Battlefield 6 Beta - Impressions After 25 Hours of Gameplay

Finally, the wait is over. I thought this moment would never come, but Battlefield 6 is here.

Though it’s just early access and open beta, what we’ve received from EA DICE, or rather Battlefield Studios, provides ample opportunity to form an opinion and see if Electronic Arts can learn anything from the mistakes of previous titles.

A setting fans have been waiting for years

How wonderful it is to return to such well-known weapons as the M4A1, and don’t get me wrong, I had a fantastic time playing Battlefield 1 and Battlefield V in recent months. The World War I and II atmosphere is done superbly in these installments, but ever since I was a kid, I’ve been a fan of Battlefield 3 and Battlefield 4.

That’s why the trailer for the latest installment of the series excited me so much. Armed conflict in a modern setting. High-tech on the battlefield: drones, jets, technologically advanced tanks, and all kinds of gadgets that have a massive impact on the course of combat.

Cairo, Gibraltar, and Liberation Peak

Currently, we’ve been given 3 maps to play, each characterized by something that distinguishes it from the others. We have a map that allows us to feel like we’re in the best action movie – pure chaos, explosions, collapsing buildings, narrow streets, and lots of side paths – I’m talking about Cairo Offensive.

Cairo – DICE, how well did you do it!

Let me start with this map because I believe it’s one of the best executed we’ve received in early access and beta. My first game was on this map, and oh boy. When I first shot an RPG at a building and watched it crumble to pieces, I thought I’d lose my mind. It took me back to the moments when I played Battlefield: Bad Company 2. That was where the Frostbite engine first showed what it was capable of.

Cracked walls, bullet holes, depressions in the ground from tank shells or fragmentation grenades. A return to the past, which I remember in an incredibly positive way.

Returning to Cairo map. It has everything a Battlefield fan needs to be happy. Long streets for sniper exchanges. Narrow corridors between points for dynamic exchanges using SMGs or shotguns. Passages and spots where grenades and rockets shot reign supreme because “maybe it will hit someone in the head and there will be a frag.”

I have virtually no complaints about this map. I would only add one additional corridor at point C to increase the possibility of entry from the NATO side, but that’s just my whim or nitpicking. The possibilities Cairo offers are enormous. Besides the previously mentioned features of this map, we also have a lot of buildings that, as they are destroyed, open new paths, outplay opportunities for opponents, new sniper spots, or entry points to recapture specific points.

Gibraltar – C stands for Chaos

You can’t deny Gibraltar is trying to be as strong a place as Cairo, but it lacks balance in a few points. In short – the more I play on this map, the more I feel that points A, D, and E are very similar to each other and lack something more, like a guard tower, building in the middle of the point, which will stand despite heavy fire, or some form of basement or underground.

Point B is doing much better compared to Alpha, Delta, and Echo. There are many options for entering or defending Beta. The building, the street next to the point, narrow corridors, or quick jumps from the center of the map through nearby apartments. You can feel a lot more attention from the developers here, focusing on diversity and tactical capturing or recapturing a quite crucial area that allows quick access to corners of the map or to Gibraltar’s star – point Charlie.

I’d suggest changing Charlie to Chaos because what happens in the center, in a small two-story building, is a real PTSD simulator. Opponents can enter from every side, from below Beta, from two upper parts of the map – from point Echo or Alpha. It’s the most dynamic point provided by Battlefield 6 beta. A dozen small rooms scattered on the ground floor and the second floor. Additionally, C is located next to the main road, so if we plan to hide from tanks – it’s not a good place to avoid these vehicles. If you’re looking for a place where reflexes, good listening, and constant dopamine injections matter – Charlie is the way to go.

Liberation Peak, why is it shining here?

Ahhh, the hills, a treat for any sniper fan and long-range exchanges. Sounds good, right? Unfortunately, in practice, it’s not so colorful. If your team doesn’t have medics who can, using smoke grenades, constantly push the frontline forward or a tank that’s not doing a John Rambo cosplay, there’s no other option here than grabbing a sniper.

The map is wonderful in terms of its graphical appearance. Hills, valleys, small houses – it works. What doesn’t work is very few natural covers that can protect players who like close combat. Due to the hills, snipers are in a highly privileged position, having a view of the entire battlefield.

It’s frustrating but also comical – peeking out from cover, you can feel like a celebrity – never before have I seen so many flashes and experienced the attention of so many people simultaneously.

Feedback plays a crucial role in map balance

EA and Battlefield Studios openly ask players to share any thoughts, problems, or suggestions regarding every aspect of the game, including maps. Two weeks before the beta announcement, DICE bragged about their system for observing how players move on the map, where a team has an advantage, and where another has issues that can affect gameplay feeling.

