Battlefield 6 multiplayer preview — A return to form for fans of classic Battlefield

Battlefield is one of the most iconic games in the first-person shooter genre, at its height giving Call of Duty a run for its money. It’s been rocky with the last couple of releases, although Battlefield 2042 started to bring back some of that OG Battlefield charm that made me fall in love with the series back on Battlefield 4. However, it’s time to look to the future of the franchise with Battlefield 6. We’ve been boots-on-the-ground, deep in the rubble of destroyed buildings and on treacherous mountainsides, pushing forward towards what looks to be a very sturdy path forward.

We started our journey with a brief presentation at an undisclosed special effects location in sunny Los Angeles. The stage was set, with screens all around fully immersing us in the action, and the destruction, as they walked us through what we could expect. Our first experience was the Siege of Cairo, a new map. Then came the chaos as the walls of buildings around us were blown to bits, debris flying around us amidst the cacophony of explosions. The same thing happened when we visited the Empire State, and then again at the Ayni District. What a way to showcase how the environment could change in an instant with a few well-placed blasts from a tank or attack helicopter!

We had a brief Q&A afterwards to answer a few burning questions, like if the game will feature crossplay (it will) and cross save (yes, that as well). Of course, the other big question was whether or not there will be a battle royale mode. Unfortunately, we still don’t have the answer there, however they hinted at much more to be discussed, including post-launch content and the World of Battlefield. After a short break to grab some lunch, we got kitted up and headed to the battlefield. But we need to set the stage first before launching into the gameplay. 

In the not-so-distant future – literally 2027 – the world is rocked by a high-profile assassination. Several European nations leave NATO, and the United States and its remaining allies have to pick up the pieces. In an attempt to fill the void, PAX ARMATA, a massive private military corporation, starts to assert their power. They’ve got the money and the tech, and they’re not afraid to cross hard boundaries. The remaining NATO forces go head-to-head with PAX ARMATA across the globe, trying to put an end to their reign of terror.

Battlefield 6 is the spiritual successor to Battlefields 3 and 4, created by industry and franchise veterans across 4 studios that have come together to form Battlefield Studios: Criterion, MOTIVE, DICE, and Ripple Effect. Criterion is known for their work on Need for Speed and Burnout, but they were also a major contributor for the last three Battlefield releases. Established in 2015, the talented storytellers at MOTIVE (Star Wars Squadrons and Dead Space (2023)) will be helping bring Battlefield 6’s story to life. DICE is a real OG in Battlefield, being the creators of Battlefield 1942, Battlefields 3 & 4, and Battlefield 1. Lastly, Ripple Effect (formerly DICE LA) are the creators of Battlefield Portal, which will be making its return in Battlefield 6. With this impressive lineup of decades worth of experience, it’s hard not to get hyped about Battlefield 6. So, let’s get into the gameplay.

During our hands-on sessions, we visited four battlefields – Siege of Cairo, Empire State, Liberation Peak, and Iberian Offensive – in four modes. We started with the Battlefield large-scale classic, Conquest. In Battlefield 2042’s Conquest, it felt like I could run for a solid 5 minutes and not have anything happen. Even with double the player count, the maps somehow still felt empty. Maybe that improved with time, but I’ve not returned to find out unfortunately. 

Battlefield 6 Conquest still feels like a constant onslaught, with tank blasts, jets and helicopters overhead, and soldiers around every corner. As we pushed forward to claim objectives, I was instantly taken back to the good old days of when I first played Battlefield Bad Company 2, my introduction to Battlefield. Between the tanks plowing through buildings, intense gunfights, and expansive maps, I was constantly in awe of all the action unfolding around me. It’s pure cinema. I watched as a jet took a fatal hit and was sent careering into the mountainside and then tumbling down in a raging fireball, something you only get in a Battlefield game.

The thrills continued as we moved through each mode and map. We played the aforementioned Conquest, Breakthrough, Squad Deathmatch, and Domination. Breakthrough is actually a mode I’m not familiar with, but it quickly became a favorite after a couple matches. It’s another of Battlefield’s large-scale, all-out warfare modes that sees a team of attackers attempting to capture two points within a zone while defenders try to stop them. Capturing the objectives advances the attackers to the next zone, where they capture a couple more objectives and eventually push forward to the final objective. Attackers have a limited number of lives, but they gain more with successful zone captures. Defenders have unlimited lives. 

