After four hours with Battlefield 6, it’s evident this is the return to form we’ve all been waiting for. Bombastic, class-based, vehicle-infused FPS gameplay refined to the nth degree. It’s everything you could want from a new Battlefield.
When Medal of Honor turned Call of Duty creator Vince Zampella took the stage at the Battlefield 6 multiplayer reveal event in sunny Los Angeles, 25 years removed from his first FPS credit, you got the sense he was just a little bit excited about his next endeavour in the genre. “Battlefield f***ing 6!” the now leader of the EA franchise yelled.
After then playing the game myself for roughly four hours, I shared Zampella’s energy. Battlefield is f***ing back.
The new iteration doesn’t reinvent the wheel nor does it veer the franchise into uncharted territory with bold innovations. Instead, BF6 doubles down on everything that’s made the series shine in the past. Core fundamentals were given priority and it shows.
From just this small taste, it’s easy to understand why those on the dev team are so eager to get the game in people’s hands. It’s an absolute blast in all the ways you’d expect. They just need to stick the landing.
Back to the roots
“We know we have to nail gunplay, classes, and vehicles,” Battlefield General Manager Byron Beede said when he joined Zampella on stage. It’s a simple statement, but one that carries weight in relation to Battlefield.
These are core pillars that some would argue have been neglected in recent iterations. I certainly felt that way when Battlefield 2024 launched and well, it’s safe to say plenty of devs now feel similarly upon reflection, hence the direction of BF6.
Four studios full of staff dotted around the globe are pushing the basics in this new release. It’s all about “conviction, confidence, and focus,” as Creative Director Thomas Andersson told me in a private interview.
That means gunplay that feels snappier and more dynamic than before. A class system that actually has bearing over not only your squad’s success, but the outcome of the entire match. Maps designed in such a way as to provide a blend of all-out anarchy in vast open spaces along with close-quarters opportunities to express your skill on foot. It’s all very simple on paper but so incredibly impactful when done right.
Rest assured, if you’re a veteran of the series, you’ll feel right at home here. It’s that classic BF gameplay you know and love, just modernized with all the latest bells and whistles. In a way, it’s as though the teams involved remembered who they were and what put them on the map to begin with. A real ‘Y’all must’ve forgot’ moment if ever there was one.
Pushing to the limit
From Conquest on enormous mountainous maps to Domination on tiny, three-lane layouts in serene villages, all of it provided that controlled chaos only Battlefield can deliver. Whether it’s soaring through the skies in a jet or quietly flanking on foot, the varied gameplay experiences are all here as you’d expect and they’re as engrossing as ever.
In one match, I dropped 25 kills in a game of TDM, constantly rushing through indoor spaces with an SMG. In another, I was focused solely on removing every vehicle I saw. Tank giving you troubles? No problem, I’ll get it sorted.
Every round of the globetrotting, mode-hopping hands-on preview gave us something different, yet it was all distinctly Battlefield. The sandbox many of us adored for years on end has returned after years of largely being brushed aside in favor of new mechanics and twists on the formula that simply didn’t resonate.
“To me, Battlefield 6 is us trying to take everything that we’ve done over the last 20 years of Battlefield, everything we’ve done great, everything our fans love, take the best of that, and push it further than we ever have,” Ripple Effect Vice President Christian Grass told me.
“The destruction, the classes, the core combat, the maps, the vehicles, the new features like drag and revive – game changer for Support players – It’s the culmination of everything, and there’s no compromise anywhere. There’s a lot in here that’s the best it’s ever been.”
While you’d certainly hope game devs would describe their latest project as the best one yet, when Grass, a man with decades of experience on the franchise, stressed just that in our interview, it felt genuine. Here’s a developer that’s been tied to the series since 2001 calling it “the best Battlefield game we’ve ever created.” Despite all the highs he’s led the charge on, he’s still bursting at the seams to shout from rooftops and sing BF6’s praises.
It’s an infectious energy, and it’s hard to feel anything else but that gleeful joy when 15 different explosions are rattling your screen as you parachute into the heart of combat.
Obviously, however, four hours on a high-end PC rig is a very small sample that doesn’t quite represent the average experience. We all know how the hype behind 2042 panned out, and it’s worth being cautious this go around as a result. But that’s a point the devs are acutely aware of, not shying away from the topic when pressed on how they’re seeking to avoid a repeat scenario.
“If [the reveal stream] doesn’t convince you, there’s an Open Beta. Play the game. You make the call. We believe in this game, that’s why we’re opening it up to everyone,” Grass added.
A Portal opens a million doors
Our hands-on time was spent exclusively with BF6’s multiplayer component, but in the grand scheme, that’s just one part of the package. We know to expect a full-fledged campaign, a new type of experience separate from BF6 (all signs point to another attempt at a Battle Royale), but what really stood out above all the rest came as a huge surprise.
When 2042 launched a few years back, I was extremely bullish on Portal. The tools available at the time were admittedly limited, but the potential was there from the very beginning. A way for fans to design their own custom modes and wacky gameplay scenarios just makes perfect sense for Battlefield.
Thankfully, EA agrees and has opted to double down on Ripple Effect’s efforts. Portal is set to be available at launch for BF6, but it’s far more intricate than ever before, to the point I can genuinely see it become the next big content creator craze.
When the LA crowd was shown a snippet of Portal, it received the loudest ovation of the day. Hundreds of streamers were shocked, no doubt instantly starting to ponder what crazy ideas they could come up with to entertain audiences around the globe.
With all due respect to the Halo series and the legendary Forge mode, Portal looks to be the next big evolution allowing for far more detailed creations.
Speaking with the devs, I asked them to share some examples they’ve seen internally. The first that came to mind was a surprisingly fleshed-out Horde mode. One that pit a squad of four against increasingly tougher AI enemies. One wave even spawned into the map by parachuting down overhead. Terrifying stuff.
Over time in this mode, you’re accumulating a currency of some sort. There are buy stations around the map in which to then exchange said currency for more lives or weapons. All of it, from the functionality to the UI of the buy stations had been hand-crafted from the ground up in Portal, as Grass detailed.
By implementing Portal directly into the core BF6 experience, making these custom modes easy to find and easy to access, they’re vastly expanding the appeal of the FPS series in a way we haven’t quite seen before.
Battlefield 6 hits store shelves on October 10, but you can go hands-on early just like I did by checking out the Beta weekends. It all kicks off on August 9-10 and then August 14-17.
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