Battlefield 6's biggest map proves ditching Levolution was the right call

On the surface, the Battlefield experience looks similar to most other modern-day shooters. It boils down to soldiers inflicting grievous bodily harm to their enemies in often creative ways. The thing is, though, if you asked ten different Battlefield veterans what their Battlefield experience is like, you're likely to get ten different answers. So how do you take that and create something everyone is happy with?

I recently had the opportunity to play two of the large-scale maps coming to Battlefield 6 at launch, as well as the new Escalation game mode. These all-out, vehicle-heavy playgrounds just aren't done by anyone else, and if Battlefield Studios wants to set the 2042 record straight, it's something it will have to get right.

Mirak Valley and all-time favorite Operation Firestorm are Battlefield 6's two biggest combined-arms maps at launch, and playing them felt like settling into an old, bullet-ridden, and burnt pair of pants. It was comfortable in a way that made me feel hopeful, and it was enough of a spectacle to make me excited.

Loading into Mirak Valley, I spot a lot of rocky terrain, some built-up areas in the centre, and a whole bunch of space in between. It's easy to see how this lack of cover could be treacherous for the human form, so I hitch a ride on a nearby tank, heading for the nearest unclaimed point. I'm met with the roar of a jet flying overhead, the sound of sporadic gunfire in the distance, and a jeep that rear-ended my ride, honking its horn incessantly. I'm back.

Games of Conquest ebb and flow. It's a mode that rewards proactive play, and the win can slip away if you rest on your laurels. With that, I seek some action. On foot this time, I take a leisurely sprint to the two under-construction buildings that serve as the centerpiece of Mirak Valley.

I'm not welcome on the construction site - now filled with players from the opposing team - and am promptly blasted back to the respawn screen. There's a medic nearby, but I don't blame them for not risking their life trying to save mine, even if that's what I'd do. People play differently, and that's kind of the point.

The rest of the round is a back-and-forth, with the center two buildings a hotspot, fiercely contested by soldiers and vehicles alike. The destruction is noticeable, but doesn't affect the readability of the landscape. There are no Levolution-level events here, and while that does take away from the spectacle somewhat, the game plays better for it.

As we saw with the beta, destroying your environment now has a real effect on how you interact with it. Removing the facade of a building creates cover for yourself and your team, as well as exposing its occupants. It also creates some real obstacles for heavy armor that would otherwise decimate you in an instant. The advancement in small-scale destruction has a much bigger impact on the second-to-second gameplay than you might think, with the arena you fight in being more moldable and reactive than ever before. Evolution, not Levolution, if you will.

Hiding among the rubble of a now-flattened building, I'm able to juke an attack helicopter. It inadvertently offers a means of escape, although I doubt I'll be able to pull that trick again. A friendly fighter jet comes to my rescue as I run out of places to hide, and I'm grateful - they didn't have a clue they'd be playing the hero, but that's what makes Battlefield so unique.

These combined-arms maps are beautiful, in a way. It's a group of complete strangers working towards a common goal. It can feel like herding cats trying to get your team to play the objective, but it comes together more often than not, and when it does, it's nothing short of cinematic brilliance.

The second map I played is one that Battlefield veterans should be very familiar with. Operation Firestorm is back, and it looks beautiful. I played two rounds of Escalation, the newest addition to BF6's roster of game modes. It opens much like any other game of Conquest, with five points to be fought over by each 32-player team. The difference is that when you hold more points than the opposition, a meter ticks up, awarding your side a point when it fills.

Each time a team scores, the control point nearest to their spawn disappears, and more vehicles get added into the mix. What begins as a standard Conquest experience ramps up into a chaotic fight over a handful of control points, with armor and air support pitting the landscape with explosions.

One round was extremely close, with the chemical containers in the center of the map becoming a no-go area for those of us without bulletproof skin. I used our increased vehicle reserves to commandeer an anti-air tank and tried my best to support those who took the plunge on the point.

I was only indirectly in the fight, but taking down attack helicopters and deterring jets opened up a brief window to take control. It was a nail-biting finish, which sold me on the Escalation mode more than any mere description could, and I didn't even need to get my hands dirty.

The map itself looks exactly how I remember it from the BF3 days, which, conversely, is a testament to how much work went into bringing Operation Firestorm up to date. Player expectations are higher than ever, and the bar for a Battlefield map has increased tenfold since 2011, so seeing a familiar location work perfectly well with today's standards was delightful. I also spoke to lead multiplayer producer Jeremy Chubb and design director Shashank Uchil about the process and direction behind a remake of this scale, which will be up on PCGamesN soon.

I have always preferred the chaos of the meat grinder. Fierce fights in narrow spaces, gaining a few meters of ground each time, and the generally more focused Breakthrough. Escalation offers a bit more structure to what can sometimes be an aimless round of Conquest, and I'm excited to see how it plays out on the rest of the map roster. The ramping of vehicles and the reduction of important areas are calculated to set up a grandstand finish. It works.

Getting to play Battlefield the way Battlefield is meant to be played shone a light on what's to come on October 10 when the BF6 release date rolls around. We've seen the intense close-quarters carnage, and now that I've had a taste of large-scale warfare, it's looking good. Battlefield 6 appears to refine and expand what made the series a staple in the first place. It's a concerted effort to wash the bad taste of 2042 out of our collective mouths; it's a return to the familiar, only at a scale and level of detail not yet seen.