Battlefield 6’s campaign is a refreshingly fun singleplayer blockbuster

A few hours with just three missions in the Battlefield 6 singleplayer campaign was more than enough to leave me genuinely surprised. This is no mere afterthought as multiplayer dominates the conversation. Far from it, as it turns out. There’s a great deal of substance baked into an extremely high-quality, playable Hollywood blockbuster.

In past generations, we found ourselves in a mostly opposite scenario. Singleplayer was typically the focal point, while multiplayer was often described as being ‘tacked on.’ Over the years, we’ve seen it flip to the point singleplayer can be disregarded, hastily thrown together with little consideration for its long-term impact.

Look no further than the Battlefield franchise as a key example. Be it Bad Company 2 or Battlefield 3, we used to get singleplayer bangers at a constant clip. While I thoroughly enjoyed my time with Battlefield 1 and even Hardline, it’s been a while since the last must-play campaign. Heck, Battlefield 2042 launched without any singleplayer offering to speak of.

Thankfully, Battlefield 6 is here to correct course. EA clearly understands the assignment this go around, and having now played a good couple of hours spread across multiple missions, I can confidently say that, at long last, we’re in store for another banger.

A world at war

Set in the not-so-distant year of 2027, Battlefield 6 shows us a world torn apart at the seams as new political forces topple age-old institutions. Stepping into the shoes of various US Marines, we witness the calamity first-hand as populous regions around the globe become hotbeds for explosive conflict.

From the shores of Gibraltar to the windswept mountains of Tajikistan and the cold, dimly lit alleyways of Brooklyn, our small chunk of the campaign saw us tackling three nonconsecutive missions scattered around the globe. It’s a true continent-hopping journey in that sense, as no two missions feel all too similar in terms of not only location and theme but gameplay and structure as well.

Variety is the spice of life, and Battlefield 6 is packed full of flavor as a result. As Senior Producer Danny Isaac put it in our interview, “It’s the most complex project I’ve ever done and I think EA’s ever done.”

The visually stunning locales and their distinct storytelling beats are one part of the equation, but what proved most surprising in my brief time was the quality of characterization.

Playing as part of a squad at almost all times, you grow a bit more attached to your allies than I was anticipating thanks to some properly considered dialogue. Of course, there’s still plenty of classic ‘rah rah’ military speak mixed in to get the adrenal gland pumping, but outside of the bombastic combat, you get to know a great deal about these core characters and their motivations.

In one particular situation, I laughed under my breath thinking a character was glitching out. After killing a lone sniper, this AI companion just continued to fire in that direction, even yelling in anger while doing so.

I was already rushing off to the next objective without giving it much thought, but in a flash, my objective changed. The game urged me to double back and console this teammate, ask if they’re alright amidst the chaos of war. It’s a fascinating moment that strengthens your connections with the squad.

Surprise tactics

Of course, it is Battlefield at the end of the day, so each mission houses its own over-the-top set pieces. Be it racing through tunnels to catch up with a train or fleeing the devastating collapse of a dam wall, there’s plenty to keep you enthralled from a purely action-focused perspective, but that’s not what stood out the most during my few hours of hands-on time.

It took a few minutes to even notice, given I’d skipped any early tutorialization of the feature, but to my surprise, I spotted a command option. By holding down the input, a small wheel appears, letting you order your squad in four different ways, one method for each class, in essence.

This allows you to time your teammate’s attacks, have them deploy smoke for a sneaky approach, blow up nearby cover, and the like. The idea, as devs told me, is for this function to let you have some degree of control over all four classes in the heat of battle. While you’re actively playing as one, you can still command the other three, at least to a certain extent.

It’s not trying to be XCOM, but it’s a welcome surprise that adds a greater level of depth to every combat scenario. Sure, you can just mindlessly walk into a room and rely on gun skill alone, but encounters are designed in such a way as to encourage a more tactical approach with this feature in mind.

To that end, Mission 8 was a real highlight of the early preview. Feeling most akin to what you’d find in Far Cry, this level dropped me into a vast open area, bigger than any multiplayer map we’ve seen thus far. Multiple objectives were scattered throughout, and the onus was on me to tackle them in any order I saw fit.

How you approach each location is also up to you, but rest assured, going in guns blazing is bound to be the most difficult option. Objectives are swarmed with hostiles, and they even have alarm systems blaring to alert nearby troops if you’re not quick enough.

Not only does this raise the ceiling for player expression, promoting all manner of gameplay styles and preferences, but it adds a ton of replayability too. I went back to this mission a second time, playing in a completely different way just to get a sense for that variability.

As a fun note as well, missions also have collectibles hidden throughout, giving you even more reason to backtrack, take your time, and thoroughly explore each location.

Although promotion has heavily centered around multiplayer in the lead-up to Battlefield 6, singleplayer is not at all being overlooked by the hundreds of devs dotted in various studios around the globe.

There’s a ton to sink your teeth into narratively and mechanically, to the point you’d be foolish to brush it off. I was already eager to continue the competitive grind, but now I surprisingly find myself just as eager to dive into the full campaign with the game’s launch on October 10.