Battlefield 6 Open Beta — The FUN game I didn’t know I needed or wanted
The Battlefield 6 Open Beta pleasantly surprised me. It felt like a solid, authentic military shooter that focused on what matters most - FUN gameplay, great maps, and a believable setting. It came across as a complete experience without overloading me with unnecessary extras, which is a refreshing change compared to many modern games.
What I Liked
- The game: I don't like to use return to form, so I will rephrase it - BF6 delivered a strong military vibe that felt true to the series identity.
- Maps: Even though they were on the smaller side, they felt the right size-big enough for strategy but not empty or slow. I think this was intentional, and it really worked to make the matches fun and without a dull moment.
- Game Modes: The different modes in the beta were engaging and fun, offering variety without feeling bloated. To be honest I did not even miss the big maps, but... Let's have a beta with them ;)
- Classes/Updates:
- The adjustments to Assault and Recon during the second week noticeably improved balance and made those classes more satisfying - even though I played more Recon like an assault, but that was intentional because I am have random "proper" aiming abilities and I prefer to be close.
- Support and Engineer were what a battlefield game is about: - Fun. Playing Support or Engineer was more about making my own experience or moments - whether I was trying to defibrillating enemies, running like crazy through all the gunfire around me and feeling satisfaction that I was not hot, or keeping a tank "alive" longer than it probably should be IRL, or even testing the cardio of the soldier, chasing down a reckless driver who clearly thought this was not BF6, but Need for Speed (EA, please bring back an NFS: World-style game!).
- Freedom of Playstyle: What I really appreciated was the lack of "forced meta builds." I didn't need to watch hours of guides on YouTube just to have fun like in other shooters. I could experiment with weapons, try different upgrades, and make things work in my own way. I never felt like I was using the "wrong build," and that made the game much more enjoyable for an "ok" player like me.
- Overall Feeling: Even when I had 0 kills playing classes different than assault, the game never made me feel like I was letting the team down.
What I Didn't Like:
Of course, it wasn't perfect, and there are some things that need fixing before launch:
Shotguns: Way too powerful. One-shot kills up close are fine, but with some attachments they acted like sniper rifles, which completely broke the balance.
- Matchmaking Issues: A few times, when playing with a friend who was the party leader, only he would get into the game, while I just sat waiting - only to realize he had been playing for five minutes already. On the last day especially, I often had to restart matchmaking after nearly every session because the new game did not start.
- Visual Glitches: I noticed texture-breaking issues when hiding behind vehicles or walls and being very close to them. These popped up on both my laptop and desktop, one using and Nvidia card and the other an AMD, so it wasn't a hardware related issue.
- Lighting Bugs: On the Cairo map, random bright lights appeared that blinded me and my friend - it really stood out as a distracting visual bug, especially for my friend who has an OLED panel (he was screaming in pain from the bright light).
Final Thoughts
Between the two beta weekends, I found myself constantly thinking about the game. I even stopped playing everything else-something that hasn't happened since the birth of my child when I stopped playing games for several months. I kept wanting to jump back in, even just to catch a glimpse of the Subaru logo again ;) (I have it as wallpaper on my phone).
When the beta ended, I actually installed Battlefield 2042 just to have something similar - not better, but similar - to fill the gap left by Battlefield 6. That alone says a lot.
Battlefield 6 open beta led me to believe that the Studio is shaping up this game to deliver a straightforward, FUN, and convincing military experience without unnecessary gimmicks - let's be honest we just don't want this. With a few fixes - shotgun balance, matchmaking stability, and some visual cleanup - it has real potential to stand among the best Battlefield titles in years.
In conclusion I want to say that in 2025, it turns out what I wanted most was something simple, balanced, and above all, fun. For a mid-level player like me, that's exactly what Battlefield 6 Open beta delivered and I really hope the main game does not change that much so that the game loses what made it fun for me in the first place.
P.S. Please don't add a battle pass or battle royale mode. They're overdone. An extraction mode could be interesting, but honestly, the game doesn't need it.
