Battlefield is back and bigger than ever
By Paul Hunter
I’ve played enough Battlefield to know the series lives or dies by two things: the scale of the fight and the squad work happening inside it. Battlefield 6 on PS5 delivers on that promise right away. Battlefield Studios and Electronic Arts deliver that big, messy battlefield energy, where objectives pull everyone together and destruction keeps you second-guessing what counts as cover.
It also helps that Battlefield 6 feels like a complete package right out of the gate. You’ve got multiplayer as the main event, a single-player campaign when you want a solo night, and Battlefield Portal for custom experiences that let the community remix the rules. It’s a setup that supports both the “serious squad night” and the “let’s experiment with something new” session, which is exactly what I want from Battlefield in 2025.
So, is Battlefield 6 worth dropping into for your next squad night? Let’s find out!
You run through nine missions as members of Dagger 13, an elite squad of US Marine raiders. The story keeps the focus on the squad’s orders, the intel they are chasing, and how quickly the situation escalates once Pax Armata starts throwing its weight around. I liked that the campaign treats the conflict as global, because it makes the threat play bigger than one country, and it helps the later missions carry extra punch.
The writing has that classic military cadence, with briefings, callouts, and lots of urgency. It also has a few set-piece moments that stick with you because they big and loud, the kind of operations you want to talk about after the credits roll.
When you want a more straightforward competitive session, Team Deathmatch, Domination, and King of the Hill give you the tried-and-true FPS classics, with tighter battlefields and more time spent trading gunfights.
Much like previous games, Battlefield 6 centres its multiplayer around four classes, each with a different role, loadout options, and match strategy. Assault is the frontline class built for breaking a defence and taking objectives, with improved assault rifle handling and faster objective actions like arming and disarming M-COMs. Engineer is the vehicle and equipment specialist, using a Repair Tool to fix friendly vehicles or damage enemy assets. Support keeps squads going in long fights, handing out health and ammo supplies, and can heal teammates with more efficiency. Recon is your intel class, mixing long-range sniper rifles and aim spotting to mark enemies.
All in all, Battlefield 6’s gameplay nails what makes Battlefield special, with modes that stay tense from start to finish and class roles that make every push, revive, repair, and flank feel like you're at the centre of all out warfare.
The map settings vary significantly in both location and size, keeping matches interesting with distinct strategies. For example, under Manhattan Bridge, steel girders and shadowed lanes emphasize close-quarters rushes. Liberation Peak opens into bright mountain ridges where elevation provides infantry advantage and provides cover for jets. Meanwhile, Siege of Cairo and the Gibraltar maps keep you in tighter streets and multi-storey interiors, letting you play cat and mouse with enemy soldiers and tanks.
On PS5, there are two display settings: Performance Mode targets 80 FPS, while Quality Mode targets 60 FPS with higher fidelity. I stayed on Performance because it kept my movements buttery smooth even when smoke and particles piled up.
Audio is a huge part of why firefights stay tactical, with strong cues that help you track threats and make quick calls under pressure. You can identify weapon types by sound, hear vehicles approaching through their specific engine and tread noise, and use directional footsteps and gunfire to make fast calls in the middle of an assualt.
Battlefield 6 is one of the year’s biggest technical showcases, pairing realistic visuals and destruction with smooth performance and audio that helps you track threats and movement in real time.
Final Score: 8.5/10 - Great
Developer: Battlefield Studios
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Genre: First-Person Shooter
Modes: Single-player, Multiplayer
A key was provided by the publisher.
By Paul Hunter
I’ve played enough Battlefield to know the series lives or dies by two things: the scale of the fight and the squad work happening inside it. Battlefield 6 on PS5 delivers on that promise right away. Battlefield Studios and Electronic Arts deliver that big, messy battlefield energy, where objectives pull everyone together and destruction keeps you second-guessing what counts as cover.
It also helps that Battlefield 6 feels like a complete package right out of the gate. You’ve got multiplayer as the main event, a single-player campaign when you want a solo night, and Battlefield Portal for custom experiences that let the community remix the rules. It’s a setup that supports both the “serious squad night” and the “let’s experiment with something new” session, which is exactly what I want from Battlefield in 2025.
So, is Battlefield 6 worth dropping into for your next squad night? Let’s find out!
