Since we first started hearing about the game that would become Battlefield 6, EA has talked up its mission to recapture the "golden years" of Battlefields 3 and 4. While it's definitely on track to do that after my four hours of playtime last week, what revved me up was how much BF6 reminds me of Battlefield: Bad Company 2.
It's well-documented that the Battlefield series follows the Mario Kart Rule: the one you played the most (or first) is probably still your favorite. For me, nothing has stood the test of time like Bad Company 2's curated selection of modes, perfectly sized maps, and freeform destruction that let players blow most buildings apart until they were nothing but a pile of disintegrated concrete.
It's those infallible qualities, and particularly Bad Company 2's satisfying destruction, that served as a "huge inspiration" for Battlefield 6. That's according to DICE lead multiplayer producer Jeremy Chubb in an interview with PC Gamer at last week's BF6 event in Los Angeles.
"When you look for excellence in our legacy, [Bad Company 2] is where you find it," Chubb said.
"That game particularly delivered on a level of fidelity and a sort of intimate destructive experience," Chubb continued. "Blasting out a single wall, bringing down a partial building, or entire buildings. It was comprehensive, and it felt like the identity of that game more than anything else.
"We know that was kind of missing from our last game, and we really wanted to go back to that."
I asked Chubb about Bad Company 2 just minutes after finishing a match of Battlefield 6 on Liberation Peak, a map with a mix of mountains, villages, and roadways that reminded me of how DICE built maps in 2010—wide open, but with an oblong shape designed to funnel the action toward a few chokepoints.
The map played very well, and the destruction didn't disappoint. Every wall and floor I tried to blow up did indeed blow up, and like in BC2, structures can only take so much punishment before the whole thing collapses, killing anyone inside.
But you don't have to take my word for it much longer. The Battlefield 6 open beta begins this week, and if you signed up for Battlefield Labs before July 31, you're already in. It's possible there will be another beta opportunity before Battlefield 6 releases in full on October 10.
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