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The arrival of Battlefield 6 on consoles and PC landed with a bang for fans of online gaming. Thousands of people flooded the servers online to engage in the big battles on every platform, leading to a successful launch that garnered a lot of attention. So it was inevitable that the game would eventually get new content to expand upon what was there, giving players more to explore from an already explosive title for free. The Season 1 content coming to Battlefield 6 not only brings a few new maps into the mix, but also some new modes to change things up for the online playlists. Depending on what type of player you are, the results may vary, but the amount of new stuff coming to the game is plentiful. I was able to preview some of the new content coming to Battlefield 6 on PC, starting in late October and arriving through the beginning of December. Fans of Battlefield 6 will have new maps to play on throughout the new season, with two of them being part of the preview I got to dive into. But in addition to that, two new match types will change the way everyone approaches objectives in online multiplayer, but they will still be just as chaotic as everything else. It's more Battlefield 6 to keep you busy throughout the holiday season, even if some of it is a little rough and will get some adjustments as it all releases. The following impressions are from a preview of the Battlefield 6 Season 1 content on PC, provided by Battlefield Studios. New locations to wage war on A little big and small maps While the entirety of Season 1 will have a total of three maps, I was able to play different modes on two of the new maps as part of the preview. Both of them are entirely different locations from the ones currently in the multiplayer modes, with layouts that are radically different. The first one is Blackwell Fields, a large map where you can find many people jumping into all sorts of vehicles to roam around. The second was Eastwood, a small to medium size map that has much of the action taking place within the buildings of a suburban area. Depending on the match type I was playing, I got to see different sections of the map more often than others. For the larger battles like Conquest, Blackwell Fields can be incredibly chaotic, with many players hopping into tanks, jeeps, helicopters, and more. Right from the start, I was rolling out with a group of vehicles en route to war with the opposing side, sometimes to the point of crashing into one another. And when each faction clashed, it was pure pandemonium. More than likely, many people will be playing the Engineer class to compliment friendly vehicles and hinder enemies driving around, but that won't be a guarantee of success. The map itself is still large and detailed enough to hide those who want to be snipers, who can be pretty devastating when taking out far-away targets who happen to go for objectives on foot. Everyone will definitely need to have some equipment like mines on hand to deal with vehicles, even when you're focusing on capturing objectives. But even more important is knowing which vehicles you can pilot seamlessly, because losing out on a key vehicle due to errors can be very costly to the entire team at the worst possible time. On the other hand, Eastwood shines when playing in game types that are smaller in scale. While I was still able to play Conquest there and get into matches where tanks and jeeps were frequently used, I felt the map was better suited for some of the newer game types coming with the season. The map didn't feel as open as Blackwell Fields where vehicles could truly dominate the environment, despite the roads between buildings offering a path for everyone to drive through. Helicopters are also effective here, but you may find yourself sticking with ground vehicles instead because of how quickly aerial craft can get picked up. But when matches were smaller in scale and pitted everyone closer to the action, things were very tense and eventful. As a whole, both maps offer something different, and I enjoyed seeing the variety between all the modes available. Whether they are better than the standard maps will come down to everyone's individual preferences. Sabotage is a solid team game Destroying instead of capturing So much of Battlefield 6 involves capturing key points on the map, so it's a nice change of pace to have a mode where you're aiming to destroy or protect them. Sabotage is a new 8 vs. 8 mode coming with the Eastwood map on November 18th, although it can be played on other maps as well. In Sabotage, one team needs to destroy objects at specific points within the map, while the other team tries to defend them for a set amount of time. Regardless of which side you are on, there will be a lot of action happening as you reach the different points of interest. On some maps, it may be a little easier defending than attacking, but not always to the point of a match being one-sided. What I like most about Sabotage is how it's not one item that everyone needs to destroy at different points, but rather a collection of crates or boxes that need to be fired upon. Unfortunately, I found that some of the objects did take a bit of damage to destroy, even with a combination of explosives and bullets. In most instances, you'll be focusing on attacking the items while an enemy can easily take you out from outside your vision, which can get very annoying. In most cases, using a rocket launcher and grenades can make things go a little faster, except for the reload time in-between shots. Having nearby teammates is definitely an asset in moments like this, especially when the entire team needs to do this at multiple locations within a match. Luckily, both sides get a chance to play both roles, as the sides are switched at the end of a round. The team with the most points at the end wins, which is pretty decisive if one team manages to destroy all the objects at all locations. This is harder than it sounds, especially if you're playing against a team that is spread out smartly across each area. I had to be careful in my approach to each spot when attacking, because my attention was divided between attacking the objects and searching the area for enemies nearby. This mode will definitely be for those who want a bit more structure to the team games, rather than the chaos of the larger-scale battles. Strikepoint feels familiar May need some adjustments The easiest way to describe Strikepoint in Battlefield 6 is that it feels like a variation of the Search and Destroy mode from the Call of Duty series. For some players, that may be a good or a bad thing because it's so similar. In practice, the game mode is very tense, since both teams of four players cannot respawn when killed. You can still revive fallen allies, but there are no respawns for each round. Both teams can also capture a central point that scores points when being held. Victory is achieved when one team eliminates the other or when they hold onto the point for long enough, with a total of six rounds determining the winning side. Rounds can be over very fast, or drawn out when everyone is playing conservatively. Strikepoint is the first new mode that will be added with the Season 1 content on October 28th, along with the Blackwell Fields map. Most of the Strikepoint matches I played came down to one team eliminating the other, even when they were holding onto the point most of the time. It's smart to pick a class or loadout with weapons that hit hard and can knock people down with little trouble. To compare once again to the Call of Duty series, some of the players I encountered would use sniper rifles pretty generously while roaming the area, completely changing up the dynamics of what everyone is used to seeing in Battlefield 6. For some players, this might not be a mode that they want to engage with often, especially since it's so similar to Search and Destroy from Call of Duty in all the ways you can imagine. But is the Strikepoint mode a little better on different maps? Not really if you don't connect with the match type from the start. I played Strikepoint on both Blackwell Fields and Eastwood in the preview, with both maps having smaller locations where everyone would clash. I found the set-up in Eastwood to be better suited for the mode, since the time and ways both teams could encounter each other tend to be more varied. On Blackwell Fields, sometimes one team could suffer from the other having a direct line of sight on them pretty easily from the start. Those with sniper rifles or scoped weapons could get to a good standing point and have a clear shot at nearly the entire team as they came out of the opening area. It was definitely frustrating seeing teammates get knocked down so quickly with very little they could do in response, especially since the round can be over once everyone is down. It's possible that some adjustments to starting points or how much debris is covering the area could solve issues like this, but it could also just be the overall location when playing the mode. How Strikepoint will be on many of the other maps in the game will be interesting to see, let alone how Battlefield 6 players will take to the new mode when it finally comes out. Fresh season of Battlefield 6 content
