In a world of Apex Legends, Overwatch, and annual Call of Duty releases, it's easy to forget Battlefield’s contributions to the multiplayer shooter genre. Still, Battlefield 6 ($69.99, reviewed on PlayStation 5 Pro but also available on PC and Xbox) is a fantastic reminder that the oldest dog in the race still has legs. The military shooter series specializes in destruction and scale, and Battlefield 6 delivers in spades. Both small-scale incursions and large-scale conflicts unfold with dynamic realism, as buildings collapse, barricades shatter, and maps morph in real-time. Battlefield 6's single-player campaign isn't quite as exciting as its online skirmishes, but it shines enough as a multiplayer game to earn our Editors' Choice award.

Battlefield 6 vs. Battlefield 2042: War Has Changed

It's been a long time since I loaded up a military shooter. In fact, before the Battlefield 6 beta, the last one I played was 2021's Battlefield 2042, which didn't launch in the best shape. It was plagued by bugs, server issues, broken movement, and a tedious progression system, among other problems. Although updates over the years addressed several of those pain points, many players were ultimately disappointed by the final product. That's something the developers were keen to avoid repeating here.

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Battlefield 6 is more of a spiritual successor to older Battlefield titles than a direct sequel to Battlefield 2042. Although it lacks free-form, map-leveling destruction, Battlefield 6 has what the devs call "Tactical Destruction."

In some ways, it's like a set of scripted set pieces. Not everything is destructible; instead, only certain elements collapse. For example, a building's framework will stand no matter what hits it, but you can destroy the walls and floors.

What's so thrilling about this is that the destruction remains consistent across matches. You can leverage the carnage to your advantage, reshaping the map and learning how it changes the combat flow. This encourages fast-paced matches that force you to stay on the move; you can't sit in one place for too long because your cover can be blown away. Gears of War and other cover-based shooters employ similar systems, but Battlefield dials the chaos up to 11. Not only does your cover get destroyed, but the walls, floor, and ceilings around you come crumbling down, too.

Strategic destruction aside, watching the spectacle unfold before you is highly satisfying. On one map, I shot a grenade launcher into a building's window, completely destroying the tower's corner. On another map, a giant crane collapsed in the center of the warzone, sending a wave of dust and debris across the screen, and other players scrambling for their lives. Coupled with incredible sound design, Battlefield 6's combat comes to life in a way that most multiplayer shooters don't. 

Gameplay: Classes and New Movement Abilities

Like previous series entries, Battlefield 6 features a class-based system that lets you play as a soldier with either the Assault, Engineer, Recon, or Support skill sets. Although there's no roll queue ala Overwatch, Battlefield 6 encourages you to pick a class best suited for the situation. Each has unique traits, but it doesn’t dictate the weapons you can use; you’re free to customize loadouts to fit your playstyle. I enjoy the freedom at work here, but you'll still want to play to your class strengths. The support classes provide the team with extra ammo and health drops, while the Recon classes spot targets and deploy motion sensors to detect enemies as they flank. Each class is different enough that you'll soon develop preferences based on your playstyle.

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A wide range of weaponry is on display, including assault rifles, SMGs, shotguns, and light machine guns. Each gun has realistic recoil (or as realistic as I can tell), and they all feel satisfying to shoot. You're free to take them to the in-game fire range to better understand how each gun works and adjust certain parts, such as the barrel or sight, to improve hipfire, precision, control, and mobility.

The new Kinesthetic Combat System introduces small but meaningful updates to movement. When crouched against an object, you automatically snap to the corner to peek out and shoot your gun, or mount it to decrease recoil. When allies drop in battle, the Kinesthetic Combat System lets you pull the soldiers from the line of fire to safely revive them. This makes the gunplay and other actions feel natural while providing realistic weight to movements.

The movement changes quickly became second nature—I had to learn quickly to keep up with PC players (Battlefield 6 supports crossplay and cross-progression between consoles). The matchmaking system tries to fill your lobby with people on the same platform before expanding to include others, which is a nice touch if you're a console player who doesn't want to deal with PC players using super-accurate mouse-and-keyboard controls.