Story and Narrative
I was happy to have a proper Battlefield campaign again in Battlefield 6, because it gives you a reason to stay in the game when you are not in the mood for online battles. The setup is a near-future 2027 where NATO is splintering and Pax Armata, a private military corporation, is cashing in on the panic. It’s a straightforward premise with clear stakes, and it works well for this kind of military thriller ride.You run through nine missions as members of Dagger 13, an elite squad of US Marine raiders. The story keeps the focus on the squad’s orders, the intel they are chasing, and how quickly the situation escalates once Pax Armata starts throwing its weight around. I liked that the campaign treats the conflict as global, because it makes the threat play bigger than one country, and it helps the later missions carry extra punch.
The writing has that classic military cadence, with briefings, callouts, and lots of urgency. It also has a few set-piece moments that stick with you because they big and loud, the kind of operations you want to talk about after the credits roll.
Gameplay and Mechanics
No matter what competitive multiplayer modes you like best, Battlefield 6 has you covered. At launch, it has a range of series trademark modes that will appeal to core fans as well as modes focused on more traditional FPS multiplayer. Conquest is still the centrepiece, featuring all-out warfare with two teams fighting to capture and hold multiple objectives across the map. Breakthrough tightens the fight into a sector-by-sector push, with attackers trying to move the frontline forward while defenders strive to hold the line. Rush centres on M-COM stations, where attackers plant explosives and defenders rush to defuse before the charges detonate, with the fight moving to the next sector once the M-COMs are destroyed. Escalation is a territory mode where two teams capture strategic objectives, and as territory gets claimed the active objectives shrink down to fewer remaining points until both sides are fighting over the final locations with everything on the field, including combat vehicles.When you want a more straightforward competitive session, Team Deathmatch, Domination, and King of the Hill give you the tried-and-true FPS classics, with tighter battlefields and more time spent trading gunfights.
Much like previous games, Battlefield 6 centres its multiplayer around four classes, each with a different role, loadout options, and match strategy. Assault is the frontline class built for breaking a defence and taking objectives, with improved assault rifle handling and faster objective actions like arming and disarming M-COMs. Engineer is the vehicle and equipment specialist, using a Repair Tool to fix friendly vehicles or damage enemy assets. Support keeps squads going in long fights, handing out health and ammo supplies, and can heal teammates with more efficiency. Recon is your intel class, mixing long-range sniper rifles and aim spotting to mark enemies.
All in all, Battlefield 6’s gameplay nails what makes Battlefield special, with modes that stay tense from start to finish and class roles that make every push, revive, repair, and flank feel like you're at the centre of all out warfare.
Presentation and Audio
Visually, Battlefield 6 is incredibly realistic and it really sells the large-scale warfare fantasy. A firefight can start on a street, spill into a stairwell, and end with the exterior peeled open by tank fire. The impressive destruction physics can break buildings and walls into chunks, while cover turns into rubble that changes sightlines mid-battle. It's impressive seeing cracks, dust, and shaking beams warning you when a room is close to giving way.The map settings vary significantly in both location and size, keeping matches interesting with distinct strategies. For example, under Manhattan Bridge, steel girders and shadowed lanes emphasize close-quarters rushes. Liberation Peak opens into bright mountain ridges where elevation provides infantry advantage and provides cover for jets. Meanwhile, Siege of Cairo and the Gibraltar maps keep you in tighter streets and multi-storey interiors, letting you play cat and mouse with enemy soldiers and tanks.
On PS5, there are two display settings: Performance Mode targets 80 FPS, while Quality Mode targets 60 FPS with higher fidelity. I stayed on Performance because it kept my movements buttery smooth even when smoke and particles piled up.
Audio is a huge part of why firefights stay tactical, with strong cues that help you track threats and make quick calls under pressure. You can identify weapon types by sound, hear vehicles approaching through their specific engine and tread noise, and use directional footsteps and gunfire to make fast calls in the middle of an assualt.
Battlefield 6 is one of the year’s biggest technical showcases, pairing realistic visuals and destruction with smooth performance and audio that helps you track threats and movement in real time.
The Verdict
Battlefield 6 brought back what I want from this series: huge multiplayer matches where teamwork pays off and every role can contribute to the win. The online multiplayer is the main draw, but the campaign is a solid bonus when you want to play solo. On PS5, it’s a technical showpiece, with great visuals, big destruction moments, superb and realistic audio, and smooth performance that holds firm even when the action gets intense. Battlefield is back, and I couldn't be happier.Final Score: 8.5/10 - Great
Battlefield 6 details
Platform: PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PCDeveloper: Battlefield Studios
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Genre: First-Person Shooter
Modes: Single-player, Multiplayer
A key was provided by the publisher.