by Anthony O'Connor
Worth: $16.00
FilmInk rates movies out of $20 — the score indicates the amount we believe a ticket to the movie to be worth
Intro:
…. multiplayer experience that you can lose hours of your life with mates; a game that is slick, engaging and full of those random, chaotic moments that you see clipped all over social media …
It would be fair to say that the Battlefield series has taken a hit in recent years. The previous entry, 2021’s Battlefield 2042, was an unmitigated disaster. Buggy and broken at launch, it was almost impossible to play for many fans, but even when its technical flaws were fixed, it just wasn’t a very good game, missing many of the aspects for which the series is known and loved. Developers Battlefield Studios (the latest incarnation of what used to be known as DICE) really needed to pull their shit together and release a game that highlighted the strength of the long-running franchise by launching in a near-perfect state. An impossible goal in 2025, the more cynical among you may claim, and yet somehow, against all logic and reason, Battlefield 6 comes pretty close to hitting all the marks.
The first thing that should be noted here is that Battlefield 6 is essentially a game of two halves. There’s the single player campaign and the multiplayer offerings. We’ll start with the less good bit. The Battlefield 6 campaign is about 6-7 hours long and features some of the dullest, most generic and safe story beats imaginable. This stuff makes Tom Clancy look edgy, starring a bunch of forgettable characters in contrived situations with decent action against enemies with terrible AI. Most galling of all, it doesn’t at all prepare you for the meat of the package, the multiplayer, but instead runs through a yarn that can’t even hit the heights of some of the weaker Call of Duty story modes. Apparently, there was a lot of trouble behind the scenes getting it together, but that’s hardly an excuse when you consider the resources at the developer’s disposal. Look, it’s not the worst thing ever, but compared to the genuinely intriguing campaign from 2016’s Battlefield 1, it’s a damp squib and no mistake.
Now, that might sound like very bad news, and it isn’t great, but it’s barely a fraction of what Battlefield 6 offers. See, the Battlefield games are always about the sheer, mind-numbing scale of warfare and this game captures it best of all. Boasting multiple online multiplayer modes that range from what is essentially team deathmatch, to capturing territory to full scale warfare on huge maps with vehicles, aircraft, special weapons and of course boots on the ground grunts who actually get the real work done. The feeling of slipping onto the map with your three other squaddies, each taking on the role of Assault, Engineer, Support and Recon as you attempt to work together to take an objective, destroy a target or just kill that bloody 13-year-old Russian kid called BonerKilla69 who keeps sniping you from halfway across the map, is a genuine joy. Now, to be clear, you can still play without a squad on coms, but you’ll likely spend a lot of your game dying and respawning which can be extremely frustrating, so try to rope in a few mates if you can.
In terms of technical polish, server stability and added bonuses like environmental destruction, Battlefield 6 is something of a wonder in 2025: a multiplayer game that works at launch! That’s not to say it will be for everyone, mind you. The series has a unique style of gameplay, it’s harsh and unforgiving and getting better can take a lot of patience, something many players will have in short supply. Those weaned on CoD and Fortnite will likely find this proposition far too spiky and impenetrable.
However, if you’re looking for a new multiplayer experience that you can lose hours of your life with mates; a game that is slick, engaging and full of those random, chaotic moments that you see clipped all over social media; a game that can replace Helldivers 2 for a while as the ‘fun with friends on a lazy arvo’ title, then you may well find Battlefield 6 to be your perfect destination. It’s an expansive, pyrotechnic warzone that will have you desperate to play just one more round and a triumphant return for a franchise that many feared had gone to that great server farm in the sky.
