🎮 After the disastrous reception of Battlefield 2042, EA and Battlefield Studios faced an uphill battle to win back fans’ trust. With Battlefield 6, they’ve largely succeeded in delivering the grounded, class-based warfare experience that made Battlefield 3 and 4 beloved, but in playing it so safe, they’ve created a game that’s more refined than revolutionary. Reviews have been a mixed bag so far, with critics praising the MMORPG’s return to form while lamenting a lackluster campaign that feels like a relic from a bygone era.

The return to the classic four-class system provides excellent balance and clear tactical roles. Each class (Assault, Engineer, Support, Recon) has a very distinct identity, and switching from running and gunning as Assault, to keep your team alive as Medic feels rewarding in its own right. The new Kinesthetic Combat System adds welcome quality-of-life improvements, allowing players to lean around cover, hitchhike onto vehicles, and drag fallen soldiers to safety before reviving them.

The revamped Portal mode deserves special mention. Powered by the Godot engine, it provides map creation and game logic tools that represent a significant advancement over Battlefield 2042’s basic visual block editor. The community has already produced impressive creations, from Counter-Strike’s Dust 2 remake to custom zombie survival modes, promising extensive post-launch replayability.

Where it truly shines: Multiplayer is undeniably Battlefield 6’s strongest asset. The game features impressive layered combat, with distinct infantry, land vehicle, and aerial layers that all fit together seamlessly. The gunplay has finally caught up with Call of Duty, featuring loud, frightening weapons with lightning-quick ballistics and excellent sound work. Gone are the frustrating hit registration issues that plagued 2042 — bullets now land where you aim them.

Unfortunately, the single-player campaign is where Battlefield 6 stumbles badly. Across nine missions totaling just five hours, the campaign zips around at a furious pace but feels like something players have done before, albeit at much lower fidelity. The story follows Dagger 1-3, a squad of U.S. Marine Raiders fighting against Pax Armata, a rogue private military company threatening a fractured NATO. The narrative is oddly apolitical in its presentation of NATO’s collapse, resulting in a hollow experience. The characters are forgettable, with barely any memorable moments or emotional depth.

The campaign fails to harness Battlefield’s special ingredients into a compelling single-player context, instead opting to copy Modern Warfare’s homework… while getting the answers wrong. You’ll escort tanks without being able to drive them, watch helicopters fly without piloting them, and trudge through linear corridors toward static shooting galleries.

While there are splashes of inspiration, such as a sequence on a crumbling New York bridge, there’s no one mission that screams out as an all-timer. The whole experience feels like an expensive amusement park ride where you’re merely a passenger watching explosions you didn’t get to cause.

With an estimated budget exceeding USD 400 mn, Battlefield 6 is one of the most expensive video games ever made. That investment shows in the polish and refinement, but you can’t help wondering what could have been achieved with some creative risk-taking.

💯 Rating: 9/10 on Steam, 5/10 on IGN for the campaign, 8/10 for multiplayer

⌛ Hours of gameplay: 8 hours for the campaign, N/A for multiplayer

🔁 Replay value: 10/10

👾 Platforms: Steam and Epic Games for PC, Playstation, and Xbox

💵 Price: USD 69.99 for the standard edition, USD 99.99 for the Phantom edition, with an available USD 30 DLC

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