Battlefield has always been the less popular cousin of Call of Duty, but Electronic Arts’ long-running military shooter franchise has also always had its own identity. Battlefield games are more hardcore, more grounded, and more strategic than the run-and-gun frenzy at the core of every Call of Duty. They also operate at a far grander scale — 128 players on the map shooting at each other, blowing up buildings, flying fighter jets and helicopters, and commandeering tanks. In the absence of a new Battlefield game in the last four years, there has been no other multiplayer shooter that provides that all-out-war experience. Battlefield 6 is here to change that.
EA just concluded the first open beta for Battlefield 6, allowing players to experience some multiplayer maps and modes that will be available when the game launches on October 10. Over half a million players logged in to the game’s open beta concurrently over the weekend on Steam alone. I was one of them. The player numbers clearly show that a new Battlefield game has been long overdue. After spending several hours playing all the modes available in the beta, my cautious optimism for Battlefield 6 has turned into eager anticipation. The game seems to be working off the blueprint from Battlefield 3 and 4, offering the trademark chaotic, explosive, and immersive experience the series is known for.
Battlefield 6 has course-corrected to ditch the ‘Specialist’ system from Battlefield 2024 to bring back traditional classes. The game has also narrowed the focus down to intense 32v32 matches in detailed and immersive maps. And it has returned to a contemporary setting last seen in Battlefield 3 and 4. The result seems to be a back-to-basics, no nonsense multiplayer military shooter that trusts in the tenets of the series to deliver what players want. And in a market saturated with serious shooters aspiring to be Fortnite to woo kids with Nicki Minaj, Seth Rogan, and Beavis and Butt-Head skins, Battlefield 6 is set to stand out as an FPS for adults.
Movement and Gunplay
The first noticeable change in Battlefield 6 can be seen in the movement system. You’re not only faster in combat, but also more agile. This is the most manoeuvrable that Battlefield has ever felt. Crouch running is back and going prone is more dynamic, allowing you to switch directions, aim, and shoot while lying down on the ground. Leaning from cover is now contextual, and the game also comes with smoother animations to sprinting, crouching, vaulting and other actions.
The gunplay is what you’d expect from a new Battlefield game, but it also seems like the developers have taken some inspiration from Call of Duty. EA’s Vince Zampella, a Call of Duty veteran, is now in charge of the Battlefield franchise. So, it’s not a surprise to see Battlefield 6 embrace a tighter shooting mechanic that makes for more frenetic online matches. Weapon recoil, which is distinctly tied to each firearm, seems to have been reduced. EA also says it has reduced time between pressing fire input and the appearance of bullets, which makes the shooting feel more responsive. Each weapon, of course, has its own feel that can be further tweaked with attachments.
Battlefield 6’s gunplay is tight and responsive
Photo Credit: EA/ Screenshot – Manas Mitul
Open Beta Maps and Modes
The first open beta featured three multiplayer maps: Siege of Cairo, Iberian Offensive, and Liberation Peak. The first two are highly urban maps with city blocks, alleys, squares, and residential buildings. These two maps were the perfect sandbox for Battlefield 6’s destruction system. Explosive weapons and heavy vehicles can level entire buildings, destroying walls, floors, and ceilings.
Over time, you can see these dense urban maps lined with rubble and littered with ruins of blown apart buildings. Destruction can be used tactically, as well. A big building with lots of windows can be levelled to prevent snipers nesting in them, or wall cover can be destroyed to expose enemies. In one instance, I was taking cover behind the side wall of a building in Siege of Cairo and leaning out to take shots at an opposition squad. When they spotted me, an RPG fire brought down the entire building on my head.
My favourite among the three maps available in the first open beta, however, was Liberation Peak. It reminded me of some expansive mountainous maps of Battlefield 1. The map is situated on a mountainside in Tajikistan and its vast stretches are ideal playground for vehicular and aerial combat. The rocky terrain also provides some of the best sniper spots you can find in the three maps available during the first beta. Digging in at a good spot and then finding yourself engaged in a cat-and-mouse exchange with an enemy sniper is exactly the kind of experience that has always drawn me to Battlefield games.
