One of the key selling points of Battlefield has always been immersion, a vague buzzword that you just kind of know means it feels atmospheric, another oddly ephemeral phrase when it comes to games. Having a tank round the corner and start blasting the front off the building I'm hiding in is intense. Battlefield 6 is no different.
Of course, the "next generation of Battlefield" comes with the usual bells and whistles: upgraded destruction, an ever-more immersive soundscape, yada yada yada. And they weren't kidding; Battlefield 6 sounds incredible. But there's one setting hidden in the audio menu that, when you change it, you won't ever go back.
New in BF6 is War Tapes V.A.L., or Very Aggressive Listening, which improves upon the existing War Tapes audio mix setting that was introduced way back in Bad Company 2. I'm not a fan of the standard version, which simply narrows the dynamic range between sounds and ups the distortion a little to sound more like an old war tape. To me, it feels a little flat and washed out. Very Aggressive Listening, however, takes this and adds more power and distortion for a much, much more impactful and gritty feeling.
I put it to the test in the BF6 beta by running to the C flag in Siege of Cairo—which at the time was being bombarded by a tank, destroying buildings and causing chaos in general—and flicked between the different audio mixes. Once I'd used War Tapes V.A.L. for a little bit, the default mix felt oddly boring and "gamey", for lack of a better word.
With a quality pair of headphones, Very Aggressive Listening offers perhaps the richest sounds I've heard in an FPS. You can almost feel the impact of a tank shell ripping apart a building, gunshots chipping away at walls, and casings hitting the ground. Honestly, it's quite a lot to take in at first.
The one downside is that, since it narrows the dynamic range of audio and overall just dials everything up to 11, it can be harder at times to pinpoint how close gunshots or footsteps are relative to you. You won't necessarily find a competitive edge here.
Given that it adds a lot of punch to everything you hear, I can also imagine some will find it grating (I'm surprised I don't, since I'm not usually one for loud or bassy sounds), but I recommend you at least give it a listen. You can switch audio mixes at the flick of a switch at any time, including in the middle of a match, so you don't have to torture your eyes for a full round if you don't like it.
I've no clue how well it will come through on video (probably not very well at all), but I've included two clips of what it's like below:
The highlight of the first clip is, without a doubt, the tank barging in and the ensuing gunfire, which echoes throughout the area. Meanwhile, the mounted machine gun on the jeep really packs a punch in the second clip.
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