The Battlefield 6 open beta is officially live on consoles and PC, at least for those with early access, which thankfully isn’t too hard to obtain. It only offers four modes and three maps alongside tutorials, and major elements like Portal and the new Escalation are not present. Nevertheless, the beta is already a massive success with nearly 335,000 peak concurrent players on Steam alone, the highest for the franchise ever on the platform. But is it fun?
The short version is that yes, the beta can be fun and paints a positive picture for launch. However, it’s easy to see why Battlefield Labs has been such a significant part in development and why the open beta is happening two months ahead of launch. Several areas still use improvements beyond balance changes and bug fixes. Without further ado, here are our impressions of the open beta with three things we liked and three that we didn’t.
What We Like: The Gunplay and Movement
The gunplay in Battlefield has had its ups and downs throughout the series’ history. As shabby as it felt in 2042, Battlefield 5 also received flak for its time to kill and balance changes. So it’s a good thing that the overall gunplay and movement in Battlefield 6 feel quite good. The M433 and M4A1 each felt distinct with attachments allowing you to lean into specific playstyles, like focusing more on aiming down sights speed at the cost of hip-fire accuracy (though you can also opt to balance both aspects). The M87A1 shotgun is also absolutely disgusting with its stopping power.
But even more impressive is how the weapon spread felt balanced, especially with assault rifles. The sniping isn’t quite as smooth as the series’ peak, grenades feel like they come out way too fast, and the time-to-kill is somewhat inconsistent at times. Nevertheless, the basic movement and responsiveness, coupled with the weapon handling, feel solid all around.
What We Didn’t Like: Map Design
The beta offers three maps, and whether I’m a longtime fan or a new player, they don’t make the best first impression. Liberation Peak on Conquest should be renamed to Sniper’s Peak, but I don’t necessarily blame the players for that. The sheer number of open sightlines makes it the obvious choice, and even if you’re running around as an Assault, having a DMR as a backup feels like a must. Breakthrough feels like an absolute chore on this map, especially when you’re attacking – numerous snipers cover the main approach and so many accompanying angles, while flanking feels almost impossible.
Iberian Offensive impressed me initially with its aesthetic (smoldering clouds and tight streets ahoy), but it quickly became a cluster where the spawns didn’t matter and whoever controlled the hill had the best time (the massive performance drops also didn’t help). I didn’t mess around with Siege too much on Conquest, but the Domination variant was somewhat enjoyable. The same can’t be said for Liberation Peak in this mode, which feels cramped as players engage from every angle with little downtime. Maybe it’s the general size of the map, but that feeling of dying, respawning, dying again on loop happened to an annoying degree, even on Conquest.
Maybe the five other maps are better and larger without falling into the same trap as 2042’s launch. However, more than anything, the current offerings come across as pretty rote. The atmosphere is definitely on point, and yet, there isn’t much that really makes them stand out, to say nothing of the size of some.
What We Like: Closed Weapons and Proper Classes
Perhaps it’s because the Specialist system was handled so poorly in Battlefield 2042, but returning to traditional Classes in Battlefield 6 feels so right. Assault for the frontliners, Engineers for repairing and destroying vehicles, Support for Quick Revives and healing, and Recon for sniping and marking enemies. It’s baffling how such a simple formula was tossed by the wayside before, but it’s back, and that’s all that matters.
Now granted, DICE missed the opportunity to lock specific weapon types to each Class as with previous, non-2042 Battlefields. The Signature Weapon mechanic, which ensures that using the specific weapon type for that Class unlocks exclusive benefits (stabilizing aim with sniper shots as Recon, for example), is a nice addition, but it’s still not going to stop players. At least it implemented Closed Weapons, providing a playlist for those who want the restrictions and a more traditional Battlefield as a result.
Unfortunately, at least in the beta at this point, finding Conquest Closed Weapons matches is an exercise in waiting for the playlist to fill up. This will likely become better as the beta opens up to more players, but launch is the real test, especially for Portal’s server browser.
What We Didn’t Like: Vehicles
As good as the gunplay and movement feel, the same can’t be said about the vehicles. I’m not sure if the tank is designed to be less potent due to the Engineer’s new auto-repair function, where sitting inside a vehicle automatically regens its health, but it certainly feels less powerful. Engineers are also very good at destroying tanks, since directional damage is seemingly no longer a thing, which makes you wonder what the point is.
Then there are the helicopters, which feel absolutely terrible to pilot. One could argue that the full potency of vehicles won’t truly be revealed until we access the bigger maps, but it doesn’t change the fact that the choppers are FUBAR. If anything needs to be addressed on the vehicle front for launch, it’s the helicopter controls without a doubt.
What We Like: The Atmosphere
While the current three maps need more work, depending on the mode, one thing is certain: DICE has nailed the atmosphere. Spawning into Liberation Peak and hearing radio chatter calling out tanks as jets flew overhead and explosions rang out really set the tone for the entire exercise. Even in Iberian Offensive, there’s the feeling of actually being in an active warzone, as buildings crumble, tanks roll through the streets, and gunfire echoes throughout.
There have been some mixed impressions on whether it actually feels like Battlefield, especially considering all the design decisions. However, if the objective was to deliver a realistic, grounded atmosphere, then Battlefield 6 is a success.
What We Didn’t Like: The UI
There was a point in Iberian Offensive where I had to dial down the settings due to massive frame drops, and discovered one of the worst pet peeves in UI design history. Backing out of a settings menu would automatically reset to a different tab every time. It doesn’t sound terrible, but when you’re trying to lower settings for any amount of performance gains, it’s downright frustrating to go back to the wrong tab, again and again. The main menu UI is also bizarrely designed, with a significant amount of the top occupied by offers – you need to scroll down to the desired modes. Modding attachments onto weapons requires selecting them and then hitting Customize.
Bizarrely, doing this with the shotgun required hitting Modify and then customizing. The fact that many settings and features aren’t even properly explained is also odd. At least there’s a proper scoreboard this time (that doesn’t indicate the number of revives, but still). Everything else feels like it needs a significant pass to provide a smoother experience.
Note: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, GamingBolt as an organization.