Siege of Cairo features a dense urban setting with plenty of room for destruction
Photo Credit: EA
Liberation Peak was also the perfect map for Battlefield’s Conquest multiplayer mode. I tried out all the modes available — Domination, King of the Hill, Breakthrough — but most of my open beta experience was spent playing Conquest on all available maps. Shorter, faster modes like Domination, Team Deathmatch can be found in any first-person shooter, but the large scale warfront chaos of Conquest is inimitably Battlefield.
The mode also encourages you to work with your four-player squad and play to the objective. This is admittedly difficult to do when playing with strangers online, but playing online with friends in your squad has always been the best Battlefield experience. During the open beta, however, I did find players willing to play as a team, especially with the return of traditional classes. There’s a new drag and revive feature, as well, that allows you to, well, drag your downed squad mates out of the line of fire and revive them.
Liberation Peak is crafted for large-scale conflict and aerial combat
Photo Credit: EA/ Screenshot – Manas Mitul
Battlefield Studios has also worked to add value to all four classes in the game: Assault, Recon, Support, and Engineer, but keeping the classes open makes them less distinct from one another. If you can pick a weapon from the Assault class and deploy as a Sniper, the point of having traditional classes is diluted. Battlefield 6 does, however, feature a locked weapons playlist, but it would have been nicer to see a stricter approach to classes in general.
Graphics and Performance
More of the Battlefield 6 gameplay experience will reveal itself when the second open beta goes live on August 14, but the first beta leaves no doubt about the game’s visual fidelity. Battlefield 6 seems to have benefited from sticking to PC and current-generation consoles and dropping support for PS4 and Xbox One. With its highly detailed environments, lighting, character models, and assets, the game is stunning to look at. The Liberation Peak map distinguishes itself in the visual department, too, showing off snowcapped mountain ranges that surround the combat area.
Battlefield 6 is a graphical powerhouse
Photo Credit: EA/ Screenshot – Manas Mitul
The menu and UI are slick and minimalistic, too, at least during the beta. One can hope that EA doesn’t increase the clutter when the game fully launches with its single-player campaign and all multiplayer modes in October. It’s definitely a refreshing change from the overbearing and overwhelming menus of recent Call of Duty games that double as a hub for multiple COD titles, modes, and store pages. It is, however, disappointing to see that the Server Browser, a series staple that was removed from Battlefield 2042, is not returning to Battlefield 6. EA has, however, confirmed it will be available in the Portal mode, where players can create custom maps and experiences.
Battlefield 6 also seems to be well optimised for PC. While its eye-watering visuals led to dips in performance, especially during moments of intense combat and large-scale destruction, I mostly found a way to get a more consistent performance by playing around the graphical settings.
We tested the game on a rig provided by CyberpowerPC India, which features a 13th Gen Intel Core i5-13400F processor, 16GB DDR5 RAM, Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 graphics card, and 1TB NVMe M.2 SSD (PCIe Gen4). On high settings at 2K resolution, I did experience occasional frame drops and stuttering. I switched to medium preset and was able to get a stable 60fps performance from the game. You can also dive further into settings and set custom parameters that work best for your PC.
Battlefield 6’s second open beta will add an additional map and three modes
Photo Credit: EA
EA has said this was the biggest open beta in Battlefield history. On Steam, the open beta peaked at 5,21,079 concurrent players, surpassing the peak Steam concurrent player count of any previous Call of Duty release. The signs are encouraging for Battlefield 6. The open beta experience points to a return to form for the series, but players must also temper their expectations. The second open beta will add another map and three more modes to try out, but the complete multiplayer experience, along with the single-player campaign, can only be judged at launch.
It’s clear, however, that EA took its time to craft a Battlefield experience that fans want after the disappointment of Battlefield 2042. A strong release will also provide some necessary competition to Activision, which seems to have taken its first-person military shooter crown for granted. If Battlefield 6 can deliver on all the expectations come October, it might just end up becoming one of the more beloved entries in the franchise.
