There is no shortage of battle royale options for those interested in the genre, with even more attempts at recreating the success of the heavy hitters having fallen flat. I’ve dabbled in PUBG and H1Z1, sunk a fair bit of time into Apex Legends early on, and played hours of Call of Duty: Warzone and Fortnite over the years. And while I’ve had my fun fighting in the final circle, securing victory royales, collecting skins, and so on, the intensity of the genre has started to fade. I no longer get excited to play battle royale games, as instead of feeling adrenaline or shakiness when I’m the last alive in my squad, I’ve won enough matches to where I’m simply indifferent to the pressure.
This waning interest in the genre has left me less enthused about Battlefield 6’s Firestorm battle royale mode than I would have been years ago. I missed the boat on BF5’s short-lived BR mode, have grown tired of Warzone’s reliance on Verdansk and Rebirth island, and feel like as if I’ve missed too much to get back into Apex Legends, so naturally I figured I’d be ignoring Battlefield 6’s attempt at a similar experience. However, the reveal that its storm will instantly kill players has piqued my interest, as the more I think about it, the more I realize that all the BR games I’ve played share an issue that this approach is going to fix: storm campers.
My favorite battle royale mode ever was Black Ops 4’s Blackout, which unfortunately has a cheating problem and has lost a lot of players due to being older and behind a paywall.
The Battle Royale Genre’s “Rat” Strategy Has Grown Old
Battle royale matches are supposed to get increasingly nerve-wracking as the timer ticks down, going from a fairly tame early match experience with lots of looting and little fighting to an intense war to be the last survivor. Whether the storm is made of gas, energy, or fire, it’s supposed to pressure players to move closer to enemies before the best of the best are eventually pit against each other. Sadly, though, some battle royale players have figured out that they can win by hardly fighting at all, and while this initially led to some fun clips, it’s become excruciatingly common over the years.
Instead of looting strong weapons to fight other players with, these types of gamers will hoard healing items so that they can outlast combat-focused gamers by hiding in a corner or one of Fortnite’s bushes. If these sneaky players can find like-minded battle royale fans to group up with, then they can have their ally work as an additional source of health items or tools like Call of Duty: Warzone’s gas masks, allowing them to last even longer than if they had to rely purely on their own loot. To be fair to the current games in the battle royale genre, there have been attempts to make this strategy less effective, like increased storm damage as the match goes on. Still, it’s annoyingly common to see and far too effective throughout a match, as storm-riding essentially defeats the purpose of the storm by making it less threatening.
Battlefield 6’s Firestorm Means Instant Death, and That’s an Instant Win
Perhaps it’s this lack of storm intensity that has led me to grow bored of battle royale games, as the most unique aspect of the genre has become something of an afterthought. Fortunately, if this is indeed the case, then the latest entry in the Battlefield series has me covered. Ahead of the BF Labs testing for Battlefield 6’s BR mode, EA shared a lengthy blog post covering several aspects of the experience, such as:
- Battlefield 6’s battle royale map, which will have “a diverse array of tactical Points of Interest” with “distinct layouts and themes.”
- Vehicles, ranging from common transport options to “unclockable” and “powerful” armored vehicles.
- Tactical destruction, which will function just as it does in Battlefield 6’s multiplayer.
- Class traits like in multiplayer, which can be leveled faster via collectible Intel Cases or the completion of Missions, which seemingly work like Call of Duty: Warzone’s contracts.
- Second chance tools like the Support class’s revives and a “mobile redeploy” mechanic.
However, while all of this sounds promising enough, it’s Ripple Effect flaunting “the deadliest ring in BR” that finally caught my eye. Players won’t be able to jump in and out of the ring for cheesy kills that use low visibility to get an edge, as touching the storm instantly sets the player's character aflame and kills them, which should make for a more fair and fast-paced experience in the long run. Each and every circle should be packed with players now, making the early and mid-game portions of the match less of a slog. While I had been expecting to try Battlefield 6’s BR mode once or twice before dropping it in favor of traditional multiplayer, there’s now a real chance that I play it often, cycling between BF6’s official multiplayer playlists, its battle royale, and Battlefield Portal constantly.
Battlefield 6
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OpenCritic Reviews
- Top Critic Avg: 83 /100 Critics Rec: 90%
- Released
- October 10, 2025
- ESRB
- Mature 17+ / Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Strong Language, In-App Purchases, Users Interact
- Developer(s)
- Battlefield Studios
- Publisher(s)
- EA
