If we ignore Hardline, it’s been a solid twelve years since we’ve had a modern-day Battlefield game. That’s not to dismiss Battlefield 1 or V, both games which I enjoyed, but you don’t get the massive spectacle of a skyscraper crumbling around you or jets soaring past like you do with the modern ones. After the fumble that was 2042, Battlefield 6 brings the series back to what I love about it, pure unadulterated spectacle, and Battlefield Studios is firing on all cylinders with this one.
Battlefield 6
Developer: Battlefield Studios
Price: $70
Platform: PC (reviewed), PS5 and XSX
MonsterVine was supplied with a PC code for review
To start off with, the weakest part of this package, let’s briefly dip into Battlefield 6’s story mode. Whereas Call of Duty campaigns generally feel like a Michael Bay flick, Battlefield has fared a bit worse with their campaigns, with, at their worst, feeling like tutorials for the multiplayer and at their best feeling like some war movie you’d find in the bargain DVD bin at Walmart. The game has you playing as members of Dagger 13, an elite team of marines set on stopping a PMC from acquiring and launching deadly missiles that could “reshape global power”. It’s beyond generic, and there were moments where I genuinely forgot what the plot even was. It’s a bummer because this campaign culminates in what’s probably one of the most exhilarating levels in the series’ history; it’s just a shame you have to trudge through a few hours of mediocrity to get to it.
Classic Battlefield Classes Make a Comeback
If you read my review of Battlefield 2042, you’d see I was pretty viscerally opposed to the change of traditional classes into the more hero-focused “specialists”. This new system had it so that instead of the four traditional classes, there were ten specialists you could choose from, who could all equip what weapon/gadget you’d want. Their only difference was what unique ability they had, like seeing through walls or having a grappling hook. On top of that, this also mucked up the game’s visual identity as it became difficult to tell who was on what team when all the specialists looked the same, and you didn’t even know if that sniper specialist was equipped with sniper gear. My major concern going into Battlefield 6 was what Battlefield Studios would do: double down or return to basics? Thankfully, they seemed to have realized that they got a little lost in the sauce and have returned to the classes we know and love, albeit with some tweaks.
We’ve returned to the standard four classes: Assault, Recon, Engineer, and Support, but there are some slight changes to how some of these classes work. Perhaps my favorite change is making the Support class the one for supporting your team, as they now have defibrillators to heal and ammo bags for resupplying. This is probably the smartest class change they’ve done in years, as it now allows the Assault class to focus on frontline combat, instead of having to play double duty as main combatant and squad healer.
Additionally, while all classes can now equip whatever primary weapon they want, you’re at least encouraged to pick a class’s “signature weapon” as it’ll grant passive benefits for doing so. For example, Engineers will see a boost to their hip-fire accuracy when using SMGs. I’d prefer if classes were simply locked to their specific weapon, but this is at least an acceptable middle ground of encouraging new players to stick to a class’s role. Each class also has a “Training Path” that you can equip, which actively improves your skills as you contribute to your team throughout a match, thus encouraging genuine teamwork. The Assault’s path sees them have extra grenades, then as you complete objectives or assist your squad, you’ll be able to unlock reduced movement penalties and fast reloads. Eventually, a class ability called “Rally Squad” temporarily gives your squad an adrenaline boost.
Perhaps one of the best updates is the new “Kinesthetic Combat System”. Not only does this allow you to peek around every bit of cover, but you can also hitchhike onto vehicles, crouch sprint, and even roll to break your fall from a high height. My favorite part of this system, however, is the ability to grab someone and drag them to cover as you’re reviving them. It’s one of the smartest changes to the game, both in terms of smart game design and adding to the spectacle of everything. Too many times, I was in awe of the chaos exploding around me as I sprinted out to save a squadmate and dragged them to cover, all while a tank burst through the building we were in. All of these tweaks just help reinforce Battlefield Studios’ commitment to bringing this series back to what worked in smart and thoughtful ways.
Multiplayer Is Battlefield 6’s Beating Heart
Moving onto the multiplayer proper, Battlefield 6 features eight modes across nine maps. You can expect your typical modes of Conquest, Breakthrough, Rush, Domination, King of the Hill, and two Deathmatch variations, but there’s the inclusion of the new Escalation mode as well. This mode, similar to Conquest, has you fighting to capture points across the map, but the twist here is that as the game goes on, points start disappearing, forcing players into increasingly tighter fighting spaces. It’s a neat twist that forces you to adjust how you play as the map changes.
I don’t think I played a mode or map that I disliked, as they all had their pros and cons, but the large-scale maps like the returning Operation Firestorm or the new Mirak Valley will always hold special spots in my heart. At the series’ core, I love being in the thick of massive engagements as dozens of players vie for control over areas as tanks roll through and jets scream overhead. Thinking you’re safe in a building only for chunks of it to get blown off, exposing you and your whole squad, or doing the same to an enemy team, is part of the thrill of playing a game in this series, and the integrity of that is kept in this game.
One point of contention that may spread across the community is Battlefield 6’s speedier gunplay. It’s not ridiculous to say that EA has been nipping at the heels of Call of Duty for decades now, and while they’ve been pretty good about staying in their own lane, you can definitely see the way Call of Duty has slowly influenced the franchise over the years. Battlefield 6’s movement and gunplay are perhaps some of the fastest it’s been, but not to a degree that stops it from still feeling like a Battlefield game in my opinion. You won’t be doing any 360-degree dolphin dives through windows or other equally silly maneuvers like that, but you’ll be moving across the map smoother than you would before. It’s another nice middle ground that’s clearly there to make new players more comfortable, but without taking away too much from the game’s identity
Portal is (thankfully) back. Objectively, the one redeeming factor from Battlefield 2042, think of Portal kind of like Battlefield’s LittleBigPlanet mode, where you can tinker with practically every aspect of the game you can think of to the point of adjusting how fast a player can throw things or if there’s infinite ammo. Want the game to play more like 1942 or Bad Company 2? Hell yeah, dude, go right ahead and make that shit. There’s an almost overwhelming breadth of options to tweak from player controls, vehicles, AI, the UI, and the map rotations. It’s one of the best additions to the series, and I’m ecstatic to see its return.
The Final Word
Battlefield 6 is the return to form the series has been needing, and it truly is at its best here.
MonsterVine Rating: 4.5 out of 5 – Great
