Battlefield 6 review: a return to old greatness

Philipp Rüegg

9.10.2025

Translation: Patrik Stainbrook

Battlefield 6 finally offers an entertaining single-player campaign again. Not quite Call of Duty-tier, but still. The highlight, however, is multiplayer mode, which delivers across the board.

Fitting given its title, the Battlefield series is all about just that. Sometimes it works great, as with the more recent Battlefield 1. Then a minefield of mediocrity might follow, as with Battlefield 2042. While it was at times on par with Call of Duty, the 20-year-old shooter series has been on a journey of self-discovery for some time now. The first few games constantly improved the formula of massive battles. Depending on who you ask, it peaked with either Bad Company or Battlefield 3. The latter contains one of the most loved single-player campaigns in the series.

With Battlefield 6, Swedish studio Dice wanted to return to former greatness. This includes an epic campaign – not developed directly by Dice, mind you, but by Criterion and Motive. It appears a whole armada of teams is now working on Battlefield 6, under the moniker Battlefield Studios. Finally, group four is Ripple Effect.

This strategy is paying off. Battlefield 6 offers a varied campaign, and the multiplayer gives you that unique Battlefield feeling again for the first time in many years. Chaotic massive battles in which you never know what’ll happen next. Only that it’ll put a big grin on your face.

Battlefield 6 is set in the year 2027. NATO is near collapse, and private army PAX Armata is lusting for power. Across nine missions, you have to avert an impending catastrophe as part of Dagger 13, a US special forces unit.

At first, the scenario is too close to reality for me to enjoy it as pure fairground fun. And by the third mission at the latest, I can no longer take the superficial story seriously. It’s just stuffed with clichés and familiar conspiracies. The actors really go all out, especially during cutscenes. They really want me to believe their pathetic dialogue. In comparison, Call of Duty, with its realistically rendered Ronald Reagan, packs more of a punch.

The game begins on a NATO base under attack by PAX. Your team is tasked with blowing up a server centre to prevent the data there from falling into enemy hands. The mission is large-scale, playing to the strengths of Battlefield. Aeroplanes attack with pretty explosions, and there’s a car chase that feels the same as thousands before it, but it still provides entertainment. In the end, we fight our way through the server building, plant C4 and escape from the roof in a helicopter at the last second. Then we enjoy a beautiful firework display from the air.

You’ll also make use of the destruction physics in house battles. When storming a multi-storey house, you’ll literally knock the door down with a grenade launcher. Even ceilings and walls aren’t safe.

No mission knocked my socks off, but they all offer entertaining action fare. The missions I’ll remember the most are vehicle ones. Storming a beach with an amphibious vehicle is somewhat reminiscent of the legendary Normandy level from Medal of Honor. Here, however, you’ll enjoy the protection of thick armour while taking aim at enemy foot soldiers.

When storming a PAX base, you switch back and forth between tank and ground combat. Here, the campaign almost feels like a multiplayer battle. Countless soldiers storm across a debris-strewn battlefield, planes thunder over your head and lightly armoured vehicles wait to be blown up by your grenade launcher.

It’s somewhat annoying that some particularly spectacular moments only take place in cutscenes. For example, at the climax of a dam mission, you can only watch as your team abseils down and blows everything up.

The campaign offers a few hours of shallow entertainment. A little less pathos would’ve been nice. Enemies don’t shine with tactical finesse. They usually march across the battlefield single-file or stand in windows and balconies like an open Advent calendar. And the faces have the expressiveness of mannequins. Still, the campaign is only an amuse-bouche for the main course anyway: multiplayer.

During my test phase, servers were only online at certain times with a schedule predefined by EA. That wasn’t quite enough for me to play all four classes enough. What I can say with certainty, however, is that I haven’t had this much fun in multiplayer since Battlefield 3.

The Engineer relies on submachine guns, repairs vehicles and is generally more efficient in the use and destruction of vehicles. In addition to rocket launchers and mines, their gadgets include a moving robot, only unlocked at level 40.

The Support soldier prefers shooting a machine gun. They can revive fallen comrades immediately thanks to the defibrillator. Their supply bag replenishes health, ammunition and gadgets for both them and surrounding players. They can also carry a mine launcher, a grenade interception system or a protective shield.

Recon, on the other hand, fights from a distance with a sniper rifle and automatically marks enemies when they hit them. Drone surveillance marks enemies within a radius of 100 metres on the map. The drone can also be controlled manually to destroy equipment. They can also set up a dummy to confuse enemies. This doll head on a stick is probably the best and dumbest gadget of all time.

All four classes have two training paths for alternate playstyles, unlocked via class-specific challenges. This can, for example, give Support soldiers better offensive weapons at the expense of healing capabilities. The Assault soldier in turn regenerates themselves, takes less fall damage, and squad members that spawn near them are boosted for two seconds.

Classes have dedicated weapons with which they’re particularly efficient. However, they can all be unlocked and selected – unless a server has the Closed Weapons option activated.

All four classes work great. Their playstyles are diverse, and you can react quickly to different game situations. If a suitable vehicle is available for direct entry from the overview map, use the Engineer. You’ll become your own mechanic and have even more ammunition. Support is my favourite class. In a game where the aim is to shoot each other, there’s never a shortage of things to do. As with the Engineer, you can score points without throwing yourself into gun battles. Instead, wait behind a wall – preferably one that can’t be destroyed – and dash forward with your defibrillator as soon as a comrade’s hit.

