Battlefield 6 Open Beta reminds me…
It has been a pretty long time since I played a Battlefield game. Even when I was still hopping into Conquest matches with my homies, it was sporadic at best. Back in the Battlefield 3 and 4 days, a good Conquest session was a nightly occurrence, and before that, we were blasting away in Bad Company 2. Those were the golden days of the franchise. Then came a bit of a weird slump, as Battlefield Hardline was a novel idea, but it just wasn’t what we were looking for. After that, Battlefield 1 was also an interesting idea, and we played it for a bit, but the WWI-era weapons, along with some horribly balanced vehicular advantages, really kept us from loving it.
Then came Battlefield V, and it was… better. There were some cool maps, and it was a return to the WWII in which the series began, but at the same time, something felt… off. And no, it wasn’t the lady with the mechanical arm. Something about the game just failed to resonate, but I do remember putting a decent amount of time into it.
After that was Battlefield 2042 and… well we won’t talk about 2042. That game was just a dumpster fire from the get-go, and it never got much better.
That brings us to Battlefield 6, and holy hell did they take the feedback. They seem to have taken the criticsm to heart, and trashed all the bullshit that nobody liked in the previous game. The general consensus is that it feels a lot more like a return to Battlefield 3 and 4, and that can only be a good thing.
Back when those games came out (and they really did feel like they came out in quick succession, like BF3 was just a beta for BF4) there was a buzz-word EA was throwing around: “Level-ution.” Ugh. I still physically cringe whenever I say it. There were pre-designed destructive scripts that could be triggered that would essentially change the map. Whether it was a dam that could be destroyed, that would flood the area and make certain places inaccessible, or a building that could be collapsed, removing a key strategic point, it was all a really cool idea, and the spectacle was pretty impressive. The only problem with it was that it was relatively static, the action and destruction didn’t evolve in an organic way. The battle would play out, and the destruction would essentially rely on whether anyone wanted to bother with trying to do it. An entire match could play out with nothing happening.
In Battlefield 6, they’re looking to bring back the destructible environments, where the map changes organically based on the fight taking place. And so far, it’s looking pretty impressive. Seeing walls exploding into rubble as tanks blast away at them makes for pretty intense, real-time action, as opposed to an event that will either happen, or not happen.
I hopped into the open beta over the weekend, on the Xbox Series X (I’m not sure my PC will handle this very well) and played with some old BF buddies. And I readily got my ass handed to me. Like, it wasn’t even a fight. It was an eye-opening reminder that I have gotten pretty comfortable in my old age, playing single player games and co-op RPG’s. And it wasn’t even the reflexes or response time that got me. It was that lack of urgency, that heightened awareness that one needs in order to be an effective soldier. I was slow. And plodding. And I couldn’t see a damn thing. I’m not sure if the game only started me with a red dot scope, or if I just didn’t bother to customize my weapon, but I had to rank up at least once before I was rewarded with a 2.5x scope, and by that time, I was ready for bed.
I have always had a hard time seeing small objects in games. My eyes just aren’t what they used to be. But a lot of that also comes from how “clean” an area is. Sometimes the clutter and chaos of an area makes it hard for me to discern a human from an object, and in a PvP multiplayer game, by the time I figure it out, I’m usually dead. My K:D is usually pretty bad at first, then gradually gets better after I acquire some type of zoom.
I used to be pretty damn good at Battlefield. BF was my jam. Bad Company 2 was my playground, and I could hold my own in BF4 as well. But that was well over a decade ago. And I’ve been in decline ever since. It will be interesting to see if I can get my groove back, or if I’m just too damn old.