Breaking Down the Battlefield 6 Beta Weekend 2: What’s Changed and What’s Still Broken

So, that’s a wrap, and we are now done and dusted with two weekends of chaos, carnage and mainly positive thoughts on Battlefield 6. I must say that I’ve had a lot of fun during the last two Beta tests, and after being part of the Battlefield Labs testing, I’ve seen significant improvement. That said, after diving into this second successive weekend, I’d say there is still an awful lot of work to do to make this game perfect. But this is what a Beta test is for, right?

What Was New In Weekend 2?

Empire State – One new and never-before-seen map joined this weekend’s rotation. Set on the urban and dense city streets of Brooklyn, New York, it was nice to try out something new. From what I can gather, this was infantry only and focused on close-quarters combat. Whilst this map was a little on the small side for my liking, it is well-designed with tight corridors, rooftops, different floors, and windows to engage in firefights from.

Rush Game Mode – The popular game mode that was born from the Battlefield Bad Company titles returns. The classic attack and defend playlist has always been addictive for me. There’s nothing better than activating an MCOM and defending it till it explodes.

Squad Deathmatch – Part of the close-quarters playlist alongside Domination and King of the Hill. Squad Deathmatch is comprised of four squads competing against each other on smaller maps.

Custom Search Matchmaking – Whilst I believe we are still desperate for a server browser on Battlefield 6, we did get the ability to search specific map and mode combinations.

Initiation Mode – Set for players ranked under level 15, this is a mode for beginners. With teams filled with bots, it’ll let you explore maps, navigate classes and engage in combat without the competitive edge of real-life players. It also guides you through objectives, essentially acting as a tutorial as well.

Maps & Modes Need Some Tweaks

Map Variety – In my opinion, there was too much focus on close-quarters combat, and whilst I do enjoy this style of play, it seems to cater too much to the Call of Duty crowd. Conquest is famous for its gigantic open play spaces, and we just didn’t see that over these two weekends. That said, I welcome a playlist of smaller spaces with the game modes we saw, such as Domination, King of the Hill and Squad Deathmatch; they were short, sharp and fun. But bring the massive maps, pretty please.

Rush Mode – I may be in the minority that loved Rush mode this weekend, but it’s clear from feedback that it needs significant work to fine-tune the experience. Broken spawn points, small player count, unbalanced and iffy MCOM locations are several reasons that gamers haven’t been happy with. I’m certain the development teams will want to perfect this over the next two months.

Matchmaking – I think I’ve yet to play a Battlefield game that hasn’t had major hiccups with matchmaking, especially in the early days of the game. I’ve played with squads who have all been on Xbox consoles, and we didn’t always get in together every game, same with a mixed party of PC and Xbox. Games didn’t always flow from one game to the next, either, with us having to back out of games to get going again.

Custom Matchmaking – Custom matchmaking didn’t work properly for me for the entirety of this Beta, often throwing me into maps and modes I hadn’t selected. One day, there was a wait of up to ten minutes using this function; it needs a lot of work to get right. Or just you know, bring us the server browser we all want.

Some Game Mechanics Need Work!

Class System – Open classes just don’t work in my opinion, especially in the structured modes like Conquest, Rush and Breakthrough. No one tends to select an engineer, which results in vehicles not being repaired. Having classes and weapons locked brings in the strategic depth a Battlefield game requires, scrap the open class system in my opinion.

Shotguns are OP! – In real life, if you’re a metre away from a shotgun blast, you are not coming out of that situation alive. But what I noticed on the close-quarters maps was a huge percentage of players using the shotgun. It is overpowered and should have been removed from the Beta, to be honest. Sort this before October, please.

Vehicles – Helicopters feel a bit sluggish, and whilst I am not a great pilot, they need a bit of work. You always felt vulnerable to anti-air fire as well, and there should be a bit more fluidity to avoid it. Tanks felt pretty good, but the turrets were a bit slow to rotate in comparison to what we’re used to.

TTK and Hit Registration – Friday and Saturday felt horrendous to play, and I was having a torrid time trying to get many of my shots off. I would blame my skill, but some kills should have been obvious, but didn’t happen. The hit detection and long time to kill need some work. When I played last night (Sunday), it felt a million miles better, so I’m unsure if it could be performance-based.

Spotting and Footstep Audio – Enemy footsteps were almost non-existent, and there were many situations where if I’d heard the enemy coming, I may have stood a chance. Spotting enemies didn’t always register, and automatic spotting was a bit too easy, which isn’t really good for players who like to play stealthily.

Final Thoughts

Being completely honest and transparent, there were moments of the second weekend that had me a little worried. There is a fair bit of work to be done to make this game perfect, but almost all Battlefield games have started a little ropey. I specifically recall Battlefield 4 not working at all on Xbox One when it ported across, for several weeks.

The difference between Battlefield 6 and Battlefield 2042 is huge already, though. This feels like Battlefield again and has all the specific mechanics that make the series so popular. Seeing so many small maps and areas to engage in combat has me slightly concerned, though. For the veterans of the franchise like myself, we are used to vast open maps with huge attention to detail. Liberation Peak is the largest map on the Beta, and even that felt on the smaller side. With some tweaks and updates to feedback requests, I have every faith this will be an exceptional game.  I’m excited for Battlefield again, though for the first time in what feels like forever, roll on October 10th!