Hands On With Battlefield 6 – Familiar Yet Cinematic

For nearly two decades, the Battlefield franchise has earned a reputation for two things: large cinematic battles and destructible environments. It only makes sense to have those be the cornerstones of your franchise with a name like Battlefield. Thankfully, EA's latest entry in the series, Battlefield 6, continues to live up to that reputation all while improving upon itself to cater to a broader audience. This is especially needed considering the release of Battlefield 2042 was met with negative reception in part due to a buggy launch. Ensuring Battlefield 6 launches as smoothly as possible is essential this time.

Battlefield 6 is supposed to be the largest in the franchise to date, so much so that EA has entrusted four separate studios to create the latest game. At first glance, this may seem like a double-edged sword due to all the cooks in the kitchen. Dice producer Alexia Christofi emphasized that each studio is vital in what it does. Because of each studio's time zones, the team essentially works in a "24-hour development" cycle.

"Each of these studios are like powerhouses," Christofi says. "I work out of the Criterion office and my team personally is made up of people from all of the studios that are working on all of Battlefield Studios. It brings fresh perspectives from all these different studios and how they work and how we work together."

It's worth pointing out that the team declined to answer when asked if EA's mark of 100 million players is accurate and achievable.

Each moment of the game mirrored what you'd expect in a high-budget action film: bullets were flying left and right, bodies were dropping like flies, and everything around me was being destroyed. Dice senior producer David Sirland explains that this was something the Battlefield team referred to as "Aftermath for destruction."

"Basically, what happens after everything is destroyed,” Sirland says. “What's left? Everything that's there adheres to our soldier metrics, which basically means you can either crawl under or beneath it. It's never a hole that you can't really use."

Using building rubble as cover is extremely useful whenever I drag a downed ally to safety to revive them. This is my favorite feature during my hands-on time with Battlefield 6 because it creates more urgency when you see a buddy go down and creates those cinematic moments of saving a friend amid a firefight.

This feature also elevates Battlefield 6's Squad Deathmatch, which are smaller skirmish battles in which tanks and planes are traded out for smaller, close-quarter areas. With only four people per team, each fight carries more weight because everyone has a unique role to play, and the second someone is killed on either side of the firefight, the battle quickly shifts. While the mode’s concept may not be new, it still maintains the core beats I expect from the series.

Sirland recalls how the team learned from its mistakes in previous entries. Because of this, players won't see specific maps in certain modes, "because sometimes it doesn't fit, and it doesn't work, and therefore we say no.

"We have what we call Combat Zones, and Battlefield 4 is a great example. When we had TDM (Team Death Match), it was a Conquest map, and then we just [put TDM on it]. And it was kind of basic, to be completely honest." Sirland says. "What we've done now is say 'we need to be able to support proper TDM spaces with proper lanes and engagement ranges.'"

As one might expect from a Battlefield game, teamwork is essential to winning and having a good time. Whenever I broke from my squad in any mode, I was immediately picked off like clockwork. But the second my team and I found our groove, the game began to elevate even more. Without thinking, all of us began to role-play our military roles. Spotting enemies became significantly easier, and because of this, our KD (Kill/Death) count saw a massive improvement. Nothing immerses you more in the game than when you see the backup you called for arrive in en masse to help turn the tide of whatever battle you're currently in.

Overall, my time with Battlefield 6 was nothing less than fun. The fights are impressive spectacles, and each conflict feels like it carries genuine weight that matters to the bigger picture. The new dragging system is a nice cherry on top, too. The handful of hours I got to play only makes me excited to see what the rest of the game has in store.

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