“Nowhere to go but up” was a saying I was seeing a lot online as the newest Battlefield started to get leaked out over the first half of the year. It wasn’t too long ago that Battlefield was the most tainted video game in the whole medium—after Battlefield 2042 came out in late 2021 to a state that even its own developers didn’t consider complete, and was widely shared online as the latest addition to the pile of how we shouldn’t hype up games anymore. I mean, this was under a year after Cyberpunk 2077’s launch, so the camel’s back was already recovering from breaking—only to be broken again. But here we are in what feels like a repeat of 2016, the last time Battlefield was the big FPS of the year, in almost the exact same way. People wanted something different, Battlefield delivered, and Call of Duty is doing more of the same, and people are hating on it for chasing trends. But EA did something special here—less than a week after the reveal, they let the public play a nearly finished build of the game, and it was everything people wanted from this franchise. And there was going to be a campaign as well. People started pre-ordering after playing the beta themselves, and now after all the smoke has cleared—is Battlefield 6 one of the best FPS of the year? Yes, it is indeed.
First off, let’s get the part that a majority of people will skip over: the campaign. Because, unlike 2042—which had an interesting premise but no story mode whatsoever—here we do have one with a familiar but acceptable premise that’s fun for the six or seven hours it takes to complete. NATO is fully broken; every nation is trying to survive and protect itself from an ever-consuming PMC known as Pax Armata. You take control of a squad, re-living several missions that ultimately explain how they ended up in their current situation. It’s a very been-there, done-that type of campaign—similar in tone to Battlefield 3 back in 2011, wanting to be taken more seriously than the explosions-every-five-seconds pace that Call of Duty campaigns thrive on. But I’ll give them credit: it might be predictable, but it’s well-made. It’s cinematic, coherent, and genuinely fun to see how each mission showcases technology later used in multiplayer—the collapsing skyscrapers, the adaptive weather, and the urban destruction that feels like a tech demo turned playable. The voice acting and motion capture help keep it grounded; it’s not trying to be an Oscar contender, just a proper Battlefield story again—and it succeeds at that.
With that said, the main thing that people are getting this game for is, of course, the multiplayer—and yeah, it’s the crown jewel of this package. Playing Battlefield 6 genuinely brought back nostalgic memories of firing up Battlefield 3 on my old Alienware rig back in 2011. The core DNA is back: class-based combat, massive maps, vehicle chaos, and that feeling of teamwork that only this series can create. Gone are the divisive Specialists from 2042. The classic four classes—Assault, Engineer, Support, Recon—return, each with unique gear, gadgets, and squad-focused abilities. It makes a massive difference. The game’s pacing feels balanced again. Whether you’re reviving teammates under fire, repairing tanks mid-battle, or sniping from a wind-shaken rooftop, every role feels meaningful. Map design is arguably the best it’s been in a decade. Locations like Empire State and Mirak Valley feel alive and destructible in ways that directly affect how battles evolve. The dynamic weather system also returns from 2042, but here it feels polished rather than gimmicky—a dust storm or hurricane changes tactics, not just visibility.
Gunplay feels incredibly satisfying. Recoil patterns are tight but readable; weapons hit hard and sound powerful. Vehicles are responsive and, more importantly, balanced. Jets and tanks dominate only when supported by infantry, and anti-vehicle loadouts feel genuinely useful. The mode I played the most was a new but familiar update on the “Rush” game mode than being Escalation, which the best way I can describe it is, it’s like a mixture of the Rush hold and defend, with the insanity of Plants vs Zombies Garden Warfare, a reference I thought I would never bring up again, but I’m glad it still has a place in todays time. It’s a simple mode on paper, but it gets addicting when you are planning out how to attack and defend, and then when one post is taken, everyone starts swarming the post you are defending on your own. With friends, it is one of the most fun social experiences I’ve had all year.
As for the graphics, BF6 is built on a reworked Frostbite Engine, and it looks stunning. The destruction tech is in a league of its own; walls crumble layer by layer, debris scatters realistically, and lighting interacts dynamically with smoke and dust. This isn’t just spectacle—it affects gameplay. Creating a hole through a building to surprise an enemy squad feels like both strategy and chaos combined. On consoles, the game runs at a near-locked 60 FPS, which is a breath of fresh air given all the issues with games in the last month just trying to hit that limit. Gunfire echoes off skyscrapers differently than in open fields, jets leave roaring shockwaves overhead, and squad chatter adapts spatially. It’s the most immersive Battlefield has felt since Bad Company 2.
Battlefield 6 isn’t perfect—the campaign could use more emotional weight, and the menus still have that clunky EA feel—but this is easily the most confident and complete Battlefield since Battlefield 1. It’s cinematic, chaotic, tactical, and above all, fun. This is the comeback story no one thought would happen. After 2042, fans expected damage control; instead, they got a full-scale redemption. The community’s goodwill feels genuine this time—and for good reason. Battlefield 6 remembers what it means to be Battlefield.
Score: 9 out of 10
Reviewed on PlayStation 5 Pro