A new wave of Game-Key Card titles have just been announced for the Switch 2 following Nintendo’s Partner Showcase. Although it seems this type of release won’t be stopping any time soon, not every third-party title is necessarily taking this route.
According to a new listing, Digital Eclipse – which has made a name for itself reviving various retro game libraries – will be offering the upcoming Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection on a full game cartridge. This information was shared via the Canadian-based physical game seller and website, Video Games Plus.
As someone who loved Bloober Team’s 2024 remake of Silent Hill 2, I’m happy to report that while being made by an entirely different developer, Silent Hill f boasts that same level of quality and polish. From story to worldbuilding, from graphics to combat and exploration, Taiwan-based developer Neobards has crafted an experience that meets the high bar set by the Polish developer, albeit in a drastically different setting.
As I started walking the dense yet deserted streets of Ebisugaoka, it was immediately apparent just how detailed and well-realized this fictional remote town in the mountains of rural Japan in the Sixties is. With an immersive over-the-shoulder view and no UI on screen during exploration, Silent Hill f is a game that tells a convincing story through its visuals.
Admittedly, I was initially skeptical of Konami’s decision to entrust a non-Japanese developer to create a game set in Japan, but five hours of actually playing Silent Hill f shattered such prejudices. Ebisugaoka is undoubtedly one of the most impressive contemporary Japanese townscapes I have ever seen in a video game, and that comes from someone who has lived in Japan for the majority of his life and loves games like Shenmue, Persona, and Ghostwire: Tokyo.
Exploring a Japanese mountain village
One of the few minor issues I had with the Silent Hill 2 remake was that the majority of its playtime is spent inside buildings and facilities. While these functioned as well-designed dungeons packed with horrifying enemies to fight and intricate puzzles to solve, the increase in volume compared to the 2001 original made it feel like exploration of the actual town of Silent Hill was limited.
Therefore, I was pleasantly surprised that the vast majority of my playtime with Silent Hill f was spent exploring Ebisugaoka. Old wooden houses with tin roofs line the narrow alleys, scattered with bicycles, flower pots, and mailboxes. Small streams and footpaths between rice fields gently lead the way to the village. Fences along the river and concrete stairways following the slopes create a townscape that oozes with atmosphere. Files and other documents scattered throughout the town add context to Ebisugaoka, which flourished as a mining town during its heyday. Now, it has become a largely forgotten village and its people are stuck in old ways, such as favoring traditional healthcare methods over modern medical science and being overly devout to the Shinto deity Inari. The context of Ebisugaoka and its people immediately feel like they are an integral part of Silent Hill f’s cohesive story, which made me eager to go off the beaten path and obtain every hidden file.
Walking the empty streets of Ebisugaoka and heading to the local candy store to meet up with Hinako’s fellow high school friends feels like an authored walking simulator reminiscent of games like Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture and The Vanishing of Ethan Carter.
The story starts after protagonist Hinako – a female high school student – runs away from home after being scolded by her drunk father. Walking the empty streets of Ebisugaoka and heading to the local candy store to meet up with Hinako’s fellow high school friends feels like an authored walking simulator reminiscent of games like Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture and The Vanishing of Ethan Carter.
Of course, it doesn’t take long until Hinako and her friends discover something is wrong in town, and before you know it Hinako is holding an iron pipe in her hands, an iconic weapon of the series. Ebisugaoka then gradually proves to not just be suited for a captivating walking simulator experience, but also the perfect setting for a horror game, as its narrow alleys and staircases are ideal to hide enemies behind corners while also functioning as a maze for the player to get lost in.
In some instances, doors left ajar and open windows invite Hinako inside traditional tatami-floored houses, where she will have to solve some simple puzzles in order to make her way through to the next area. These puzzles play out in an unconventional way. One puzzle, for example, had me obtain keys to a locked door, but there was nothing noteworthy inside. Then, as I went back to the corridor another door suddenly swung open, which gave me the chills.
