Kevin played Battlefield 6 again after the beta and found some important differences that make him feel confident.
With Mirak Valley and Operation Firestorm, I was not only able to play two of the largest maps in the Battlefield 6 launch lineup, but I also got to experience some of the improvements after the beta firsthand.
Many of these changes may seem small and insignificant, but they are of great importance to the overall gameplay.
And they show that DICE has really listened to the community’s feedback – because all the points in this article were criticized in fan circles.
These five aspects stand out for me in particular.
1. More responsive helicopter controls
In the beta, the helicopters often felt vague and relatively slow – which, combined with their rather weak armor, meant that I was often blown out of the sky faster than I could say “eject seat.”
Fortunately, the developers have made improvements: helicopters now feel less sluggish and can maneuver faster. This indirectly increases the chances of survival for trained pilots. Overall, the controls are now much more comparable to BF4 again. And that’s a big compliment!
2. Less frustration when dying
Due to problems with netcode and hit detection, the “time to death” (i.e., the time window between registering fire and dying on screen) in the beta was often frustrating.
Because while I felt like I had to pump half a magazine into the enemy before they went down, I felt like I died within milliseconds (even when I had already ducked behind cover).
Now the TTD feels much more understandable and gives me at least a brief moment to react.
3. Toned down 3D spotting
Spotting enemies in the beta was both confusing and far too powerful. Confusing because I couldn’t distinguish between passive and active spotting of enemies, and overpowered because the red diamond often appeared above players’ heads from a great distance.
DICE has now addressed both issues and, in my opinion, found a great compromise solution:
- Passive spotting is now indicated by a diamond with red outer lines – so if I see an unfilled diamond, that enemy is only marked for me.
- Active spotting is indicated by a filled diamond – a filled diamond indicates enemies that have been spotted for my entire team.
In addition, the distance has been significantly reduced so that I don’t constantly appear brightly lit like a Christmas tree on Christmas Eve from my enemies’ perspective.
4. More revive fun for medics
As a medic in Battlefield, I spend a lot of time running around with my defibrillator, zapping dozens of fallen comrades back to the world of the living.
In the beta, however, this felt rather vague because I often couldn’t tell whether the revive was successful or not.
The animation has now been significantly improved and provides solid feedback when reviving. When I revive a teammate, the defibrillator emits a blue flash and a sound, making the revive feel very tactile and much more pronounced.
Here you can see the change in action (from minute 7):
5. End of the OP shotgun
The M87A1 was my absolute least favorite weapon in the BF6 beta. The shotgun was so overpowered that it mercilessly took down opponents even at medium range with just one shot. Word got around quickly, of course, and in no time at all, everything was full of annoying one-shot-kill shotguns.
Now DICE is pulling the ripcord and adjusting the infamous shotgun so that it spreads more when firing from the hip and at the same time requires more pellets to achieve a kill.
In short: my former hate weapon is now just a usable weapon, but nowhere near as bad as it was in the beta.
In my opinion, all of this shows that the developers are willing to respond to criticism and implement appropriate changes in multiplayer, rather than using the beta purely as a marketing tool.
Have you noticed any other changes in the new gameplay compared to the beta? Feel free to write your thoughts in the comments below!
