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Grant Taylor-Hill·
FeaturesNews
··4 min read

What Should Battlefield 6 Take From Battlefield 5?

battlefield 6

In recent news, it was revealed that more teams are joining EA Entertainment to work on the next generation of Battlefield. I’ve been a fan of Battlefield since the Modern Combat days, and at one point, I favoured the franchise over the likes of Call of Duty—hint: Battlefield 3 is the GOAT.

Recently, I was playing Battlefield 5 and found myself surprised about how active a community there is still behind the WWII-themed epic. It got me thinking – what features from Battlefield 5 should be ported over to Battlefield 6, if any at all? I’ve long been a supporter of Battlefield 5 (V for the educated) and maintain that it’s one of the best titles in the series.

I bet some of these features surprise you.

What Does Battlefield 6 Need To Have?

There are many features and mechanics unique to Battlefield 5 (or defined by Battlefield 5) that I feel would be right at home in Battlefield 6 – not that the title or numbering has been confirmed, of course.

Here they are.

Battle Royale

Let’s get that controversial one out of the way right off the bat. I think Firestorm was a fantastic addition to Battlefield 5 but it was underappreciated and poorly utilised. It dropped in May 2019, just months after Respawn Entertainment released Apex Legends and around a year before Call of Duty Warzone hit the market.

It was a tough time for the competition in the battle royale space, but Firestorm had potential – and guess who developed it? Criterion Games, in conjunction with EA’s DICE. Who has just joined the development effort for the next Battlefield game? Criterion Games.

Destruction Mechanics

Battlefield 5’s destruction mechanics were monumental, and through artillery, missiles, bombs, tanks, planes, and everything else in between, users could raze the entire map to the ground. Entire villages would fall under the weight of devastating explosions, tanks could crawl through buildings, and even now, the sound of a V2 bomb buzzing over fills me with impending dread.

There was a huge backstep in Battlefield 2042 that stripped almost every ounce of destruction from the game. It was a defining feature of the Battlefield franchise, and it was last done best in Battlefield 5.

Construction Mechanics

There’s a fantastic ability written almost into the background of Battlefield 5, and it gives players the opportunity to whip out a toolbox and start building defences around their objectives. It’s a neat little feature that adds extra immersion to an already immersive title, and it allows players to get a little more strategic when defending a flag or a building.

It’s a basic thing – players can click or hold a button to lay down sandbags, dig trenches, reinforce windows, set up tank traps, or roll out walls of razor wire. It can turn a simple farmhouse into a well-defended objective in just a few minutes, and I believe that if expanded upon, it could be a fantastic returning feature in Battlefield 6.

Multi-Dimensional Campaign

Battlefield 5 was the last game in the series to have a core campaign, which was built around the typical model – various theatres of war around the world during a major conflict. Battlefield 5’s campaign was cinematic and emotional, and it revealed some of the more ‘secret stories’ of the Second World War, much like Battlefield 1 exposed subtones present in World War I.

When Battlefield 2042 debuted without a campaign, many millions of players believed the game was nursing a gigantic hole front and centre.

Another Realistic Theatre of War

It wasn’t just the campaign that was gritty and raw – it was the entire war itself. From map to map, players experienced the brutality and totality of the Second World War, travelling from Africa to France and from Norway to Japan. In Battlefield 2042, the lack of ‘realism’ was an issue, as up until that point, Battlefield had more or less become synonymous with the realistic portrayal of war.

With the introduction of robot dogs, fantastical wing suits, instant zip-lines, and all manner of futuristic technology, Battlefield 2042 – for a while – didn’t feel like Battlefield at all. If Battlefield 6 is going to succeed, I’d like to suggest that it’ll be because it’s rooted in realism, whether that be modern combat or another revisiting of an older conflict.