Something feels off
Silent Hill f’s scenario writer Ryukishi07 sees Japanese horror as a sub-genre that doesn’t so much rely on threats to the protagonist’s life, but rather makes you feel uncomfortable by creating situations that feel off.
When you think about it, Silent Hill is a series known for just that. While there isn’t a lack of life-threatening encounters, some of the series’ most uncomfortable moments are in conversations with its outright weird characters.
In Silent Hill f, Hinako and her friends are trying to find a way to escape the haunted town of Ebisugaoka. Interactions with these friends seem normal at first, but then suddenly they say or do something that catches you off guard.
Also, in typical Silent Hill fashion, puzzles often reveal something about Hinako or the world she inhabits. A puzzle on a misty rice field has you examine scarecrows in order to learn the direction you should be heading, which is connected to a childhood trauma of Hinako getting lost and being afraid of the scarecrows.
During my playthrough, puzzles never felt too difficult. Hints provided by files you obtain never make the solution too obvious, while still giving the player an idea of what they have to do. On a related note, Silent Hill f has difficulty settings for both its combat and puzzles, and while Konami advised me to play on Story mode for both, I stubbornly chose Normal mode as I wanted to take on a challenge. While the difficulty of the puzzles never overwhelmed me, combat proved to be a bit more demanding.
Weapon durability at its best
Silent Hill f’s combat relies entirely on melee attacks. Hinako can obtain all sorts of weapons ranging from iron pipes to kitchen knives and baseball bats, but no guns come into play. With some exceptions, these weapons are not obtained through story beats, but are scattered throughout Silent Hill f’s world like other resources, and Hinako can carry up to three weapons at a time.
Silent Hill f’s combat relies entirely on melee attacks.
As you wield iron pipes and stab at enemies with knives, you will notice that the game has weapon durability. It is a nice touch that weapons that are about to break actually change in appearance, so expect to be holding a bent pipe or a broken bat. This also functions as a hint to the player, which Hinako will acknowledge by mentioning that she should fix it. Weapons can be fixed by using a repair kit, but these are so scarce that on many occasions you will have to say goodbye to your new favorite weapon.
While weapon durability is often regarded as a burden in games, it works here as finding a new weapon and repair kits quickly becomes an integral part of the resource management that the survival horror genre is known for, especially since you won’t be having to look for ammo this time around.
A clever system allows you to turn in your resources for an in-game currency at save points, which can be used to increase your stats or obtain new amulets that can be equipped to give you certain buffs. That means that if you are careful and don’t waste your resources, leftovers can be turned into something useful, which feels like a great reward to a well-planned expedition. Hinako can only carry a limited amount of items, which also seems to stimulate active use of this new trading system.
In the Silent Hill 2 remake, resources were so abundant that skilled players didn’t really have to worry about resource management, to the extent that they would have a large stock of unused ammo and items by the end of the game. Silent Hill f solves this problem by making resources tradable.
Silent Souls?
Combat itself has a similar feel to Silent Hill 2’s close-range combat. You can dodge enemy attacks with the DualSense’s circle button, while you can activate a light and heavy attack with R1 and R2, respectively. Your limited reach and lengthy attack motions give a realistic, weighty feel to combat. Heavy attacks especially are slow and need to be timed well, contributing to the feeling that Hinako is just a teenager with limited strength.
Meanwhile, each weapon type has a completely unique set of motions and reach. Swinging a newly obtained baseball bat at an enemy or charging at them with a knife you found in the kitchen of a local residence always creates new and exciting situations.
What sets Silent Hill f’s combat apart from Silent Hill 2’s more limited melee combat is the implementation of timed dodges and counterattacks.
What sets Silent Hill f’s combat apart from Silent Hill 2’s more limited melee combat is the implementation of timed dodges and counterattacks. The latter in particular deals lots of damage and is key in battle. Enemies briefly show a sign when a counterattack can be utilized, but unless you have trained your reflex skills by playing games like of Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, you will likely have a hard time reacting. That’s where the Focus mode comes in, which can be triggered by holding L2. When in Focus mode, enemy signs for counterattacks appear for longer, while also charging up a power attack that staggers an enemy. That means you might head into Focus Mode with the intention of going for a counterattack, but find yourself switching to a power attack when it charges before the enemy shows an opening.
