Battlefield 6 Campaign Review

It’s been 7 years since the past Battlefield campaign. A decennary since the past 1 acceptable successful the modern time — the intriguing, but yet flawed Hardline. In that time, Doom and its sequels took the velocity of a single-player first-person shooter to the adjacent level, Titanfall 2 pushed level plan guardant successful inventive ways, and adjacent Call of Duty reinvented itself connected respective antithetic occasions to varying degrees of success. But Battlefield 6 has small involvement successful innovation, alternatively firmly looking backmost astatine what made the bid truthful palmy 2 console generations ago. Aside from being an awesome method showcase astatine times, its tiny acceptable of regular missions has small caller to offer. There is some variety and a fewer moments of awesome standard to beryllium found, but it’s each implicit truthful rapidly you hardly person clip to savour them. Though it ne'er rather feels similar a full-on afterthought, it’s a run that comes crossed arsenic the sidearm of Battlefield 6’s arsenal erstwhile placed alongside its much expansive multiplayer suite.

Across its 9 missions, Battlefield 6 zips astir astatine a furious pace, but I couldn’t assistance but consciousness that I’d done it each before, albeit astatine overmuch little fidelity. It’s flashy, but lacking erstwhile it comes to genuinely absorbing level design, with its large feeling gunplay not supported by what you’re asked to execute with it. On 1 hand, it makes consciousness for Battlefield Studios to instrumentality this attack and dainty the run arsenic a grooming crushed for its trademark large-scale online warfare — the axenic size and fig of enemies that flood the surface successful its missions are surely successful speech with this. But successful the different palm, it crushes each anticipation of crafting a thrilling communicative that has the accidental of stepping retired of the shadiness formed by those multiplayer modes.

That’s not to accidental determination aren’t splashes of inspiration. A peculiar item was a series that takes spot connected a crumbling New York bridge. It’s astatine slightest visually interesting, adjacent if it offers nary large variance successful what it’s asking you to bash gameplay-wise. There’s conscionable nary 1 ngo that screams retired arsenic an all-timer here, adjacent if determination are attempts to ape Modern Warfare’s Clean House — which fails to seizure immoderate of the desired hostility — oregon its ain mentation of a Normandy landing arsenic you tempest a Gibraltar beach. It’s, oddly, precise overmuch a ‘Call of Duty’ run successful its representation and nonsubjective design, and struggles to stamp overmuch of the signature Battlefield large-scale enactment that made maine autumn successful emotion with the series. I find it frustrating not to spot risks being taken creatively, particularly erstwhile specified a immense fund is disposable to substance specified ambition.

One aboriginal section acceptable amongst the mountains of Tajikistan does instrumentality spot successful a wide unfastened country and echoes the multiplayer roots of the series, arsenic you’re encouraged to instrumentality your ain attack erstwhile completing the task astatine hand. In theory, this could beryllium exciting, with each mode of airborne and crushed vehicles acceptable to beryllium controlled astatine your fingertips and a immense room of weaponry and gadgets to cogwheel up with. In practice, it presents arsenic much of a bladed veneer of prime alternatively than drastically antithetic ways to tackle objectives, with the scope of tools astatine your disposal kept frustratingly limited. You’re fixed a drone to play with and a prime of ATVs and armored trucks to drive, but small beyond that. I’m conscionable not a instrumentality of this larger representation attack erstwhile it comes to first-person shooter campaigns, overmuch preferring an authored manus to level design, alternatively than being handed a container of crayons to marque my ain amusive with. These stretches are worryingly adjacent to Modern Warfare 3’s “open combat missions” astatine times — a representation I ne'er wanted to relive, yet again truthful soon after, but astatine slightest they bash consciousness philosophically much astatine location arsenic Battlefield arenas.

Thankfully, these don’t marque up the bulk of the campaign, but what’s recovered successful its smaller scope staging isn’t immoderate much exciting. You’ll often find yourself hunkering down successful choky metropolis streets oregon down hulking tanks, waiting for the close accidental to popular your caput out. A run-and-gun mentality simply isn’t welcomed here, with a patient, cover-based attack encouraged — the gunplay is snappy astatine least, with a satisfying value to it whenever you bash take to unfastened fire. Assault rifles and LMGs battalion a almighty punch and service arsenic businesslike tools erstwhile faced with different question of enemies, and sniper rifles are satisfingly devastating — adjacent if the force AI displays small encephalon to stroke out. It gets particularly breathtaking erstwhile the awesome demolition tech takes a chunk retired of the gathering you’ve been uncovering solace in, and you’re forced to scramble to different harmless haven. These claustrophobic moments of existent jeopardy truly are each excessively rare, though, arsenic for the astir part, the run is reduced to rinse and repetition objectives that were getting aged successful FPS campaigns a decennary ago.

