The studios responsible for the Battlefield franchise have delivered a game that combines the best bits of the best titles in the series with bits clearly borrowed from other franchises. They mostly all work together to provide what fans have been craving while also appealing to anyone looking to blow off steam with some large-scale chaos. There are things that need tweaking, sure. But the devs have made it clear that they aren’t allergic to releasing more content and putting out balance patches. Worth the price, even better on special.
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Gamemodes
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Maps
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Guns
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Performance
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Fun
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Value
Following the rather disappointing launch of Battlefield 2042, it seems that those responsible were just as eager to right their wrongs as the fans longing for a return to what made previous entries in the franchise titans in the first-person shooter (FPS) pantheon.
It’s only been a couple of months since Battlefield 6 launched, following an early access period. We said in our first impressions that there was a lot of fun to be had, and since the proper launch, there’s even more of it.
There are still issues affecting many aspects of the game. They might still be addressed if the update schedule since launch is anything to go by. But until then, if you’re hankering for some large-scale, destruction-heavy action, they aren’t too difficult to overlook.
Celebrating the strengths
Battlefield 6’s greatest strengths come from its multiplayer mode and the inclusion of what hardcore fans have been yearning for – the return of classic class-based setups, the ‘grounded in reality’ character models, and the chaotic experience you can only get from a 64-player round of Conquest.
Whether you’re climbing into a chopper or tank in the heat of battle, proning through smoke and enemy fire to revive fallen squadmates, or providing crucial covering fire for your squad as you nail distant headshots, the Battlefield series is second to none in offering an experience that feels at once exhilarating, overwhelming, and frustrating.
Part of the exhilaration comes from the excellent sound design. There are a few options to pick from, but if you aren’t picking Wartapes V.A.L. (Very Aggressive Listening), then you’re missing out.
No other game can match the immersion of trundling along in a tank while being peppered with panicky small arms fire, hearing frantic radio calls (and slightly-too-realistic screams) in your headset, explosions both near and distant, and the subtle tinkle of spent bullet cases dancing around the cabin as your gunner returns fire.
A lesson in perseverance
In the same breath, it can feel frustrating to be on the receiving end of someone who’s clearly spent too much time in a jet, doing multi-kill strafing runs, only to disappear beyond the horizon before you can get a lock. But that’s the beauty of Battlefield. There’s a hierarchy that demands respect if your team is to have any hope of emerging victorious.
That’s why, as with earlier entries, having a squad you can rely on is key. 2042 blurred the lines of the squad-based gameplay, and BF6 does a good job of undoing that. There’s even a dedicated gamemode that limits classes to their respective specialist weapons.
There are also gamemodes, with smaller maps and no vehicle spawns, that try to mimic what other games offer. As a result, Battlefield 6 can feel like it’s trying to wear too many different hats at once. That’s not necessarily a bad thing. You can completely ignore them, or you can relish the variety on offer. Although we will admit, both would be easier to do if we had a proper server browser to better navigate between the types of games you’re looking to play.
Fancy some battle royal-type action? The Redsec update provides that to a mostly satisfying degree. If you’ve played Warzone, you’ll know what to expect. Bundled with the free Redsec update, we weren’t expecting to like Guantlet as much as we did. It’s a fast-paced, round-based elimination mode that pits eight squads of four against each other in objective-based missions. At the end of each round, the squads that underperform are eliminated until only two remain, left to fight for all the glory.
Shooty shooty bang bang
You can’t really have a good first-person shooter without detailed, well-defined gunplay. Thankfully, with BF6, it feels polished and satisfying. A renewed emphasis on fast-paced close-quarters firefights can make BF6 feel a little too close to Call of Duty at times, where every assault rifle feels kinda samey (and there isn’t a huge selection to begin with). But for the most part, once you’ve learnt how a weapon handles in the firing range, you’re in for a satisfying time.
We can’t say the same for the gun attachment system. It, like the firing range, has been ‘borrowed’ from COD and, save for a few specific attachments, like the 4x ACOG scope for your sniper rifle, for when you want to do some combat sniping, never really made themselves feel necessary and worth the grind.
We had similar complaints with the game’s progression – it can feel intolerably slow, especially in the early levels. The devs have addressed this, to some degree, making some of the more mind-numbing challenges for certain unlocks a little easier to obtain. But then, as you progress and unlock more gear, you learn that some gadgets and utilities are locked to specific classes without the restrictions making sense (is it really that hard to imagine an engineer wanting to carry smoke grenades?!). Battlefield gives, and Battlefield taketh away.
Smooth framerates FTW
Where Battlefield 6 gives more than it takes is in its optimisation. This is thanks to the hard stance the devs have taken regarding the balance of optimisation and graphical spectacle. Our review period was spent playing at 1440p on an AMD PC from 2019 running a Ryzen 5 5600X with 16GB of DDR4 RAM and an RX 5700 XT. With this setup and a mixture of medium settings, we were able to enjoy stable, smooth 60+ framerates without the picture quality turning into an incomprehensible mess.
Battlefield 6 is less demanding than its quality suggests, and that means more people should be able to enjoy the chaos without needing a loan just to afford an upgrade to play the game. However, the current economic climate might dampen that somewhat. Thanks, AI! /s
Campaign? What campaign?
2042 didn’t feature a single-player campaign at all, so we were a little surprised to see one show up with BF6. That said, there isn’t much to it. You’re looking at roughly ten hours of largely forgettable, linear, stand-alone missions that do little for your immersion in the world that the rest of the game was created around. It feels tacked on as an afterthought. If you were hoping for a Bad Company-esque storyline with compelling characters, better luck next time.
Battlefield 6 verdict
While it’s true that Battlefield 6 has something to offer for everyone, it’s with a few caveats. If you’re after a similar multiplayer experience to Battlefield 3 or 4, you’re in for a treat. There’s a similar, more refined experience on offer, and while it can’t quite reach the heights of the golden oldies, it doesn’t dip as low as some of the other games in the franchise (we’re looking at you, Hardline).
Optimisation has been treated with the respect it deserves, instead of chasing a graphical fidelity that only a few can enjoy, and the sound design remains a highlight, as it has been in previous entries.
Depending on how you want to slice it, Battlefield 6 is tactical enough, accessible enough, and replayable enough – especially if you have three squadies close at hand. While the price of admission has increased, it’s worth it for the amount of fun that’s made available.