Focus Mode is tied to Hinako’s mental energy gauge, which exists separately from her stamina and health bar. Interestingly, the upper limit of her mental energy decreases when enemies do something that scares her or when she is frightened by a certain event, connecting the gameplay to the story and Hinako’s mental state.
Luckily, there are items that can recover the upper limit of your mental energy gauge, but Hinako’s stamina is limited too. When she runs out of stamina and mental energy, she can become so frightened and tired that she won’t even be able to move for a while. Managing her energy resources, therefore, is key to survival.
Fighting one regular enemy is fairly manageable, but when confronted by multiple enemies, running away often felt like the best option, especially since enemies don’t give experience points or drop resources. Combat was fun enough that I found myself actively engaging in fights even if there wasn’t a real benefit to it beyond being able to explore the environment more freely.
While keeping combat engaging and complex, Silent Hill f does a great job in making the player feel weak. The design cleverly incorporates this by having what seems to be a boss battle at first actually play out as a sequence in which the player has to find an escape route.
Another iconic element to the series is the existence of an alternate world, which is present in Silent Hill f as well. Hinako is occasionally transported to a different dimension that shows a more traditional Japan, where a mysterious masked figure guides her through the grounds of various shrines. Here, Hinako obtains traditional Japanese weapons such as the Naginata, a pole weapon with a curved blade on the end, similar to a glaive or halberd that is known to be mostly used by women. Weapons that Hinako finds in this alternate world don’t break, but Hinako won’t be able to carry them over to Ebisugaoka.
It was in this realm that I encountered the main boss of my playtime, which proved much more difficult than I had anticipated. Even with my full understanding of the combat mechanics and systems, its long reach, hard-to-predict attack patterns, and multiple stages required significant trial and error. The boss took me nearly an hour to beat, but gradually learning how to take on the boss was a welcome challenge that never felt unfair. For reference, my colleague was playing on Story Mode and defeated the boss on his second try, but an acquaintance from another media outlet who was also playing on Story Mode didn’t manage to defeat the boss and ran out of time.
While he didn’t specifically mention the Soulslike genre, series producer Motoi Okamoto says that Silent Hill f’s combat was inspired by the current popularity of more difficult action games. With multiple difficulty settings, Silent Hill f is by no means a Soulslike, but its boss design shares a similar learning curve that ultimately results in a great feeling of satisfaction when you finally beat it. Silent Hill f is a story-driven experience above anything else, but it just happens to have really solid combat mechanics and systems at the same time.
One unique component of Silent Hill f’s storytelling is the notebook Hinako carries. Here you can read about characters, locations, and events that appear in the story, all written from Hinako’s perspective. At first, it seems to be a pretty straightforward archive, but events in the story can trigger additional text for previously unlocked entries. Instead of simply repeating what events in the story already told you, these additional texts go much deeper into the lore and background. Sometimes, they can slightly contradict or change your view on characters and events, indicating that things are never what they seem to be on the surface. It is not hard to imagine that for a deeper understanding of Silent Hill f’s story and characters, examining these texts will be essential.
Back to school
The last part of my demo took place inside a school, which was essentially a dungeon similar to Silent Hill 2’s aforementioned apartment buildings, hospitals, museums and hotels. Upon entering the school, Hinako obtains a map of the building which the player will have to use to navigate their way through. Luckily, Hinako is just as diligent a note-taking enthusiast as Silent Hill 2’s James, so whenever you learn that a door is locked or that there is a passage somewhere, it will be noted on the map. Inside the school, I had to solve a multitude of puzzles in order to find keys to reach different classrooms and floors while fighting and running away from enemies along the way. Just like the town itself, the old wooden school building oozes with atmosphere and feels lively even though none of its students or teachers are there, and Hinako’s remark to herself, “I haven’t been here since graduation,” subtly added to the atmosphere.