Having 1 ngo see a series wherever you request to destruct anti-aircraft guns oregon SAM sites tin beryllium forgiven, but doing this connected much than three occasions is conscionable downright boring and grinds immoderate gathered momentum to a halt. There are lone truthful galore times planting C4 tin beryllium considered a amusive time, and each excessively often, you are tasked with lasting inactive amongst the enactment and pressing a azygous fastener successful bid to continue. On aggregate occasions, I was asked to ticker immoderate explosions that I didn’t adjacent get to acceptable disconnected instrumentality place, oregon beryllium successful the backmost of a speeding conveyance and power a mounted turret that lone gives you a mild feeling of being liable for the carnage connected screen. It's on-rails each excessively often, taking its astir breathtaking moments retired of your hands and displaying them successful cutscenes, resulting successful overmuch of the run feeling similar the astir straight-faced Disney thrust ever built. I wanted to beryllium the prima of the show, but I conscionable ended up feeling similar a passenger.

An aboriginal ngo that takes you done an abandoned WW2 passageway network-turned-museum to the decades-old warfare serves arsenic an unfortunate awesome for the run arsenic a full — a relic of first-person-shooter plan dressed up successful a caller guise. Being funneled done corridors towards the adjacent static shooting assemblage to weapon down food successful a tube is hardly breathtaking successful 2025, and it hardly was 20 years ago. Outside of a bid of vessel battles arsenic adust arsenic the godforsaken roads they instrumentality spot on, it attempts to sprinkle precise small of that Battlefield magic into the mix, mostly negating situation demolition arsenic portion of your toolkit and ne'er erstwhile putting you successful power of an airborne vehicle. Is it truly Battlefield if I’m ne'er zooming on successful a combatant pitchy oregon unleashing hellhole from a chopper gunship?

There’s a flimsy glimmer of tactical ops magic to beryllium seen, arsenic you tin telephone connected your squadmates to activate their personalised skills to assistance you successful a fight. They each travel packed with their ain multiplayer-class-flavoured abilities, specified arsenic Gecko, the recon specialist, being capable to tag targets, which, admittedly, does marque definite situations ridiculously easy, arsenic each force successful the country is revealed to you instantly. Ultimately, though, each subordinate ends up playing practically the aforesaid and feels similar different missed accidental to adhd a dash of assortment into the mix.

They each autumn nether the banner of an adept Marine Raider squad called Dagger 1-3 — an unfittingly crisp sanction for specified a dull bunch. On the whole, they’re a reasonably cookie-cutter subject portion who emotion thing much than getting their boots connected the crushed and shouting “hooah”, with memorable quality moments adjacent non-existent. The performances and the shells of humans they inhabit are wholly forgettable, hardly coming crossed arsenic afloat formed, and it’s hard to observe immoderate benignant of emotion, adjacent erstwhile 1 of their ain falls successful the enactment of fire. Nuance is hardly the sanction of the crippled erstwhile it comes to Battlefield 6’s campaign, though, and its story, centered connected taking down a rogue backstage subject unit called Pax Armata (ironically, Latin for Armed Peace), proves to beryllium thing but a peaceful one.

It’s a reasonably straightforward matter that doesn’t permission excessively overmuch country for interpretation. For a subject shooter astir the illness of NATO, it’s each oddly apolitical successful its presentation, and arsenic such, it feels similar it has thing of existent substance to say. It’s safe, and arsenic a result, mostly uninteresting. At slightest Call of Duty has attempted to instrumentality connected subjects specified arsenic chemic warfare and terrorism, adjacent if they’ve yet been misguided efforts that travel crossed arsenic antithetical to its larger message. It’s not casual to contiguous specified important themes delicately, truthful I tin recognize wherefore Battlefield Studios whitethorn person felt similar trying to occurrence and drawback a slug laced with hot-button issues whitethorn person been a hazard not worthy taking erstwhile it could simply take not to propulsion the trigger astatine all. It conscionable means it doesn’t person thing to accidental connected a planetary oregon idiosyncratic level, and each feels a small hollow arsenic a result. It’s a acold outcry from erstwhile the bid did archer immoderate engaging tales done the eyes of amusive characters successful its Bad Company days.

I did besides autumn unfortunate a fewer annoying small glitches connected the way, specified arsenic my quality zipping crossed the surface involuntarily, fuzzy textures popping in, and occasional bullets aimed close astatine force heads leaving zero impact. But connected the whole, there’s nary denying that it looks and sounds precise impressive, with spectacular explosions peppering skylines and gunfire whizzing and cutting done fume and debris arsenic mayhem ensues astir you with regularity. I conscionable privation determination was a small much substance hiding down it all.

Simon Cardy is simply a Senior Editor astatine IGN who tin chiefly beryllium recovered skulking astir unfastened satellite games, indulging successful Korean cinema, oregon despairing astatine the authorities of Tottenham Hotspur and the New York Jets. Follow him connected Bluesky astatine @cardy.bsky.social.