This was a thrilling mode to play. Defenders could recapture objectives that attackers have taken, which resulted in a lot of back-and-forth as my team would capture A, move to capture B, and then have to recapture A because no one stayed back to defend it. There were plenty of times where we managed to capture an objective with only a few respawns remaining, but starting the next push with fewer lives than we had at match start, adding to the urgency to capture objectives faster, and holding them, while not dying.

Squad Deathmatch and Domination bring back the scale, taking place in battle zones within the larger maps. In Squad Deathmatch, four squads of four players fight to reach the target of 50 kills. With there being more enemies than friendlies, it’s very easy to get flanked, so playing as a squad is important. Pushing alone is a surefire way to cost your squad the match. Everyone should already know what Domination is as it’s seen in nearly every FPS game in existence. There are three objectives. Your team battles the other team to capture and hold them to earn points towards victory. The intensity of the larger modes followed us to the close-quarters streets, where every structure we tried to take cover in was blown to bits by RPG fire. 

Of course, this wouldn’t be a Battlefield if they didn’t also bring back the classic Classes system. On the frontlines, we have the Assault class, equipped primarily with an assault rifle, sidearm, and a grenade launcher. As an added bonus, the Assault class can have a second primary weapon. To take out vehicles and aircraft, Engineers come equipped with RPGs, and they’ll repair friendly vehicles with the repair tool. They’re also equipped with sub-machine guns and increased hipfire control. 

Our Engineers and Assault soldiers could use a little help, and that’s where Support comes in. The Support class helps keep the team in the fight with extra ammunition, health, and faster revives. While everyone can drag a friendly to safe cover and revive them with an adrenaline stim, Support uses a defibrillator to pick you up faster. They’ll also lay down some cover fire with LMGs. Lastly, Recon supports from afar, lurking along the periphery with a sniper rifle. Recon soldiers can also use a laser to help guide missiles to their target. While each class has a specialty, you can still customize your loadouts to your preference. Weapons aren’t class-locked, however you get additional benefits for using specific weapon types.

A new combat system is being introduced in Battlefield 6. The Kinesthetic Combat System gives players more control and mobility in the fight. We already mentioned being able to drag a teammate to safety to revive, available to every player regardless of class. On top of that, if you’re trying to make a quick getaway and drop from a higher surface, you can execute a quick combat roll when you hit the ground, limiting fall damage and keeping your momentum. Players can now also peek and lean by ADS-ing around corners, and weapons can even be mounted on surfaces to help reduce recoil. Lastly, to get around the map faster, you can hitch a ride in more vehicles, with additional seating capacity and the ability to hang on the back of tanks. Unfortunately, I didn’t spend a whole lot of time in vehicles except as a gunner on a tank (and a 5 second flight in a jet that I promptly flew out of the combat zone), but I look forward to checking them out more in the beta. 

This new combat system also helps the player to learn to improve their gameplay. With reliable recoil patterns and well-defined weapon parameters, players can easily learn to master any gunfight.

The last major feature coming back in Battlefield 6 is widespread destruction. While we have yet to see anything quite on the same scale as leveling an entire skyscraper like we did in Battlefield 4, all of the elements to make that happen were evident in this preview. Tactical Destruction lets players literally reshape the battlefield with explosives, vehicles, and even sledgehammers. What really stood out in our preview though, was how the destruction looked visually. Walls and large chunks of stone crumble to small pieces and debris was flying across the screen. Destroyed vehicles remain on the battlefield, with smoke billowing out, adding even more to the intensity and the immersion of an ongoing battle. 

Battlefield 6 will be launching on October 10th on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series consoles, and PC, featuring 8 different modes and 9 maps, with much more to come in post-launch seasonal updates. Thankfully, we will also be seeing the return of a campaign so we can see the remaining NATO forces take on PAX ARMATA. We’ll have more coverage and gameplay coming soon, including from the upcoming betas happening this month.