Oh baby, it’s good to be back!
If you know anything about me then you know that I am an old school Battlefield fan. I have played (almost) every entry of this series since its first release of 1942 back in 2002. Man, oh man, the number of hours I spent with my friends’ driving tanks and capturing points is too many to remember. And while this series has had some highs and lows, (I honestly think they need to go back to Vietnam, I liked that one) it has consistently delivered on its promise of moments that you can only have in Battlefield. After the disappointing entry that was BF 2042, I am happy to say that with Battlefield 6; we are so back.
In case you don’t know, Battlefield is a first-person shooter with a focus on classes and vehicles. Just as in past entries, Assault, Engineer, Support, and Recon all return but what each one does might be different depending on what the last Battlefield entry you played. Assault is your run-and-gun style, proficient with assault rifles and grenades launches and has a faster health regen. This is the equivalent of the CoD type player. The next two are my personally favorite ways to play; Engineer is going to be the vehicle hunters. Proficient with SMG’s (not at all my favorite primary) these solders can repair vehicles and come with mines, rockets and other means of making things go ‘BOOM’. Support is my main class in Battlefield, these heroes are often overlooked because the kill count isn’t high, but I guarantee you the Supports are the reason your team won. These unsung heroes provide groups with health and ammo, as well as have the ability to revive fallen soldiers.
*PRO TIP* The game indicates when a support is near, DO NOT RESPAWN YOURSELF IF ONE IS NEAR YOU. If the support gets you up it saves your team a ticket, and as we all know tickets are how we win.
MSRP: $69.99
Platforms: Xbox (reviewed), PlayStation, PC
Price I’d Pay: $69.99
Lastly is the Recon class, this is probably the one I play least. Its all about sniping and has tools that can help with respawning squadmates, also when they get a headshot kill supports are unable to revive the victim… so yea…. Food for thought. Primary weapon types are open by default, which means a player using the Recon class is free to run around with an assault rifle but there is a locked mode for those that are purists.
I gotta give the team over at Battlefield Studios credit because there are a ton of quality-of-life changes over 2042. Players can lean to fire around cover now; players can drag downed teammates to cover while reviving them. And the biggie for me, destruction is back in a BIG way baybee!! Buildings can be fully demolished, floors destroyed to make a new pathway and that’s just the tip of the iceberg This game feels like a welcome return to the greatness of Battlefield 3 and 4.
So, what are you really getting with all of this? Well for starters Battlefield 6 has a full campaign mode, that is arguably better than the last few CoD. Gonna must put my flame shields up for that one.. lol. The story is set in the near future of 2027 and follows members of Dagger 13, an elite team of Marines who are called in to fight against the Pax Armata. The story is wild in that there are some threads that in our current political climate, could very well end up real. In the game NATO is on the verge of collapse and the Pax Armata group has emerged to reshape global power, their words, not mine. Each mission will see players control a different member of the team, each of them fall into one of the 4 classes. The narrative that the team has written here is just great, and the actors and actress that they have performing the roles were each sublime.
Now for the biggie… multiplayer. This is what most of us come to Battlefield for, and it is awesome. Now, the game is live but there aren’t many people that have it outside of reviewers, so all of my matches have been vs bots with one or two real people. As far as modes, it’s the usual suspects with Conquest, Breakthrough, Rush (making its return), TDM, Domination and King of the Hill. If you have been following the game then you know there is a planned Battle Royale mode that is going to be like the one that was featured in Battlefield 5, but it was not live for this review. There is also a new mode called Escalation, this has the two teams fighting over control points, but the points will gradually disappear, forcing fights. I wasn’t able to load into any of these though, but as I said there were not many people online so maybe the bots don’t work with this mode.
I loved this game quite a bit, but I have had some issues with spawning in the middle of enemies, bots that teleport and just appear and disappear out of thin air, a tank that took a hit and was blasted into the map. I was looking up and could see the game above me. All these things were few and far between, arguably this feels like the most technically sound Battlefield game that we have had at launch. And I am saying that as someone who has had access to the Day 1 patch. I am a tad disappointed in the low map count at launch, but the team has promised to deliver a steady stream of maps, weapons and vehicles.
What can I say, Battlefield 6 feels like a return to form for one of gaming’s most diverse and explosive first-person shooters. The team delivered a gripping campaign full of political intrigue, great characters and enough “only in Battlefield” moments to last us until the next one. But for me, its strongest asset is its multiplayer, low map count aside there are modes here to tickle any shooters fancy. I loved this game so much, in my last match before getting off to write this review I just had the biggest grin on my face as I turn a failed helicopter flight into a parachute landing and a quad kill AND point capture. Only in Battlefield, indeed.
Review copy of game provided by publisher.
