Battlefield 6’s California Resistance feels miles off-target

How rapidly issues change. The discharge of Battlefield 6 was heralded because the arrival of a triple-A, FPS champ. This was the Battlefield to run down Name of Responsibility. The one returning to its roots. This was the entry that may add a Battle Royale, giving each jaded Warzone gamers and BF followers a playground to share.

All of that has occurred. However whereas hype at all times dies, BF’s Rogue Ops has been adopted by fairly a misfire. California Resistance brings a brand new map and a limited-time sport mode. There are new weapons and new options. Sadly, there may be additionally a rising feeling of unease about what Battlefield 6 is changing into.  

If there was one factor lacking from BF6 at launch, it was a steadiness between smaller-scale matches and large-scale all-out warfare. Contemplating the lore of BF6 is a destabilised world, it was odd that it wanted pressing reinforcements on this entrance. That is particularly so as a result of the primary mission of the marketing campaign contains chaotic motion with infantry, land, and air autos.

With such an intro, large-scale warfare appeared essential to BF6. As a substitute, we needed to wait til Rogue Ops. Blackwell Fields arrived and is an effective BF map, nevertheless it didn’t reset the steadiness when the smaller-scale Strikepoint mode additionally arrived. In the meantime, the arrival of the Battlefield 6 battle royale, RedSec added scale, nevertheless it’s a Battle Royale.

For California Resistance, we get the Eastwood map. This presents one thing new and helps bigger sport modes. However it’s actually not a Battlefield map. Working round golf programs and throughout lawns in a SoCal neighbourhood feels bizarre. Not in an “oh, conflict in California!” means. Simply bizarre. Or, as a Steam dialogue says, it looks like a kind of parody.

This kind of parody-driven, self-aware strategy to Battlefield 6 doesn’t work. It jogs my memory of the times of Battlefield Hardline, the place the entire “conflict on crime” strategy simply felt odd. However right here it’s worse. I perceive that a part of the RedSec map additionally displays a few of Eastwood’s neighbourly aesthetic, however a Battle Royale has extra inventive license. 

In any Battlefield in any sport mode, driving a tank on a golf course or round a posh with a pool could be as bizarre as discovering a random rail gun or minigun, simply mendacity round. Think about if that occurred, although. After which on the minimap, these weapons had been a gaudy gold color… Oh yeah, California Resistance did that too. Why? 

I’ve to confess, after I first noticed ‘battle pickups’ on the roadmap again in October, I assumed these could be objects like mortars, or mountable anti-air turrets: one thing Battlefield-like. As a substitute, we get a mini gun that may shred infantry, and a rail gun that may preserve its lock-on progress even once you’re not aiming. Maintain that to RedSec, please.

Truthfully, I want these pickups could possibly be destroyed with C4. The one saving grace is that you would be able to’t hold maintain of them if you wish to swap to your major or secondary weapon. However that these golden in-game pop-ups even exist is giving lots of Name of Responsibility power. And I don’t imply that in a great way. Perhaps this may enhance, however these bombastic choices are wild.

One other headscratcher with California Resistance is the doubling down on smaller-scale modes. Sabotage is a limited-time mode, and it’s prone to be rotated sooner or later for selection. However why is it right here? It’s an 8v8 mode that lasts six minutes per spherical, and it’s not wholly completely different from Rush. 

As such, Sabotage’s arrival makes little sense to me, apart from attempting to get gamers to squeeze in fast 12-minute matches. I’d wish to know who this caters to, and who actually enjoys it, as a result of it feels just like the antithesis to Battlefield’s wonderful, larger-scale motion. And once more, the sport at present lacks steadiness.

For my cash (actually, the total Battlefield 6 value I paid), a brand new, bigger mode or a modified Rush with full entry to all autos would have been a strong selection. It might be absolute chaos, and due to this fact miles higher than Sabotage, which itself feels miles away from what I get pleasure from in regards to the collection.

I realise that I haven’t talked about the weapons or attachments added by the newest main replace. However, actually, they make no substantial distinction to how I really feel. New weapons and devices are helpful. However parody-like maps, battle pickups, and small modes that aren’t actually wanted appear to be taking Battlefield 6 in a really odd path.

To be truthful, I’ve loved BF6, and I’ll hold taking part in for an excellent whereas but. However it’s little shock that each BF followers and people searching for a extra expansive strategy than Name of Responsibility are rising unsettled. With the specter of a sure third-person extraction title drawing gamers away, BF6 hasn’t been serving to itself. California Resistance looks like a swing and a miss.