According to their post on the Battlefield Labs forum – this is intended to help balance and remodel maps so they are best balanced. That’s why I strongly hope the Peak will see some changes that will help the side starting from the bottom.

Weapons, gunplay, modernization, and satisfaction

The shooting feel in Battlefield 6 is perfect. Full auto from the rifle, a headshot from the sniper, a shotgun shot that knocks the opponent instantly, or even chaotic spamming with a pistol. It all plays here. Although I’m not a fan of the weapons offered by the Engineer class, they just don’t suit my playstyle, but my friend thinks they’re great.

The Support class, which this time got heavy machine guns, made firing 100 bullets towards a field full of opponents feel like a total psycho. And don’t get me wrong – I love that feeling. Especially since in most FPS games I was a fan of weapons that require precision or focus on discretion, and in BF6 I constantly want to experiment and test all the options EA has provided in beta.

By the way, combining Recon with Engineer is the most wonderful duo if you want to quickly get rid of tanks. I haven’t had such fun placing C4 directly on a tank or on the path where it will be driving for a long time.

And oh god, it was brilliant to collaborate during those days, and when the tank appeared, jointly choosing the Engineer class and making it the most important frontline mission. Literally, as soon as we spotted the heavy equipment icon, we grabbed the RPG launchers and chased after it until it was completely in flames!

Additionally, you can get excited about the ability to optimize weapons and customize them to our own expectations. Do you find it bothersome when you have to leave the scope after taking a shot to reload a sniper? Add an attachment that allows you to perform this action while aiming. Want the pump shotgun to be as effective at close and mid-range? Change the ammo type and go. Or maybe you value precision and believe headshots should be additionally rewarded? Cool – grab an AK, add some attachments, and change the headshot bonus from x1.35 to x2.25.

Experiment, have fun with this system, and don’t blindly follow tier lists. This is the best system the series has provided since… I don’t even remember when. You can feel the actual progression while testing new weapons – at the start, you don’t have many options, maybe even the gun feels quite wooden, but over time, you can feel it better, and by adding another sight, changing ammunition, adding a laser, or foregrip – you can totally feel that what we had at the start along with the time put in becomes increasingly better.

Quality of Life and attention to detail

Many seemingly small things have received new mechanics or QoL improvements. It’s worth starting with class balance, especially the medic/support class. The rule has always been the same – a medic provides medkits to restore HP to allies, Assault – delivers ammunition packs to provide additional magazines, rockets, or grenades. You could say it was always like this… and here comes Battlefield 6.

Currently, the Support class offers both medical and resource supplies. It may not be a big change, but it removes the medic label and adds the feeling of being a specialist in supplying allies. Additionally, the already standard gadget for this class – the defibrillator – is still in our equipment, so if you’re a fan of charging through the middle of the battlefield to revive your allies, you’re at home.

What delights me the most is how much attention DICE paid to UX. I’m not talking about the ping system for threats, because during all these hours I might have used it twice. I mainly mean that supply crates show the exact area of their effect, which seems like a cosmetic detail, but as we know – the devil is in the details.

Similarly, I’m a huge fan of how the minimap in BF6 is designed. If you look closely, you’ll notice that the map is dynamic – it changes size, zoom, and detail depending on the location we are in. In open terrain or on respawn, we’ll see most of the battlefield, while entering a building, the map zooms in the area, so we can see exactly the building we’re in and a small area around it.

And now the crème de la crème of Battlefield 6 – the ability to revive allies while dragging them to a safe place. If I must name one thing that makes the BF6 experience so immersive – it’s the new system of “dragging” allies. I can’t count how many times I’ve experienced a moment straight out of a good war movie.

My ally in the most exposed part of the map, I pull out a smoke grenade, throw it near my fallen partner, pull out a knife to run faster and quickly close the distance between us, press and hold the “E” key (yes, I know this part is very cinematic) which allows me to drag my ally to a safe place and provide proper medical care – hold E to the end or shock therapy using the medic/support gadget.

And the best part is that you can also be rescued in this way. There’s something satisfying about having someone try to save you at all costs, with bullets, rockets, grenades, explosions flying around, yet someone decides to take the risk and pull us out of trouble.

Request for a raise for the sound department

The first thing that absolutely needs to be done after launching Battlefield 6 is setting the last audio option – War Tapes V.A.L. aka Very Aggressive Listening. Every explosion, shot, whizzing bullet near your head, collapsing building, approaching tank, running opponent, or incoming helicopter – sounds extremely realistic. I have no idea how this was accomplished, but in my opinion, it should be a default option when starting the game.

Medal-worthy is also the sound rifles make in open space versus those fired in a tight room. The sound dynamics are completely different, which only shows how much effort the developers put into their work.

