We’ve seen two weekends of the Battlefield 6 open beta, now. It’s been fun, with some frustration chucked in there for good measure.
We wouldn’t be ninjarefinery.com if we didn’t share some thoughts on the whole thing, though, right.
How did it play? How did it feel? Is it going to be worth buying at launch?
Here’s our quick de-brief of the Battlefield 6 Open Beta.
Battlefield 6 Open Beta
Weekend one began, and it was a mixed bag for us.
The anticipated queues to get into the game on an opening weekend of a beta, meant we weren’t too shocked when severa thousand deep into getting into the game. These didn’t last long, though and we were in!
Matchmaking was swift, class selection easy. We’re good to go.
Starting to get a feel for the game. And it’s classic Battlefield. I’m reviving, spawning on squad, attacking objectives. All the things I love about the series here in full display.
Then……game closed. No warning, no errors. Approximaptely 5 minutes into a match and the game just crashes out.
Odd! But no worries, this is a beta. Re-load, go again. Same issue. Just getting into the groove and I’m hoofed-out. Rinse and repeat.
Very frustrating. But hey-ho. Our time for the beta on that first weekend was limited, and we were sadly unable to make much progress with all these crashes. After a bit of digging, it looked like the anti-cheat was the cause, and we took steps to prepare for weekend two.
Not a solid start.
Weekend 2
Ok, here we go. Windows defender is disabled (as per some guidance online) and we’re in. No crashing-out, no queueing and straight into the action.
Battlefield 6 feels like DICE et al are firing on all cylinders to make Battlefiled 6 succeed. Tight, modern combat. Cities and mountain ranges as our playgrounds. Chaos and destruction, action never too far away.
To us, Battlefield 6 felt exactly as we’d expect it to in 2025. Sure it’s got some of that more modern movement and pace, but it’s incredibly snappy and feels like a game that knows it needs to both change, and stay the same.
Every match was fun. That has to be the only metric that matters, right? This felt like a proper, fun, Battlefield experience, and that’s enough to get started, in a limited-time beta, isn’t it?
The good
Let’s go with the positivies. Battlefield 6 runs like a dream. No changes to settings, not issues with framerates.
The initial concerns about the ability for my PC to be able to handle the destruction and the fidelity we’re allayed immediately. The game looks great, great lighting, textures and animations.
It’s just works. Which, let’s be honest is a surprise for an EA game at all, let alone in a Beta state.
Then you add-in the classic classes, people playing in squads semi-properly, and you’re laughing.
The destruction, whislt evident, didn’t feel quick as excessive as we’d expected. With grenades and grenade launchers doing no way near as much structural damage as I’d expected.
The one big stand-out change, though, was the ability to drag someone out of danger whilst reviving them. Or, being dragged and revived at the same time. It made the game feel like a more realistic, active warzone where you’re fighting to keep people alive. For such a minor adjustment to the core game, it really felt like a massive step in immersion.
The bad
Not a lot to talk about here, to be honest. Battlefield 6 isn’t perfect, of course, but we have to be sensible with expectations going into a test version of the game.
The biggest, most obvious note, was that Time To Kill (TTK). Whilst we don’t expect to be bullet sponges, it felt like you were down really, really quickly. This is where it felt more like Blakc Ops 6 than I’d anticipated.
Sure, the pace and the smaller maps with infantry-focus were noticeable as well, but this is what felt the least “Battlefield”.
Maps in the beta were smaller than I think we were expecting. Tighter corridors, more buildings and smaller overall spaces. Coming off Battlefield 2042, it feels like a massive down-scale. But the big complaint in 2042 was that maps were too big…..so how do DICE win?
The TTK is fast, and the focus on smaller, infantry-based combat feels a little too Call of Duty. But this is a beta and there are more maps to come at full launch. So let’s all just breathe a little and enjoy what there is.
Sniper scope glint is the most blatant I’ve ever seen. It feels fair when you’re on the receiving end, but a little excessive when you’re trying to fulfill that recon role and be a bit of a ghost.
Worth a buy?
If you want a new Battlefield online multiplayer experience. Then sure. Battlefield 6 is certainly going to give you that, and give you a seemingly well-built, modern take on the series.
With new maps, a single player campaign, and presumably additional content on a roadmap we’ll see in due course (this is the way of the world now, after all).
If the bigger maps bring with them the open areas where it feels dangerous to run, but it might just be that sneaky flank route you need. Boats, choppers, tanks. Give us more of that classive large-scale Battlefield and I think it’s a winner.
Should EA go with Battlepasses (of course they will….) and cosmetics etc to squeeze money out of players, after paying for a full-priced game. Then maybe hold off until it’s on sale.
I don’t mind free-to-play monetisation (let’s not forget the Battle Royale due to come, too!), when the game is free-to-play. But when it’s a full-priced game, with additional, regular costs, it’s a bit grating.
October isn’t too far away
Battlefield 6 looks set to launch well, and give the fans what they need/want (unless you believe the ever-whiney subreddit, of course).
The broad-strokes of the game are exactly what long-time fans want, and the changes are clearly geared towards becoming a competitive series in the genre again. With the massive focus on content creators at the gameplay launch event, EA are going all-in to get this to land.
I’m sure we’ll see more press releases and speculation between now and October, so keep your ear to the ground.
Don’t pre-order an EA game, we all know better by now. So just wait until launch and see if it’s in good shape. If it is, then fill your boots! But don’t let EA have another awful launch, and already have your money.