knowing what the intended vision was for this game, it does feel like there are missions that got more time in the oven than others. The game’s penultimate mission concludes with a pre-rendered cutscene that is oddly choppy, as if the frame rate is really low. However, I had overlays on that told me that Battlefield 6 was running well above 100 FPS with no notable dips, so the issue must’ve been with how this cutscene was rendered.
The game’s opening mission is also a lot tighter and cinematic with friendly AI feeling more in line with that of a polished Call of Duty campaign, stacking up and clearing corners. However, later missions have AI running around somewhat mindlessly and it feels like a night and day difference.
I did appreciate that Battlefield 6 tries to shake things up beyond shooting galleries and allows you to command a squad, each of whom has their own unique abilities. You can tell them to fire an RPG at a target, throw down smoke grenades, and more. They can even revive you when you go down, much to my surprise. This is a really intelligent way to work the squad play of the multiplayer into the campaign and I hope to see something like this in future Battlefield campaigns.
Is this the worst campaign I’ve ever played? Far from it, it’s not even the worst one in the last few years, but there’s just very little that’s special about it. It’s mindless action for about 5 hours, but it won’t leave you with any strong feelings or memories. It’s something quick and easy to play when you need a break from the intensity of multiplayer, but you’re also rewarded for playing it. You get multiplayer unlocks for each level you finish, and you even get a weapon blueprint for finishing it on the hardest difficulty, so it’s worth playing if you want some extra goodies.
Battlefield 6‘s Multiplayer Lives Up to the Hype
The meat and potatoes of Battlefield 6 is the multiplayer, which thankfully matched my hype. The gunplay is punchy and satisfying thanks to not just a great variety of weaponry, but also strong audio feedback. Every kill is met with a light ting sound, as if someone’s dog tags are clanking around or a bullet casing hit the ground, and the sounds of your bullets hitting a target have a very visceral and heavy noise that’s extremely satisfying.
Each weapon in Battlefield 6 has its own unique feel. The M4A1 has been my weapon of choice, but it is highly inaccurate at range when fully-auto. However, the game’s take on the P90 SMG has virtually no recoil and shoots at a super rapid rate. It’s easy to control, but it has a high damage drop off at range. These two weapons alone show the breadth of variety to how the guns operate. It’s easy for guns to blur together in these kinds of games and for only a handful to stand out, but every gun I’ve used has been a blast to take into battle.
Of course, one of the big changes from more classic games in the series is the inclusion of “open weapons”. Historically, Battlefield segments certain types of guns to specific classes. For example, Recon is the only class that could rock a sniper rifle. However, this change now allows any class to use any weapon, but there are benefits to using the signature weapon type the class specializes in, such as Recon being able to rechamber rounds faster and hold their breath while using a sniper rifle. I personally haven’t been too bothered by the open weapons in actual gameplay, as the classes are still defined by their actual roles and gadgets, which is arguably far more important.
Vehicles also play a large role once again with the ability for players to control tanks, helicopters, jets, and buggies. If you’re not feeling effective as infantry, you can always roam the map in a war machine and clear objectives. Everything has the right level of weight, allowing things to feel powerful and hefty, but also have the mobility to evade danger and quickly get to the action. The tanks and helicopters specifically have been a ton of fun to play with, though for totally different reasons.
Tanks are on the front line and in the heat of battle, getting pelted with bullets, opposing tank shells, and rockets. It’s incredibly tense as you try to evade every fatal explosive shot while your next shell slowly reloads. You’re also shouting at your teammates to repair you as you use the MG to clear out any potential foot soldiers that could kill them. It requires a lot of teamwork, precision, and patience, but it is always rewarding when you triumph in a tank battle.
Battlefield Studios has also created the rich sandbox experience that we long for from this series. The world is excessively destructive, with players having the power to collapse floors, rooftops, and entire structures with well-placed explosives or the force of 75 ton tank smashing right through it. The thing that has always set Battlefield apart from Call of Duty is how cinematic the multiplayer feels. You shape the world around you with destruction, but there’s also something truly epic happening in just about every direction.