Squads, Soldiers, and Platoons

Battlefield 5 was much better for the player who loved Battlefield. It gave them the opportunity to form ‘Platoons’, it encouraged better squad-based play and saw players fill leadership roles, and it didn’t need to rely on Specialists (all with their own unique abilities, like a Hero Shooter) to fill out the ranks.

Many of these elements didn’t port over to Battlefield 2042, and it felt for a while like EA had stripped the community aspects from the series.

Are there any mechanics or elements you’d love to see featured in Battlefield 6 from previous games?

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Grant Taylor-Hill
(Senior Editor) Grant is a lifelong, multi-platform gamer with a passion for journalism and more than ten years' experience in the industry. He'll try any game once, and when he's not playing them, he's watching them, being as he is an avid esports fan.

6 Comments

  1. Squad leader could call in support. This was amazing because it rewarded a squad that played the squad’s objective.

  2. That’s the problem when a millennial writes about what BF needs and should have BF 5 was a disaster at launch tons of bugs and promises of BF that is true core players wanted back in the day firestorm was a stupid addition to BF and team death match and all the other stupid crap side stuff the millennials added later to BF franchise and this the person that wrote this talking about fantasy and unrealistic robot dogs and wingsuits are used in our military today and part of the technology of warfare and no BF3 was not the goat lmao ? but to the your generation I’m sure maybe it was but since the person who wrote this never served in our military and knows absolutely nothing about ars or weapons other than what he sees in fornite call of duty or BF and thinks he is a expert on what is real in a war or what should be in a war game is kind of funny let the core players and those who remember when the franchise began and some who served in actual military service provide the input going fwd I disagree with most of this individuals assessment of what is needed and really wish they would not try to add a bunch of unnecessary modes to what BF is built around the conquest mode it you want modes for your zombie match or rush or break thru fine but not what BF was built around and the reason they never do as good is because the core players prefer the conquest mode which BF was founded on not stupid firestorm which totally sucked and that is why it died quickly stick to what you know and let BF remain with its core foundations and not all the stupid side fluff modes it is not the true BF way and never will be conquest will always be the goat not break thru not team death match not fire storms none of it will ever be the core which is Conquest

  3. The movement mechanics the back crawl the dive. Destruction needs to be out of this world it’s next gen now.maps need to feel alive and more detailed building with multi level rather than ground and roof top. Then you take bf1 vehicle damage like track if hit there or engine and only can be fixed with a repair tool make the repair tool a thing ppl want to use not forced to use for week missions. Squads leader callin. Get rid of the unlimited ammo for vehicles bring back resupply stations but put them in the map to force players from camping in spawn or out of bounce. Get rid of specialist keep old class system with great player customization. I know dice asking a lot to take what was good and make it better. You keep wanting to reinvent the wheel and it always flops.

  4. The artillery strike and V2 was a good addition that should be recreated in BF6 like calling in a Hellfire missile from a ship etc.

    I’d rather BF stops making every single “death” a chance to revive them with injection or defibs . Too much of that going on nowadays needs cutting down ALOT !!!

    I prefer to choose any weapon for any class like BF4 .

    I don’t like the cheesy COD slide I see all these delinquents doing !

    Bayonet charge is good plus vaulting over walls climbing walls .

    Breakthrough and Rush modes are essential.

    No more outrageous skins that ruin immersion.

    Dedicated Hardcore modes with no minimap. I want to play BF games with no minimap.

  5. They need to release Bad Company 3 honestly. It would generate so much interest in the franchise. I am a die hard battlefield player but after playing 2042 I won’t be rushing back unless something monumental arises.

    Destruction is the absolute key though, big maps with plenty of close quarters spots, open spots for sniping and everything in between. I also hated the sniper glare in the later games, I’m all for balancing the game out but a full Ghillie sniper with lens caps and bits and bobs should be able to hide until found by an enemy the old fashioned way. Also we need the old fashioned dog tags system back in, if I’ve just spent the last 20 mins making my way around an enemy sniper I want to get some reward for stabbing them in the back.

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