I usually choose Recon when I’m constantly being picked off by other snipers. Fighting fire with fire, and all that. But the drone gadgets are fun too, since most players rarely look up and their buzzing is drowned out by the general chaos of battle.

Finally, Assault is my choice when I’m on the attack and mainly want to blast at baddies. You’ll also use them to help your team with adrenaline injections or a ladder, which I used more than once to sneak up from an unguarded window.

To me, Battlefield primarily stands for massive battles and huge maps. That’s why I particularly enjoy New Sobek City, Mirak Valley, Liberation Peak and, of course, Operation Firestorm. The destruction model comes into play even more than in the campaign. It’s been part of the series since Bad Company, and should never have been dropped. Mind you, I was a bit annoyed early on that not everything is destructible and that enemies always entrench themselves exactly where C4 becomes ineffective. However, it quickly becomes clear that Dice and the gang have taken the right path.

Level structures are retained more or less everywhere, depending on the map. Infantry-focused maps like Siege of Cairo are somewhat more stable. New Sobek City, on the other hand, with all its vehicles, will practically be flattened by the end of the game. And yet, there’s still enough structure to keep the map varied. The destruction model is wonderfully detailed. Walls fall down piece by piece, entire houses collapse and even vehicles blow up in massive explosions.

My current favourite is Mirak Valley. It offers a colourful landscape by Battlefield standards, crisscrossed by fire and plumes of smoke. This looks particularly impressive from the air. It’s wide and hilly, making for interesting tank battles since you can attack quickly and retreat even quicker. The map also offers close-quarters house battles thanks to a huge high-rise construction site. But even smaller maps such as Empire State, set in the shadow of the destroyed Brooklyn Bridge, are also superbly realised. There are heated battles between fire stations, spraying fire hydrants and emergency vehicles parked here and there.

Whether on foot, in a tank or in a combat helicopter, you’ll never feel disadvantaged or overpowered. At least in my test phase, everything felt balanced – unless you’re the co-pilot of one of those absolute helicopter legends, with dogfighting skills I can only dream of. This way, you can comfortably bomb unsuspecting infantry units with one hand or annoy armoured vehicles while your pilot flies wild manoeuvres. When this happens, I always feel like we’re about to crash – it’s just so perfect.

This game simply offers the right mix of chaos and tactics. The Kinesthetic system also contributes to this, referring to the movement model. You can peek out from behind ledges, climb walls, hang on to tanks or pull comrades out of the danger zone while reviving them. It makes the game feel much more dynamic than previous parts.

I have to admit, I’ve always had trouble distinguishing between the different all-out warfare modes in Battlefield. The gameplay doesn’t change much for me, whether I’m storming a battlefield to capture points and push back opponents or whether we’re all fighting over the same objectives. Rush is clearly the most unique. Blowing up communication systems and defusing bombs adds more hustle, bustle and movement than is present in other modes.

This lack of diversity never bothered me. I don’t really care which mode I play – they’re all fun since the core game just works.

And as if that wasn’t enough, there’s Portal again. This has nothing to do with Valve’s legendary puzzle games. No, it’s a tool with which you can create your own game modes. Levels with only sledgehammers, or where every shot is lethal. Custom level designs for NPCs and scripts are also possible.

The performance is consistently impressive too. With maximum details, 4K resolution and no upscaling, I achieved an almost constant 120 fps with an RTX 5090 and Ryzen 7 9800X3D. It also runs smoothly on Domagoj’s PS5 Pro. The game usually achieves over 100 to 120 fps on Sony’s console. In hectic situations, it can drop to 90 – but thanks to VRR, these fluctuations aren’t noticeable.

The sound design is as powerful as ever, and when that classic Battlefield theme plays after a victory, I still have to hum along every time.

Battlefield 6 will be released on 10 October for PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X/S. The PC version was provided to me by EA.

We also talked about the game in the latest episode of our German-language podcast A Tech Affair.

In a nutshell

Back to former greatness

With Battlefield 6, studio quartet Dice, Criterion, Ripple Effect and Motive have hit the big time. The legendary multiplayer series hasn’t felt this good in ages. Each of the four classes are charmingly diverse in playstyle and complement each other perfectly. The range of maps is extensive and includes some potential classics. Its destruction model is more detailed than ever and invites you to shoot everything in your path.

On top of that, there’s a campaign again. It can’t quite keep up with the best of Call of Duty, but it does still offer a few hours of lively first-person shooter action. And that’s rare today.

Battlefield 6 should delight new and old fans alike. Nowhere else are huge, chaotic mass battles so well staged and this much fun. For me, it’s the best Battlefield ever – although 1942 will always have a special place in my heart.

Pro

• Entertaining campaign
• Varied classes
• Spectacular destruction physics
• Diverse map selection

Contra

• Campaign not on Call of Duty’s level
• Game modes could be more unique

Video games

549 / 800549 of 800 remainingonly 549 of 800 remaining

CHF59.90

EA Games Battlefield 6

PS5, DE, IT, FR

44

Philipp Rüegg

Senior Editor

Philipp.Rueegg@digitecgalaxus.ch

As a child, I wasn't allowed to have any consoles. It was only with the arrival of the family's 486 PC that the magical world of gaming opened up to me. Today, I'm overcompensating accordingly. Only a lack of time and money prevents me from trying out every game there is and decorating my shelf with rare retro consoles. more

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