Explosions, gunfire and destruction – Battlefield 6 knows how to captivate a long-time fan of the series. I played Battlefield 6 in advance and spent around 25 hours in multiplayer. This is my impression so far.
Who is writing here? Dariusz is a passionate shooter player. Whether PvE or PvP, when there are guns involved, Dariusz is present. His first Battlefield experiences were during his school days in his buddy’s gaming PC during free periods, who lived close to school and was a huge fan of Battlefield 3. Battlefield 4 was Dariusz’s real entry into the series. Since then, he has spent hundreds of hours in various installments, but he also plays the competition: Delta Force, Rainbow Six: Siege, Call of Duty, The Finals, Counter-Strike, Valorant, Insurgency: Sandstorm, Hell Let Loose, Escape from Tarkov. With thousands of hours in different shooters, he now looks forward to Battlefield 6.
Weapons, gadgets, and new features that are fun
One of the most important aspects of a new shooter is the weapons and the gunplay. I find that Battlefield 6 has done well in that regard overall. There’s a decent selection for different situations. Short or long distance, fully automatic or semi-automatic, high damage or high rate of fire – there’s something for everyone. And they sound really punchy and feel that way too.
The respective weapons also feel different, making it fun to try out the various firearms and maximize their potential with attachments. It becomes clear that, for example, SMGs with a high rate of fire are not meant for long-range combat. On the other hand, it’s obvious that weapons with high damage, low fire rate, and minimal recoil perform well at long distances but are inferior to SMGs and shotguns in close combat. This results in a seemingly successful, naturally balanced weapon gameplay at first glance.
Nevertheless, the weapon behavior is memorable and intuitive. You don’t need to be a pro to handle a weapon in its respective specialty. It’s important to understand where a weapon has its strengths and weaknesses.
The highlights of the game also include the new gadgets and features of Battlefield 6. The ability to revive a fallen comrade is extremely well done. I raved about this feature after the beta. Additionally, we now have the sledgehammer as a melee weapon, allowing even a support player to breach a wall without handing them a powerful C4.
I am also a big fan of the new assault soldier ladder. It’s a very practical addition and allows for quickly reaching an elevated position or unexpectedly flanking an enemy by coming through a window instead of the stairs. In the test, I saw a ladder leading to a container. I then placed my own ladder on the container to get into a building from there – that was great.
The biggest concerns of the community are not a problem
After the beta of Battlefield 6, there were mainly two major criticisms that troubled part of the community:
- The movement is too fast: this is Battlefield and not Call of Duty.
- The maps are too small, and accordingly, the overall game speed is too high; we also need large maps.
The movement
In my opinion, the movement is just right. It’s not as extreme as, for example, the new Call of Duty: Black Ops 7, and it’s not so slow, sluggish, and realistic as in military simulations.
Although the movement system was slightly “nerfed” after the beta, it is hardly noticeable for the average player. The change particularly affects those who managed to perform unintended, extreme maneuvers through certain techniques.
If you found the movement in the beta too fast and frantic, it might still be too fast for you. But as I already mentioned after the beta: Maybe you will enjoy games like Arma or Squad more if Battlefield 6 feels too fast. I personally like it.
The maps
In the beta, we could play four maps: Iberian Offensive, Siege of Cairo, Liberation Peak, and Empire State. With the exception of Liberation Peak, all these maps are relatively small and focus on fast close-quarter combat.
With the full release, Battlefield 6 has five additional maps:
- Manhattan Bridge
- Operation Firestorm
- Saints Quarter
- New Sobek
- Mirak Valley
Some of these maps are noticeably larger, but without endless vastness and limited cover – a problem from the notorious predecessor.
Manhattan Bridge is a medium-sized city map with buildings you can access, walkable houses, plenty of cover, and wide streets. There are both helicopters and tanks here. It serves as a middle ground between the large and small maps, offering space for intense battles at varying distances.
New Sobek and Mirak Valley are large maps that offer wide spaces and play slower. Nevertheless, there are also hotspots where infantry fight for flag control. Similarly, Operation Firestorm fits this concept, but Battlefield veterans have known it for years.
Overall, I found the mix of maps and gameplay speed good. There are small and large maps, and aside from Liberation Peak, I really enjoy playing them all – with a small reservation regarding the game modes.
Battlefield 6 has the perfect new mode, but a weakness in a classic
With Battlefield 6, a new mode called Escalation is introduced, where 64 players fight for flag control on large maps. Unlike Conquest, the flags are destroyed over time, and the team that holds the flag at that moment gets one point. The first team to reach 3 points wins.
The gameplay of Escalation is reminiscent of Conquest, but – as the name aptly describes – with the caveat that the battle inevitably escalates. If both teams hold the same number of flags, you will eventually have to fight for the last remaining flag. And then it gets really intense.
The mode is exciting, action-packed, and fits perfectly into the Battlefield gameplay feel. I definitely see myself playing this new mode more often in the future, even if Conquest remains my favorite.
The big BUT: I will definitely avoid playing Breakthrough on Manhattan Bridge – at least as an attacker. It should have already been the first sector that usually brought the round to an end. The attackers have almost no chance. That wasn’t just my feeling; it was something that was heard in the in-game chat almost every round during the test – even from truly strong players like the German-speaking content creators Lost and Benbit, who regularly topped the scoreboard.
Eventually, it was finally time: the attackers managed to take the first sector and even win the match. It was the first and only time during the test, but it was definitely a celebratory moment. Still, it wasn’t fun on that map.
Additionally, a bland aftertaste was the limited availability for playing with restricted weapons – meaning the classic Battlefield experience, where some weapon types are only reserved for certain classes.
