"Battlefield 6" played: Bang, you're dead!
Everything is the same in "Battlefield 6": big battles, lots of chaos and a single-player campaign to forget.
(Image: Electronic Arts)
Things have been up and down for Electronic Arts' military shooter series “Battlefield” in recent years. A huge success with “Battlefield 1,” followed by disillusionment at a high level with “Battlefield 5.” The really big step out of the shadow of the big competitor “Call of Duty” has not yet been achieved. “Battlefield 6” therefore goes all out but disappoints with its loveless single-player campaign.
Pointless action spectacle
Admittedly, it looks spectacular. When I, as a soldier, blow up the base of the evil private army Pax Armata, an explosion lights up the horizon, debris flies around my ears, and an impressive thunderstorm of bullets booms from the speakers. No other game creates this feeling of being in the thick of it, no other game celebrates war so much as a tense adventure holiday, including jingoism.
"Battlefield 6" angespielt (5 Bilder)
In the six-hour single-player campaign of "Battlefield 6," we wage war against the private army Pax Armata at the end of the 2020s, which wants to destroy the fabric of the world. NATO has collapsed, and conflicts are flaring up everywhere. As a US special forces unit, we are fighting in Brooklyn, flattening everything with a tank in Egypt, and blowing up a dam. Every location is seemingly chosen at random; there are always traitors and renegade mercenaries somewhere.
We know this story from almost every military shooter or from the back of the video store shelf. The characters have names but no personality. Players will search in vain for originality and a dramatic twist, no matter how forced. Where a “Call of Duty: Black Ops” shows at least a hint of criticism of the action, in “Battlefield 6,” everything is drowned in a mix of slogans, blood and honor metaphors, and jingoism.
Single-player campaign lacking in variety
In terms of gameplay, “Battlefield Studios,” a merger of the development studios DICE, Motive, and Criterion Games, can't come up with anything. We take on the role of a specialist in a squad and shoot our way through the enemy. The combat areas change from the sewers to a large desert battle and theoretically offer different paths, but these are not necessary. The enemies wait like mannequins to be shot down, sometimes not reacting when our soldier looks them directly in the face.
The missions are mostly about destroying a specific target. At the end, the soldiers defend an area until they are picked up. Variety is created above all by the choice of weapons. You can mow down the enemy with a heavy machine gun, scout out the enemy with a drone, or engage in a small tank battle. It looks great, but in comparison to the varied campaign of “CoD: Black Ops 6,” it offers no challenge in terms of gameplay.
Big battles in multiplayer
In addition to the single-player campaign, “Battlefield 6” offers numerous multiplayer modes, which are the real attraction of this action spectacle for most fans. In “Escalation,” players engage in large-scale battles on a total of nine maps. In “Breakthrough,” targets are conquered under time pressure, and in “Rush,” radio stations have to be destroyed. There are also classic game modes, such as “Deathmatch,” where survival is the only thing that counts. A total of 16 to 64 players can compete against each other.
As with its predecessors, a career mode provides motivation. Players can advance in the Assault, Support, Recon, or Engineer classes. New ranks provide players with new equipment and gadgets that make the game more varied.
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We did not have access to the new “Portal” modular mode during the test phase. According to the publisher, it will be unlocked at release. This allows players to create their own maps and game modes with numerous customization options. We cannot say exactly how this will work and what impact it will have on the future of the game.
The same applies to the multiplayer mode. Although we were able to test “Escalation” & Co., fighting in a limited player environment and against numerous bots offers no indication of the server stability at release, when thousands of players get started. At the very least, the basis for many hours of gameplay is there. More maps will be added to the game after release.
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Interim conclusion
Nothing new in the West. Battlefield Studios delivers an 08/15 single-player experience that is only convincing on a visual level but offers no excitement or gameplay variety. Not only is the simple-minded enemy behavior annoying, but also the naive and pathetic handling of the politically explosive scenario.
In contrast, the multiplayer modes offer the familiar “Battlefield” feeling. Huge battles and spectacular action, mixed with a little chaos when players simply jump into battle. Together with the career mode, this has the potential for weeks or even months of fun.
“Battlefield 6” will be released on 10 October for Windows, PS5, and Xbox Series. USK from 18 and costs around €80. We played the PS5 version for a few hours for our hands-on.
(afl)