These major and minor changes differentiate Battlefield 6 from Call of Duty despite the games sharing many attributes. Many weapon challenges, skins, and gun customization options are also unlockable in-game. A Battle Pass with free and premium items is set to launch alongside Battlefield 6.

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What really impresses me is the wealth of multiplayer modes. Battlefield is known for its large-scale, multiplayer matches, known as All-Out Warfare. Then there's Conquest, a mode where two teams fight to control objectives on the map. It's classic Battlefield, complete with tanks, choppers, and jets. In Breakthrough, the map is divided into sectors: The attacking team pushes the frontline, while the defenders try to hold the lines. Rush mode tasks the attackers with setting explosives at strategic points, and the defenders must keep them at bay. Escalation sees teams fighting to capture key points and expand their territory.

Additionally, you'll find a wide range of small and medium-scale battles, as well as traditional multiplayer modes such as Team Deathmatch and King of the Hill. And for the purist, most modes have Closed Weapon variants, which restrict what weapons can be used by your soldier's class.

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The Battlefield Portal returns, too, which is essentially Battlefield 6's version of Halo's Forge mode. With it, you can manipulate rules, introduce mutators, and adjust the AI scripting and Spatial Editing to change the map geography. Although I didn't use the Portal tools myself, I sampled the fruits of the player base's labor. These custom game types are part of the "Community Experiences" and offer more fun and creative ways to play.

Single-Player Campaign: Good Story, Some Missteps

The multiplayer experience alone would likely satiate most players, but Battlefield 6 reintroduces a single-player campaign after ditching it in Battlefield 2042. The campaign centers on the members of Dagger 13, an elite group of Marines. In a not-so-distant future, a surprise assassination shakes the world’s confidence in NATO, causing major European countries to withdraw from the alliance. At the same time, a new PMC, called Pax Armata, swoops in to fill the power vacuum left behind. The Dagger 13 crew set out to uncover who's at the top of Pax Armata and bring the rogue organization down. 

The campaign consists of nine missions that send you across the world. You'll jump from airplanes, fight atop dams, and even save the President as you fight your way through Brooklyn Heights. As action-packed as some of these encounters sound, they lack the big-budget production that would make these set pieces memorable. 

There's some squandered potential here, as firefights through WW2 memorials and across the Brooklyn Bridge are so plain that they slide off the brain as quickly as they arrive. I wish the campaign consisted of bot matches that act as tutorials for the multiplayer action.

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In fact, playing through the campaign is where I noticed most of Battlefield 6's blemishes. The presentation is inconsistent, with bespoke pre-rendered cutscenes blended with in-game cutscenes that appear noticeably janky in comparison. The game features two graphics modes on console: a Balanced preset that targets 60 frames per second (fps) at high resolutions (although a specific resolution is not specified), and a Performance preset that targets 60-80fps while reducing the resolution.

Performance mode is where I spent most of my playtime. While the gameplay was mostly smooth, some environments and effects looked noticeably low-resolution.

Balanced mode didn’t look noticeably better. I encountered numerous instances of screen tearing and an overall uneven performance that sullied the experience. Until that’s patched up, I advise avoiding Balanced mode altogether.

However, Battlefield 6's most jarring issue is poor enemy AI. Playing on the Regular difficulty setting, I noticed enemies aimlessly walking out of cover and into the open or staring at me before opening fire. That went for friendlies, too. Raising the difficulty only improved their accuracy and damage; they didn't seem smarter.

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This was also a problem when bots filled multiplayer matchups. In one game, I set up a motion detector at a doorway and watched bots slowly walk through in single file, like moths drawn to a flame. Chances are, you won't have to deal with many bots in online games with real people, but it was distracting nonetheless. At least you can uninstall the campaign to free up extra storage space.

Single-player campaign woes aside, Battlefield 6 is one of the best multiplayer shooters of the year. Even after more than a dozen hours online, I still feel like I'm scratching the surface of what Battlefield has. And as long as EA resists the urge to inject it with predatory microtransactions (like it has with the newly rebooted Skate), Battlefield 6 will undoubtedly enjoy a lengthy life cycle.