I can confidently say this is the Battlefield with the best sound of vehicles and weapons up to date – and remember, it’s just a beta and a small part of what will be available at launch!

Servers aren’t burning, optimization optimizes, but hitboxes…

The beginning of early access pleasantly surprised me. In my mind, scenarios of standard server opening formed – queues where you have to wait for an hour just to enter the menu, server stability issues, game crushing due to a high concentration of players. What did I experience? A queue of literally less than 3.5k players, which I spent maybe a minute in?

But of course, the real test was to come with the start of Open Beta, and how did Electronic Arts servers perform then? Well… commendably! Being in a queue with 80,000 other curious players, I waited maybe 3 minutes? I don’t know how they did it, but I’m strongly hoping that for the Battlefield 6 release they maintain this level in this area.

A few words about ping – playing from Thursday to Sunday, my ms never jumped above 35. Maybe it’s a matter of a good server in Warsaw, or my internet provider finally fulfills the contract terms (although I lean more towards the former).

Optimization

There’s no need to comment on the looks of Battlefield – it’s simply beautiful. But what about FPS issues? I’ll mention that my PC specifications are as follows – i5-12700k, RTX 3070, 32GB DDR4 RAM, and of course SSD. A steady 80-90 fps without resorting to DLSS, Frame Gen, or other enhancements, although if I wanted to use them, I could expect around 110-120 FPS, with a slightly noticeable input lag.

Is it good? Quite! Could it be better? Of course, but for the moment, one can’t fault BF6 for being at the optimization level of Monster Hunter Wilds or Wuchang: Fallen Feathers.

Hitboxes and invisible textures

If I am to name two things that require immediate improvement – they are hitboxes and how textures of barriers and destroyed buildings react.

Let’s quickly go over hitboxes – here I don’t mean anything like shooting the head registers as a torso hit – no. The problem is with how long we’re vulnerable to damage despite hiding behind cover. I can’t count how many times I’ve gone down behind a wall during a firefight, thinking I’m safe and can continue attacking, only to be killed despite being behind cover. Battlefield Studios is aware of this issue and promises to address it.

Regarding textures – it’s infuriating when shooting through barriers, where there’s visibly open space, the game registers a hit on the terrain. A similar situation occurs when lying in a destroyed building and wanting to shoot right by the demolished part of the wall. Being inside these ruins, there’s no chance of breaking through invisible objects, while the opponent doesn’t have such obstacles on their path and we are an easy frag for them.

However, there’s no point in getting frustrated at these things; it’s early access and open beta – it’s good that such issues arise at this stage. That’s what open tests are for, to report all problems and give feedback to developers on what needs improvement.

The number of bugs is small, but one of them hinders gameplay

The most irritating bug is the spawn button glitch – it’s supposed to be the space bar. I haven’t discovered what causes this issue yet, but every game, several times, the spawn with the dedicated button is impossible and must be done using the mouse. It doesn’t sound like a game breaker, but from the user experience perspective, such a thing should be fixed.

The strangest bug involved the game language in early access. This is why half the screenshots are in Polish. What exactly happens? If, for instance, the first launch of the game was in Polish, and you later decided you wanted to play in Spanish, Battlefield 6 went crazy and didn’t recognize your access, thus preventing any mode from being playable. I don’t understand how, I don’t know why, but as a several-year League of Legends player – I’m used to such spaghetti code.

In one place on the Gibraltar map, there is one missing texture of a step, and you can slightly go under the map. It might seem like nitpicking, but still – developers are counting on such feedback.

Conclusions after the first week, and what awaits us in the second?

The first week showed us how many people have high hopes for the success of Battlefield 6 – and I don’t mean EA, especially their excessive expectations for 100 million active players… The FPS fan community, modern warfare enthusiasts, or simply those connected to the series almost stormed the title shortly after the open beta launch.

Over 500,000 players simultaneously, the best “start” of this franchise. Interesting maps, great gunplay, wonderful audio-visual layer, weapon customization, and you can list more for another 15 minutes.

Personally, I had a great time and can’t wait for the second week, which will bring us a new map – Empire State. I strongly hope it will be a fully closed gameplay – shooting at each other through building windows, running from one residential block to another, destroying walls, firefights on rooftops – something that will appreciate precision and cunning more than reflexes and shotgun charging (although this also provides tons of fun).

And of course – the return of Rush and Team Deathmatch modes. Although current King of The Hill and Domination are more of a TDM mode, a dedicated mode might carry new mechanics, maps, or solutions not present in the modes available in the first week.

Battlefield 6 provided me with a wonderful 25 hours of entertainment, and I’m hoping the next week will add another such amount. I remember moments after showing the trailer, I kept telling myself “no preorders, they want you to think they made an effort and that this game really looks that good,” but after the first week… I might break the promise I made to myself about pre-ordering games.