Battlefield 6 is an intoxicating experience. I’ve played its multiplayer for well over 100 hours now, which means out of the last fifteen days (I got access to the game early for review), five of them have been spent playing Battlefield. Miraculously, I’m not burned out. I am, however, starting to feel a little bit exhausted.
That’s not from general gamer fatigue, although I do have a pretty sore neck from sitting at my desk for so long. This exhaustion instead comes from Battlefield 6 itself: its relentless pace is much more like modern Call Of Duty than Battlefield games of the past. While the movement isn’t quite as twitchy and gung ho, the game still pushes you towards a high pace, mobile playstyle.
Battlefield has had its moments like this over the years, but to me, the foundations of a game in this series are large-scale battles, a push and pull, the slow grind of warfare. Tactics. Strategy. Not one maniac with a shotgun and a pocket full of stun grenades.
We Were Right All Along: Battlefield 6’s Maps Are Just So Small
I’m a Breakthrough player primarily. It’s the mode I’ve spent the most time with, and I can tell you now, the maps are absolutely awful. They are nowhere near big enough, and pale in comparison to the scale of my beloved Battlefield 1 Operations. Everyone is crammed into a miniscule space and forced together. One player with good movement, aim, and speed, can dominate the entire game, because there’s nowhere for slower-paced players to set up shop.
The size of the maps just feels off. Mirak Valley is currently bugged (no tanks/few tanks spawn for the attacking side), but the wide open spaces are a shooting gallery for the defending team. It’s so frustrating to relentlessly bash your head against an impenetrable defense. When the teams are unbalanced, the game is extremely unbalanced. There’s no space for anyone on the attacking team to make any significant plays. You have to charge down the middle and die. Over and over again.
As a result of the size of the maps, vehicles feel oppressive. Where in previous Battlefield games you had a bit of breathing room with vehicles, often being able just to go around them, or sneak past them through the trees, in Battlefield 6 they are almost always on top of you. A good driver teamed up with some dedicated engineers will dominate a match. It takes a real concerted effort of several individuals on the opposing team to actually take them down, which isn’t always guaranteed when you’re chucked into matches with random people.
All of this combined makes for a frustrating experience at times. I can see players becoming tired of this repetitive meat-grinder quite quickly, especially as a meta develops and players start to properly settle into their roles. We’re not even sure yet which guns are going to dominate, because no one has unlocked any of the attachments. This fast-paced nonsense of jumping around corners and sliding around might only get worse.
We Need Bigger Maps ASAP
So much of Battlefield 6 is so good. I’d love the ability to crawl around in the dirt as a sniper, picking off people from range, or leading a sneaky assault on a distant point in Conquest. The atmosphere and vibes are just unparalleled. EA and DICE have done so much correctly with their reimagining of the series. But we need bigger maps as soon as possible.
We don’t even need completely new maps. Just take what we’ve already got and make them bigger. Expand Manhattan Bridge to encompass the entire city. Chuck some more players in there. The game runs brilliantly. Why not test its core by maxing out the size and depth of its maps? This would give time and space for players to breathe, and make the fights they enter much more meaningful, rather than a run, die, run, die, cycle that breaks the spirit of everyone except the most hardcore players.
I really hope we see some big changes to the maps coming up in the roadmap. Battlefield 6 is an excellent foundation, but we’re still a way away from it being one of the best in the series.
