Battlefield 6: PS5 Review

Developed by Battlefield Studios
Published by EA Games
Platform: PS5

The eighteenth iteration of the Battlefield franchise sees the series going back to some of its roots after the underwhelming Battlefield 2042 released in 2021.

Landing in 2027 in a war between a fractured NATO and a private military company called Pax Armata, there's a certain amount of prescience in the game's storyline and a terrifyingly impressive first person campaign that aims to attract both the newbie and the seasoned Battlefield player - something that's not always possible.

With greatly rendered cut scenes, the game knows exactly what it wants to be, and with a sense of the cinematic, it's obvious to see where the estimated $400 million development's gone on the game.

But in truth, none of that matters if the game doesn't play well.

And for a first person shooter, it does play impressively well, with combat and reaction time both meeting the mark. With its chaotic multiplayer and many maps, there's barely any time to take in the surrounding environs - unless you want to get picked off by the opposition right away.

With four character classes (Assault, Engineer, Support and Recon), the game caters for all types of players. It's solid stuff that rewards those looking to sink their time into the game's perks (snipers get to breathe deeper before firing shots off) and the nice variety of modes (Conquest, Deathmatch, Breakthrough and Domination) give more than enough variety for players who want to team up with mates and chat away while planning their tactics.

Most intriguing is the new mode Escalation that gradually shrinks the campaign area, leaving you fighting in a smaller patch and with a stronger need to focus on what you're actually doing.

In many ways, Battlefield 6 really does return the series to form; it more than offers what's needed for long-time fans of the genre while settling to rest some of the ghosts from previous efforts. 

While this review's mainly looked at the basics, it'll be updated in the first week of launch to concentrate more on how the multiplayer works with masses piling into the game and to see if the servers cope with what's required - for a series like Battlefield, this will be crucial for Battlefield 6's survival, as during the review period, it was mainly AI bots.

But for now, this is a solid start for the series, a thrilling return to form for fans of first person shooters and a sign that Call of Duty has a serious contender for the future.