My first proper introduction to the Battlefield series came via Bad Company 2. Strapping C4 onto a quad bike and driving it haphazardly into an enemy tank never got old, and the level of destruction that was possible blew my young mind. I have fond memories of Bad Company 2, but it’s not my Battlefield. From the initial reveal trailer, right through my hundreds of hours exclusively using the G36C, Battlefield 3 was, and is to this day, my all-time favourite online multiplayer title. So when DICE producer Jeremy Chubb mentioned during a Q&A session that the upcoming Battlefield 6 should be seen as a continuation from Battlefield 3 and 4, I found it difficult to contain my excitement.
I recently attended the Battlefield 6 multiplayer reveal event in Los Angeles, where I spent a number of hours going hands-on with the next game in the long-running first-person shooter franchise. While there’s still a great deal from the overall package that I haven’t yet played, I feel confident saying that Battlefield 6 has the potential to shake up the online shooter scene in a big way.
In a testament to how jam-packed with content this game will be, the opening briefing for the event, including the aforementioned Q&A, stretched on for over an hour, with various DICE, Ripple Effect, Motive, and Criterion developers enthusiastically explaining the multiple modes, maps, and features we would soon be testing. Finding my station and immediately switching from the provided keyboard to a trusty DualSense, we kicked off with a true Battlefield classic: Conquest.
Conquest matches are littered with vehicles peeling across the map
Dropped into a massive mountainous map with bases filled with tanks, buggies, and helicopters, the large-scale action kicked off immediately, and the chaos never stopped. A legacy mode at this stage, Conquest has two teams of 32 players vying for control of various control points spread throughout the map, with the losing team bleeding tickets until one side is dry. It’s a familiar mode, but the sheer scope of it never fails to impress, with Battlefield 6’s take being no exception.
Destruction is a core tenet of the Battlefield experience, and our time playing Conquest was the perfect introduction to the changes and improvements that’ve been made. Houses and barns in the rural setting provide cover for infantry units right up until a tank decides to turn its walls into rubble. While the visual effects are unique and impressive each time you take ordinance to a structure, the practical outcome is purposely dependable. Creative Director Thomas Anderrson explained to us that the destructible environment need to be consistent for there to be a tactical purpose for it, and I felt that sentiment each time my cover was blown (literally) or when I would take a rocket launcher to the ceiling to deal with enemy players upstairs. There’s also a level of granularity to the destruction that calls back to Bad Company in a way that many long-standing fans of the series will greatly appreciate. Looking back at the map in the closing moments of a match and comparing it to how you first found it is satisfying in the same way that knocking over your sibling’s sandcastle is. Someone put hard work into creating this, and you’ve come in and obliterated it. Brilliant.
If wide-open maps and turning buildings into dust are Battlefield foundations, the class system would be the bedrock. After taking a controversial hiatus in 2042, the tried and true classes are returning in Battlefield 6. The classic Assault, Support, Engineer, and Recon classes are back, with class-specific gadgets and tailored roles within a squad. I didn’t outright hate the Specialists in 2042, but slipping back into the Engineer class with the vehicle-repairing blow torch and vehicle-annihilating RPG felt like popping on that one coat you’ve had for decades. Comfortable, reliable, right.
Players will now be able to hitch a ride on the back of a tank. Best of luck with that
Not only do the classes put an emphasis back on squad synergy, but dedicated training abilities hint at more meaningful progression and tide-turning opportunities during tense moments. As the Engineer, I gained the ability to boost my vehicle repair speed by 50% simply by capturing points and supporting my team. Admittedly, I didn’t get a chance to tinker with this system as much as I would’ve liked, but the small slice I did get was tantalising.
Classes returning and the vast suite of game modes will dominate headlines, but it’s the tweaks and improvements made to the moment-to-moment gunplay and movement that are felt the most with a controller in hand. Thoughtful new inclusions, such as the ability to drag a downed teammate while you revive them or mount your weapon on a doorframe or low-lying wall, underpin what Battlefield Studios calls the Kinesthetic Combat System. It was framed to us as a way to onboard players without the need for a formal tutorial, and as I leaned around a corner using contextual prompts alone, I can say with confidence that it worked as advertised. Few things make you feel more heroic than dragging your teammate out of a dire situation in an effort to get them back in the fight.
The gunplay is tight and responsive, with each of the weapons I tested, from carbines and LMGs to pistols and shotguns, coming with an excellent level of tactility and weight. The devs mentioned that the Kinesthetic Combat System will also help with training new players to deal with recoil simply by delicately correcting it as a reward for learning, but I’d need more time to validate that claim. What I can say is that each gun and piece of equipment felt satisfying to use and, as always, thanks to the unreal audio team at DICE, sounded incredible.
The destruction is equally satisfying and tactical
Begrudgedly moving on from Conquest, my remaining three hours were spent working through a variety of other game modes, from classics like Rush and Domination, to genre stalwarts like Team Deathmatch and variations like Squad Deathmatch. Larger, more spaced-out modes like Rush showed off the vehicular insanity that the series is known for, while close-quarters modes like Domination highlighted the game’s slightly faster time-to-kill. The small-scale push and pull of Domination, which acts as a miniature version of Conquest, was a standout among the more confined game types, with frantic firefights mixing well with tactical strategy. Squad Deathmatch pits four teams of four against each other on a tiny map, and that resulted in some all too messy encounters, but Team Deathmatch balanced the books a bit better.
The maps I got to experience feel right at home with some of the best offerings the series has seen, and they chop and change depending on the mode you’ve chosen. Cairo in Conquest features vast, open dunes suited for tank warfare and air-to-ground domination, whereas the variation you’ll find in Domination consists of a dense collection of buildings with tight corners and limited sight lines. The devs referred to specific combat zones that can be pulled out and altered to fit the needs of smaller modes while retaining the overall feel of the map, and the brief demonstration I was given was a positive one.
There’s so much more I could drone on about, from the improved UI to the new vehicle-based features that allow for greater traversal choice, and that speaks volumes to the care that has been put into making Battlefield 6 a return to form for the series. I haven’t had a chance to play the new multiplayer mode, Escalation, or mess around with the uplifted Portal suite, and this event didn’t feature a whiff of the game’s single-player campaign. Still, I spent four full hours playing a slice of the multiplayer and was devastated when I had to pack up my stuff and leave. There are a great many questions I still want answered, but based on what I played in LA, it feels a lot like Battlefield is back.
Battlefield 6 will release on PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC on October 10.
Previewed on PC at a preview event hosted by EA
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