Although there is a corresponding playlist, that is only one option. The focus is on playlists with open weapons. Thus, we cannot select the prioritization of matches with restricted weapons in personalized searches. The search only works with open weapons. So if you want to play only specific modes on specific maps, it initially only works with open weapons.
An important change makes aircraft usable
Aircraft have a tough standing in Battlefield. When they are good, seasoned pilots can easily dominate entire lobbies – but just as quickly, they can become completely useless. That was the case in the beta of Battlefield 6.
Every engineer could simultaneously carry an RPG and a Stinger to be prepared against both tanks and helicopters. Accordingly, we saw many pilots desperately trying to escape countless Stinger missiles in Liberation Peak – but eventually, everyone got hit.
With the full release, Stingers are now significantly weaker. Aircraft cannot be targeted if they fly below a certain altitude. A skilled pilot can thus use low flight to counter the auto-targeting missiles. Combined with the various mountains and valleys, it was even possible to survive in an aircraft for several minutes in Liberation Peak and even achieve kills – at least for a good pilot; I am not one.
Moreover, engineers must now decide again whether to take a missile launcher for air defense or one against tanks, as both options can no longer be equipped at the same time.
A huge problem I noticed way too late
It was the second day I was testing the multiplayer when suddenly an extremely annoying problem occurred: I played for about 3 hours but didn’t earn any experience points and didn’t level up. This meant that during this time I also didn’t unlock any new weapons or gadgets.
I wanted to unlock the assault rifle B36, which you get at level 14. After the first match, I thought I just hadn’t leveled up. After the second match, I realized I still didn’t have the weapon but thought I should have earned enough XP. I assumed the unlocking of weapons was faulty. That had been the case before but was quickly fixed by the developers. However, to play with the unlocked weapons, you had to restart the game – and I didn’t want to do that.
I was really having fun and didn’t want to waste time on a tedious restart. So I just played with other weapons and unlocked better attachments there. So I just kept playing, had fun, and didn’t pay attention to my level during that time.
Eventually, our session for the day ended, and I realized: Oh no, I’m still level 13. I didn’t level up in about 3 hours and even after restarting the game, I didn’t receive the XP and the weapons I should have earned during that time. That was extremely frustrating.
Fortunately, when I played the next match, I started receiving experience points again and could finally unlock the B36 along with the other weapons, but it was still annoying.
So definitely keep an eye on your experience points and level progress at release.
On a positive note, one can state that I only missed the problem because I was having so much fun with the game. Bugs can be fixed quickly and easily. I wouldn’t deter anyone from buying the game because of this error.
How is the performance? My toaster struggled, but was successful
It’s not often that we praise the performance of a game nowadays, but:
Battlefield 6 runs really well.
I don’t have the latest system, with an aging RTX 3070 and a Ryzen 3700X, but my gaming “toaster” held up well. Even in heated battles, I was able to record 75-85 FPS in WQHD on low settings.
In the test, I even had better performance than the predecessor Battlefield 2042 and am therefore very satisfied. This was mainly because Battlefield 2042 had an issue where it didn’t utilize all the cores of my CPU. Battlefield 6 manages that properly. In the nearly 25 hours in multiplayer, I didn’t experience a single stutter or FPS drop. There were two crashes, but I don’t know how they happened.
Before I come to a conclusion, you can read the impressions of MeinMMO editor Karsten Scholz here. Karsten usually covers MMORPGs but also knows a good deal about Battlefield. He has probably spent the most and best time in part 3. His conclusion on the campaign of Battlefield 6, which he has already completed:
Karsten’s impressions of the campaign of Battlefield 6
I am glad that Battlefield has once again received a real campaign with the sixth installment. It delivers in 9 missions and nearly 7 hours of gameplay a solid, sometimes well-staged warm-up for multiplayer.
The settings are certainly chosen for a reason, showcasing atmospheric lighting and particle effects, destructible environments, and various gadgets of the classes very vividly. Or to put it another way: It rumbles and booms, and on the side, you learn how to use drones, control tanks, and effectively eliminate enemy vehicles as infantry.
But don’t expect too much from the campaign at the same time. The Pax could hardly be more generic as antagonists. Your squad throws embarrassing cliché Marines one-liners at one another at every opportunity, and the AI of friends and foes sometimes acts wildly.
That I still had fun lies mainly in the strong gameplay foundation of Battlefield 6:
Many weapons just feel good, the revival while retreating should never disappear from the series, and when tanks collide while helicopters circle overhead and infantry seeks cover, then it’s simply there: that unique Battlefield atmosphere that we hope for in every installment of the series.
A shooter I will play for many hundreds of hours
Reflecting on my time with Battlefield 6 so far, I am convinced that I will be playing this shooter for many hundreds, if not thousands of hours. Especially since Battlefield is a game you can spontaneously jump into after a long break.
Battlefield 6 is simply something I can start playing and have fun.
I am not a fan of the campaign. It’s pretty, but the storytelling doesn’t captivate me; the embarrassing lines of the soldiers break immersion and feel inappropriate, and I find the German voice acting truly terribly done. But I play Battlefield primarily for the multiplayer, which I enjoyed a lot.
Reports from our colleagues at GameStar & GamePro
- GameStar: Battlefield 6 launches tomorrow, and I have already played for 20 hours: A grand comeback, but certainly not flawless
- GameStar: Battlefield 6 in single-player test: Who buys BF6 only for the campaign sees almost only the downsides of the shooter
- Battlefield 6 in the test: Battlefield is back!
I am also really looking forward to what the community will create with the Portal mode. I really see potential for endless content and look forward to custom modes like “Sniper vs. Runner,” which were a great change of pace from the regular gameplay loop in GTA Online.
If you’re still unsure whether you should buy Battlefield 6 after my impression report, I have compiled some basic facts for you about the game on MeinMMO: 7 things you should know before buying Battlefield 6
