Battlefield 6 Has a Thrilling Campaign, But It Could Have Been So Much Better

For years, this game series has had trouble finding its own unique place in the market. After *Call of Duty* became incredibly popular and dominated the military shooter genre, games like *Battlefield* and *Medal of Honor* have been trying to compete. While most players typically enjoy these games for their exciting multiplayer modes, this new version notably includes a complete single-player story for the first time in almost ten years.

The story in *Battlefield 6* isn’t groundbreaking for the modern military shooter genre, but it’s far from bad. It’s a good starting point with memorable characters and fun gameplay. While a little more development could have made it truly exceptional, it’s still a worthwhile experience.

Battlefield 6 Features Nine Globe-Spanning Campaign Missions

The Entire Campaign Can Be Completed in About Five Hours

EA hasn’t shared much information about the upcoming *Battlefield 6* campaign. The last *Battlefield* game, *Battlefield 2042*, didn’t have a single-player campaign at all, and the two before that, *Battlefield V* and *Battlefield 1*, only offered short, disconnected stories. This means it’s been a long time since fans experienced a full, story-driven *Battlefield* campaign set in a modern military world.

Okay, so in the new Battlefield, they’ve set things up a few years in the future where NATO is falling apart. This group called Pax Armata – a seriously powerful private military company – is basically causing trouble all over the world, and it feels like they’re trying to start a huge war. We play as the good guys trying to prevent World War III from actually happening, which is pretty intense!

A key strength of this campaign is that it jumps right into the action, without a lot of introductory explanation. While it might not be perfect, it excels in many areas. Instead of long, drawn-out briefings that could bore players, the story, characters, and world are revealed naturally through the environment, dialogue, and how you play the game – and it does so very effectively.

Battlefield 6 is visually impressive and genuinely fun to play, and those are the most important things it gets right. The game features beautiful landscapes, an incredible sense of scope, and amazing destruction effects. It combines slower, more strategic missions with large, open environments that let you tackle objectives in creative ways, all powered by the impressive Frostbite engine.

Despite taking place in many different settings, the game does a fantastic job of making each location feel unique. A typical 45-minute mission can quickly shift from a naval assault to a beach landing, and then to a high-speed chase through ruined city streets, complete with explosions. This fast-paced action keeps you engaged and constantly ratchets up the suspense.

The game has a solid foundation, but it struggles with a common issue in military shooters: the player isn’t given enough context about the world’s political situation, while the characters all act as if they are fully aware of it. This leads to confusing explanations filled with technical terms, abbreviations, and made-up names that are hard to follow, especially when you’re still learning who everyone is.

The campaign has nine missions and typically takes about five hours to complete on the normal setting. While it feels a bit shorter than anticipated, the game avoids unnecessary padding. The story could have been expanded in certain areas, but it doesn’t feel rushed or unfinished.

The game’s diverse locations should offer a lot of variety in multiplayer, and the developers are aiming for a large player base with plenty of game modes. While we’ll have to see how it performs after release, initial signs suggest the competitive multiplayer is excellent. Plus, the single-player campaign provides a great experience for those who enjoy dramatic, memorable moments.

Constant POV Switches and a Non-Linear Story Interrupt Pacing

The Story Would Have Been Stronger With a Clearer Focus

This campaign aims to warn players about the dangers of a potential World War, but its complex story isn’t told in a straightforward way. Instead of a simple beginning-to-end narrative, the game takes a more unconventional approach.

The game’s story starts at the beginning, but quickly jumps ahead in time, introducing many new characters right away. We then experience a series of missions that are actually flashbacks, explaining events that happen later. While this storytelling technique can be effective, it doesn’t quite work as well here. The plot eventually comes together in a dramatic finale, which might be hinting at a sequel, downloadable content, or simply the continuing story found in the game’s multiplayer modes.

The story in the new Battlefield game would have been stronger with a more consistent narrative. A major issue is that players quickly realize a character introduced early on might be working against the player’s team. This makes the flashback missions feel less important, as the results are hinted at before they even start. Knowing whether characters live or die beforehand lowers the tension, because the future scenes reveal their fate. It’s hard to create a powerful emotional connection when players already know what’s going to happen.

The problem is made worse by how much players like and enjoy the squad members. Reducing the danger and difficulty of missions weakens the emotional connection players feel to these characters. Furthermore, frequently switching between characters each mission doesn’t allow players to truly bond with any one of them. EA could learn from Activision’s approach to campaigns in the *Call of Duty* series, as they successfully built player investment in their characters.

While not quite as instantly lovable as the team from *Battlefield: Bad Company*, this group comes very close. Gecko is a strong, capable sniper and drone expert, and Lopez provides much-needed humor and tension. Murphy naturally steps into the leadership role, guided by Carter, and the supporting characters add personality and complexity. The story would have benefited from a clearer structure and more time spent developing these characters and their motivations, which could have made it even more impactful.

Minor Issues Aside, Battlefield 6 Has a Solid Campaign That Could Have Been Great

Battlefield 6 Has a Campaign that EA Should Build Upon Going Forward

If you’ve played recent military shooter games, you’ll quickly get the hang of *Battlefield 6*. One of the best new features is its dynamic cover system. Like in other popular games, your character will automatically peek around corners or pop up from cover when you aim down sights. It’s a smart and effective system that feels natural to use.

While playing through the campaign, *Battlefield 6* didn’t crash once, though it wasn’t without its issues. Even on the PS5 Pro, textures sometimes loaded slowly, but it wasn’t game-breaking. Dead enemies occasionally disappeared into objects, and sometimes enemies would stand out in the open, making them easy targets. Most of the time, they behaved normally and used cover, but we saw instances where enemies seemed to have no self-preservation. These weren’t major problems, but they were noticeable during gameplay.

Given the scale of *Battlefield 6*, it’s expected that the game will have some initial issues. However, the level of destruction is truly impressive. For instance, during a mission where you’re clearing a house, you don’t have to be conventional – instead of opening doors, you can smash through walls with a sledgehammer or even blow the whole room up with explosives. If snipers are giving you trouble, you don’t need to fight them directly; you can simply destroy the building they’re using for cover. It’s a quick and effective solution.

What truly sets the *Battlefield* series apart is its ability to inspire creative problem-solving. While it could benefit from more expansive, open-ended missions, the diverse scenarios offer a welcome change of pace and a unique experience. Though it doesn’t quite reach the heights of some other titles, it still provides something different. It’s a real shame, however, that the game doesn’t include any missions where you get to fly a jet – EA should have included that.

Compared to *Battlefield 2042*, *Battlefield 6* represents a significant improvement and a return to form for the series.

Battlefield 6 launches on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S on October 10, 2025.

We covered this story using a review copy of Battlefield 6 provided by Electronic Arts. We’ll share our full score and detailed review once we’ve had a chance to test the multiplayer features on the live game servers after launch.

2025-10-09 18:10