Battlefield 6 Open Beta review

Let's be honest, there's a certain magic to the Battlefield formula that other shooters just can't replicate. It's the sheer, unadulterated chaos. One minute you're in a tense infantry firefight, the next a tank ploughs through the wall you were using as cover, and the whole landscape warps into a cratered mess. You can't just learn the maps; you have to learn how they breathe, break, and fall apart. That's the stuff, and I'm happy to report it's back with a vengeance.

Remember the maps in Battlefield 2042? They were so big you practically needed an Uber to get from one objective to another, only to be sniped by a camper upon arrival. It was a slog. Battlefield 6, thankfully, has had a word with its mapmaker. The three arenas on show in the beta feel tight, focused and brilliantly designed for relentless action.

Liberation Peak is set in a windswept, snow-dusted mountain range. This map is all about verticality. One moment you're spawning in, the next you're already contesting a capture point at the foot of a massive communications array. The stark white snow and cold, industrial architecture make for a visually stunning battleground where you’re constantly pushing forward.

Siege of Cairo is one of my personal favourites. It’s a masterclass in asymmetrical design. The wide, sun-bleached main roads are death traps, purely the domain of hulking tanks, while the narrow, dusty inner streets and markets are a playground for intense, close-quarters infantry combat. It brilliantly forces squads to work together to clear paths and capture points without direct armoured support.

Iberian Offensive offers a bit of everything. Snipers can have a field day on the hills overlooking the terracotta-roofed villas, while shotgun fans can cause mayhem in the tight corridors of the smaller houses. It’s a gorgeous map that caters to every playstyle. Crucially, you never feel stranded or like you’re in the wrong place at the wrong time. There’s always a flank route, always a place for your specific skills to shine, whether you’re a lone wolf gunslinger or a dedicated team player. Smart maps make for smart gameplay, and that’s a big tick from us.

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Aiding this glorious return to form is the re-introduction of a proper class system. No more wishy-washy Specialists; we're back to the big four: Assault, Support, Engineer, and Recon. Each class now feels distinct and vital to the war effort, bringing a unique gadget and ability to the party. Assault is your classic frontline troublemaker, equipped with a grenade launcher for flushing out enemies and a stim for a speed boost. Support is the team's best mate, dropping ammo packs and bringing downed allies back into the fight with the defibrillator. When my internet was having a wobble and my ping was sky-high, I just switched to Support and spent a happy match reviving teammates instead of losing gunfights. Engineer is the person tanks both love and fear. Engineers can repair friendly vehicles or deploy devastating anti-armour weapons to deal with enemy threats. Recon snipers can spot enemies with their high-powered scopes and use motion sensors to reveal hostiles in a specific area.

This streamlined system makes your role on the battlefield clearer and far more meaningful than in 2042.

The Open Beta gave us a taste of two classic game modes: the sprawling, sandbox warfare of Conquest and the more focused, tug-of-war assault of Breakthrough. Both felt superb on the new maps, providing that signature Battlefield experience of large-scale, objective-based chaos. There was also Domination and King of the Hill, which felt like a nice breather in between the large-scale Conquest and Breakthrough games. And we also got to try the Closed Weapons Breakthrough, which locked classes to their class-based weapon.

On the technical side, things were surprisingly smooth. Playing from Mumbai, I was getting a solid 65ms latency, which is more than respectable. The only grumble is the lack of a server browser; you’re thrown into a match without any option to choose your region. A bit of a throwback, and not in a good way. Let us pick our own playground!

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It wouldn’t be Battlefield without a healthy dose of destruction, would it? Watching buildings crumble under tank fire, creating new sightlines and piles of cover, is the chaotic core of the experience. A formerly safe structure can be reduced to rubble, while an exploding tank can carve a new trench into a road, offering life-saving cover.

This time, however, there’s a clever tweak. Certain sections of the maps, particularly the infantry-focused indoor areas, are immune to vehicle damage. This gives you pockets of predictability amidst the chaos, ensuring that gunplay skill still has a familiar ground to stand on. We only had access to ground vehicles in the beta, so we're licking our lips at the prospect of seeing what jets and helicopters will do to these finely crafted maps in the full game.

After a weekend of glorious, non-stop action, it’s safe to say that Battlefield is back. The Open Beta is a fantastic slice of what promises to be a stellar return to the series' roots. It’s chaotic, strategic, and most importantly, an absolute blast to play.

Battlefield 6 is set to launch on November 14, 2025. There's another Open Beta weekend rumoured for late October, and we wholeheartedly recommend you dive in. Stop reading this, get it downloaded, and see for yourself. It's a grand time, and a welcome sign that the big-battle shooter is well and truly back in business.