My first introduction to Battlefield 6 came via a trailer in a large warehouse in Los Angeles. The video featured Limp Bizkit singing about a chainsaw. It was loud, bombastic, and frankly a bit embarrassing. But then I sat down and got to play over four hours of EA’s upcoming military FPS, and somehow, by the end, I was so won over by this new game that I almost forgot about Limp Bizkit. Almost.
A lot of ink has already been spilled covering Battlefield 6, from the leaks to the multiple alpha tests to various rumors and reports claiming it might cost over $400 million. This is a game that has four different studios (previously five) working on it. A game that EA is seemingly betting the farm on. A game that is meant to return the franchise to greatness after it stumbled in past entries, like BF 2042.
And EA and Battlefield Studios’ plan to pull all this off with Battlefield 6, launching this October, is simple, but smart: Make Battlefield 4 again, but with better visuals, improved gunplay, and a few ideas to freshen it up. That’s the fan favorite entry. The one people compare every other installment against. It might seem cynical to frame BF6 as “BF4 Again” but it’s practically what EA said during the on-stage event before I played the game. “A spiritual successor to Battlefield 3 and Battlefield 4” were exact words used by one developer. And as a fan of those games, I’m happy to report they (mostly) nailed it.
I and a whole army of other journalists, critics, and content creators got to play a handful of maps and modes in L.A. as part of a preview event ahead of the game’s full multiplayer reveal that happened on Thursday. (Travel and accommodation were provided to Kotaku by the publisher.) This wasn’t a finished build, but what I played felt good enough to ship.
Set in 2027, BF6 returns the franchise to a contemporary military setting. There are no crazy laser guns or robots. Instead, it’s M4s, Abrams tanks, shotguns, dusty streets, and frag grenades. This is a more grounded and gritty military shooter compared to recent Call of Duty entries.
Dangerous guns and different classes
Combat is loud and dangerous. The time to kill is fairly short, and headshots are extremely lethal. Every gun I used packed a punch and felt destructive. Battlefield 6, more than anything else, nails its gunplay and combat. Firefights are chaotic, but moving around the very dense but easy-to-navigate maps is a breeze thanks to improved controls. You can jump out windows, slide, roll when landing, sprint while crouched, and even shoot guns while lying on your back. Even when I was getting my ass kicked by some popular streamer, I still had a good time when playing the franchise’s famous Conquest mode because moving and shooting in BF6 is a joy. But like in BF4 and BF3, you move slowly and deliberately in BF6. Characters feel heavy, as do vehicles, making combat feel less like a twitchy arena shooter and more like a digital simulation of a real war.
Adding to that feeling of chaotic, gritty combat is the ability for any player to grab a downed player and drag them to safety before reviving them. I did this many times in my time with the game, often pulling fellow squad members out of harm’s way or out of the scope of a pesky sniper. It’s a small, simple, but surprisingly engaging mechanic that everybody I spoke to after the event loved. I expect some other games might steal it from BF6 in the future.
Classes return to Battlefield after being absent from 2042 at launch (and then later shoved back in via a post-launch update), and they work like they did in BF3/BF4. You can play as Assault, Support, Engineer, and Recon. Each class has a few key abilities and traits that help make them feel different during combat.
For example, the Assault trooper takes less fall damage and readies assault rifles quicker than anyone else, helping give them the edge in one one-on-one fights. Meanwhile, the Support trooper—my favorite—can place down chest-high bulletproof walls to provide cover, and can also provide ammo refills to teammates. They can also instantly revive players, which is faster than dragging them out of combat, but not as fun.
Having the traditional classes return in Battlefield 6 is both a nostalgic return to what I loved before and also a great reminder that, yeah, this is the best way to do a class-based shooter. However, one big change here from BF4 and BF3 is that classes can now spawn with any weapon. While there are some advantages for picking the specific weapon type suited to each class—like snipers getting to reload scoped rifles without leaving aim-down-sight—this new open weapon system does rob the classes of some individuality.
This is extremely noticeable in the smaller, more combat-focused modes that take place on specific sections of the larger maps. Here, a sniper becomes less useful, but the Recon troopers’ motion sensor is still nifty. So many players I fought during the event just swapped out a scoped rifle for an SMG. It ended up feeling less like Battlefield 3 and more like a Call of Duty clone. Thankfully, EA says BF6 will ship with playlists that feature locked class weapons, which is nice, but I worry how that will split the game’s fanbase in the weeks and months after launch.
Lots of destruction, but smaller maps
On the plus side: BF3 tank lovers, rejoice. Your armored mechanical beasts are very powerful in Battlefield 6. When an enemy tank would appear, I’d panic and dive for cover or try to get as many walls between me and it as possible. And thanks to BF6 bringing back Battlefield’s beloved destruction, tanks and other vehicles can quickly turn the tide of battle by ripping holes in walls or even demolishing sections of buildings. One of the funniest moments involving destruction that I experienced involved someone using a tank to knock out the wall and floor of a building I was camping in, sending me falling below into debris and enemy gunfire.
This is what EA is calling “Tactical Destruction,” which is the idea that levels should be extremely breakable and that destruction should not only look cool (which it does) but that it should serve a purpose. A single grenade or rocket can alter a shortcut or change up a hiding spot. I’ll need to see how other maps feel, but so far, what I’ve played has me excited to see how EA and Battlefield Studios design maps to be destructible in tactical ways.
Speaking of maps, all of the ones in BF6‘s preview were smaller than what was found in BF 2042. This is a good thing. It means you spend less time looking for action and more time fighting other players in chaotic shootouts. The maps also look gorgeous, with lots of lovely details, most of which get destroyed by the end. I also felt like they all funneled players into firefights efficiently and didn’t feel too barren or busy.
The devs at the event said they went back and got inspired by some of the classic maps fans love, and I can feel it. And all but one of the nine maps launching with BF6 are new. (The one exception is the return of Operation Firestorm.) This strikes me as the BF6 devs feeling confident in what they have made, and they should feel that way. These are some damn fine Battlefield maps.
I was sad when my four hours with Battlefield 6 were over. As someone who played way, way too much Battlefield 3 and Battlefield 4, BF6 is exactly what I wanted. It’s a return to the slower, grittier, louder, and smaller digital battles I (and other fans) prefer. It’s not a confusing and overly large mess, like BF 2042. Instead, BF6 feels like a refined, improved, and perfected version of a game people already loved. It might not be the most original or fresh spin on Battlefield, and that might limit how many new players it brings in. But what’s here is really good, and I can’t wait to play more when Battlefield 6 arrives on October 10. Hopefully, I won’t have to listen to Limp Bizkit before I play again.
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