During one match set on a New York City-based map, I shot down an attack helicopter with an RPG. Instead of just evaporating with an explosion, the helicopter let out a mechanical whine and spiraled out of control before slamming into one of the buildings. The momentum of the crash caused it to drill through multiple floors in the building and leave a large, hollow gap in the structure. The helicopter’s carcass remained at the base of the building, eventually serving as an impromptu piece of cover on the battlefield.
Every action in Battlefield 6 comes with some kind of reaction. Blow up a tank? Its turret may pop off and pancake someone running by. A helicopter going down isn’t a guaranteed victory for you, as it could easily spin into you or a building around you, causing debris to crush you. It’s these kinds of moments that give the game so much depth and feel like more than visual flair. It’s all interactive and unscripted, often resulting in those big cheer-worthy moments with your squad.
I live for those trademark “only in Battlefield” moments, and Battlefield 6 is constantly giving them to me. New mechanics like the drag and revive, a system that lets you pull a downed teammate into cover so that they can be safely revived, and the enhanced destruction are vessels for all kinds of emergent storytelling. There’s nothing else like Battlefield, and I’m glad Battlefield 6 managed to resurrect that feeling.
As for those who have been waiting for the other shoe to drop since the beta, so far, I have yet to encounter any notable bugs. Of course, we’ll have to see how the servers hold up during launch weekend, but if the game can get through that, this will be the most polished modern Battlefield experience I’ve seen at release.
Battlefield 6‘s Multiplayer Is Slightly Held Back by Its Progression System and Some Maps
Where Battlefield 6 stumbles a bit is in its progression. To unlock a lot of weapons and even class-specific gadgets, you have to do challenges. On its own, this isn’t a terrible idea, but it is cumbersome due to how it is structured. There are specific paths of challenges, so you must do one challenge to unlock the next. It’s very linear and it gates so many things from you as a result. There are a bunch of unlocks that are given to you by simply playing the game and leveling up, but to have everything, including things like the respawn beacon that lets people spawn remotely around the map, you will have to do some challenges.
It artificially slows the progression down and then forces you to play in a more conscious way to achieve the challenge. It may require you to use a specific kind of gun or achieve a goal like giving a certain amount of healing to a player via a supply bag. They’re not necessarily hard, but after leveling up a ton and realizing I had barely gotten any gadgets and was still missing a lot of weaponry, I was confused, only to realize I hadn’t been doing these challenges.
A big talking point around Battlefield 6 has been the map sizes. The overall size appears to be smaller than the ones from Battlefield 3 and 4. While I don’t think this is inherently a bad thing and the focus on density over scale can lead to more intense combat, it does still have some issues. A lot of the maps that boast aerial vehicles are small enough for someone to have total visibility on a helicopter at all times.
As someone who loves to fly around, there aren’t many places to retreat to as a pilot. In Siege of Shanghai in Battlefield 4, you could break the line of sight by weaving through skyscrapers. However, the sky is so open in Battlefield 6‘s maps and the actual play space is small enough that it’s pretty difficult to avoid being spammed with lock-on missiles or anti-air fire. Even on one of the New York-based maps, the actual space is so small and claustrophobic, partially because of a giant bridge that sits right above the map, that you don’t have much room to efficiently fly around.
I would love to see some maps that are both bigger, but also have taller buildings to make things a bit more layered. Right now, a lot of the maps feel flat due to the lack of towering structures. Of course, bringing in some remasters of classic maps could certainly help with this issue, and it sounds like there is a plan for that in the future.
Ultimately, Battlefield 6 delivers a cinematic action experience worthy of an IMAX screen. It’s big, it’s loud, but Battlefield Studios has carefully molded that into something beautiful and bold. The scope and scale of this game are absolutely tremendous, immersing you into an epic and chaotic war zone every single match with the signature all-out warfare feeling that Battlefield does so well.
Although the campaign brings Battlefield 6 down a peg and some improvements can be made to the game’s progression system, Battlefield Studios has delivered a triumphant return to one of gaming’s greatest shooter franchises. EA needed a win here to safely secure this franchise’s future. It couldn’t just be okay, it had to be great… and it is. With a promising post-launch roadmap already in place and a battle royale on the horizon, I think Battlefield 6 is only going to get better with time and age like a fine wine.
Battlefield 6 releases on October 10th for Xbox Series X|S, PS5, and PC. A Steam code was provided by the publisher for the purposes of this review.
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