I’ve been watching the hype for Battlefield 6 with a mix of excitement and, let’s be honest, a bit of dread.
After the last couple of outings and the general state of the FPS world, I wasn’t sure what to expect. But the trailers hit all the right notes: jets, tanks, massive maps, pure chaos. It looked like the Battlefield we all love. Even as a Battlefield 2042 apologist site (we still think it’s wicked!), we still yearned for something a bit “more like Battlefield”.
We’d been playing the beta (and writing about it), but finally caved and picked up the full release. Sinking every spare hour into it for the past week or so, and… I’m torn.
But mostly, it’s an absolute blast, with some big, glaring exceptions.
Battlefield 6
Multiplayer
Let’s get this out of the way: the classic 64-player Conquest mode is incredible.
It’s that perfect Battlefield we all love. Battlefield 6, is as “Battlefield” as you wanted it to be, for sure.
There’s nothing in gaming that matches the feeling of spawning into a chopper with a friend on comms, diving into a cloud of smoke to revive a squadmate, or the sheer scale of the battle unfolding around you. Battlefield 6 brings it all.
A single 30-minute match can feel like an entire movie. You’ve got tank aces dueling on a hill, a persistent engineer (probably us) making their lives miserable with RPGs, and two jet pilots locked in a personal war above it all. This is the sandbox. This is the “find your own fun” magic that has been missing from so many shooters lately.
And the sound! Oh, the sound.
Battlefield 6 is a game you play with good headphones. The ear-splitting scream of a jet tearing past, the thump of a tank shell hitting the building you’re in… it’s terrifying and amazing. Running, then diving prone as a tank shell flies past your head, it sounds and feels incredible.
The guns feel punchy, reactive, and just plain good to shoot. Gradually (very gradually, more on that later) unlocking new guns and attachements means there’s plenty to dig into and try. You’ll find the right set-up for you no matter the role or map.
Maps
There’s a lot of noise around map size and scale online. I think it’s too much fuss from people who don’t really know what they want. These are the same folk that cried about maps being too big in Battlefield 2042. Here, in Battlefield 6, we have tight CQC spaces, lines of sight for snipers. Routes for vehicles and air control. It’s all here.
Room for improvement? Sure. But even the new map Blackwell Fields was painted to be this walking disaster of just open fields, and it’s nothing like that at all. Ignore the noise and see for yourself.
You can play the role you want, and fulfil it with ease on any map. Although certainly you might find it harder to be a sniper in a map that’s city streets and close-quarters combat.
All being well, over time, we’ll see some bigger maps, maybe classic Battlefield staples, where you start on a ship and fly or get on attack boats to the mainland?
Solid launch
It’s sad that we have to mention this in 2025, but it’s somehow more important and noteworthy than ever. Battlefield 6 launched with great success. Some queues, yes. But the game was fully playable and accessible to everyone from the minute it went live. This is a massive achievement these days.
Plus, on my PC, it runs like a dream. This is something we really need to talk about. In an era where it feels like every major AAA game launches as a broken, buggy mess (we’ve all seen those terrible PC ports this year), Battlefield 6 is a breath of fresh air.
It’s stable, it’s smooth, and it’s incredibly well-optimised. Just being able to boot up a game this massive on day one and have it just work is a huge win, and honestly, other big studios should be taking notes. It’s refreshing.
Campaign
A very bland modern military story with some ok setpieces, but mostly linear, boring and uninteresting. It feels like a knock-off of a Modern Warfare game, which is the last thing I want from Battlefield. Rarely does a game like this feel like a slog, but Battlefield 6 managed to do that, which is really disappointing.
There are achievements attached to it, so you may well want to play through it for those. But there’s no real replay value or anything that makes you want to go and re-live it.
Normally we try to be positive and give a perspective on it to help it shine. But it’s just a generic, flat going through the motions for the sake of having it in there. Which is a shame.
Progression
There’s a grind in a game, and then there’s Battlefield 6 progression.
As someone who’s always juggling 3-4 games at a time for this site, the last thing I want is a game that feels like a second job. The first 20 levels are painfully slow, and unlocking new gadgets and guns feels like pulling teeth.
The attachments themselves are… fine? Most of them just reduce recoil, so it’s not like you’re making exciting choices.
Is It Worth It?
Here’s the thing. Despite the slow grind and the slog of a campaign, we can’t stop playing the multiplayer. It’s the only game we want to boot up at the end of the day. Something to just get an hour or so in, and just have fun.
Battlefield 6 isn’t a huge surprise, but it’s a massive refinement. It’s a return to form. It understands that the best Battlefield is a place to just mess around, create your own stories, and blow stuff up. The heart is back.
Fun is at the core of the multiplayer experience, and that’s a big enough driver for us. Why else do we play games if not to have fun?
If you’re here for a deep single-player story, run away. But if you, like me, have been yearning for that classic, large-scale sandbox warfare? Yeah, it’s good to be back.
Hard to say it’s exceptional when it’s carrying so much dead weight. But it’s definitely highly recommended!