While in recent video games, the abundance of self-talk by the protagonist can sometimes feel a bit too much, Hinako’s occasional monologue succeeds in subtly contributing to the situation without ever coming over as an exposition dump.
According to Okamoto, the average playtime for Silent Hill f will be about 12 or 13 hours, which should indicate that I have played through roughly one third of the game. While I don’t know how things will go from here, so far the game’s balance between town exploration and interior facilities feels like an improvement over the Silent Hill 2 remake.
Also, while the first five hours of the game felt like they were structured linearly, Silent Hill f has multiple endings like many other games in the series, including the famous UFO ending.
My time with Silent Hill f was promising to say the least. Its worldbuilding and story had me so intrigued that I still think back on my brief visit to Ebisugaoka almost a week later. The deep fog that envelops the town somehow feels more natural than in the town of Silent Hill, perhaps due to the fact that Ebisugaoka is a mountain village. Ebisugaoka just feels like the perfect fit for a psychological horror narrative, and all of Silent Hill f’s systems and mechanics complement the setting. Series composer Akira Yamaoka’s soundtrack also does a stellar job in making the player feel uncomfortable throughout.
So far, Silent Hill f seems to be a horror game that gets everything right. If, like me, the Silent Hill 2 remake was one of your favorite games of 2024, Silent Hill f has the potential to become a serious game of the year contender when it releases for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC on September 25.
To send off Nintendo’s recent Partner Showcase, Square Enix announced some new projects, and one of them happened to be the brand new HD-2D title The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales.
Masahiro Sakurai’s latest project Kirby Air Riders soars onto the Switch 2 at some point later this year.
While we haven’t heard all that much about it since the initial announcement in April, the game has reportedly been rated in Saudi Arabia recently – receiving an age rating in this location of “7 and above” (via My Nintendo News).
Octopath Traveler 0 is set to release for PS5, PS4, Switch 2, Switch, Xbox Series X|S, and PC on December 4. Like the previous entries in this turn-based RPG series, it’s made in the visually striking “HD-2D” art style that uses pixelated 2D characters and gorgeous HD environments, with visual effects only possible on modern platforms. The game is available for preorder now in several editions. Read on for details about what comes in each one, how much they cost, where you can preorder, and more.
Note that physical Switch 2 copies include a game-key card, which lets you download and play a digital copy of the game when the card is in your Switch 2 system.
This Square Enix Store-exclusive edition comes with the game itself, plus the following extras:
Digital Deluxe Edition Upgrade Code
Ring of the Flamebringer (JP ring size 21)
Traveler’s Playing Cards
8-Sided Dice of Wealth, Power, and Fame
Orsterra Continent Map Gaming Mat
Arrangements Break & Boost Vol.3 (Music CD)
Art booklet
Octopath Traveler 0 Preorder Bonus
Preorder Octopath Traveler 0, and you’ll receive a set of in-game items called Travel Provisions, which Square Enix describes as “A set of items and skills useful for the start of your journey.”
Healing Grape (M) x5
Inspiriting Plum (M) x5
Revitalizing Jam x2
Icewind Mastery
What Is Octopath Traveler 0?
Octopath Traveler 0 starts with you creating your own character from scratch. The story kicks off with your hometown of Wishvale burning to the ground, and it’s up to you and your companions to rebuild it. This all goes along with the “start from zero” theme of the game.
Combat is turn-based once again, complete with the “Break and Boost” system from previous games. But this time you can control parties of up to eight characters, so battles could be pretty big. There’s also a whole town-building mechanic, in which you have a grid to build houses and buildings on, placing them wherever you’d like. You’ll join up with over 30 different characters along the way.
More Preorder Guides
Chris Reed is a commerce editor and deals expert for IGN. He also runs IGN’s board game and LEGO coverage. You can follow him on Bluesky.
What do Greek Heroes do After Death? Find out Now in Achilles: Survivor
Weronika “Roni” Jaszcz, Community Manager, Dark Point Games
Summary
Fight, build, die, evolve your godly powers, die again.
A fast-paced roguelite set in Ancient Greece.
Play it now on Xbox Series X|S and Xbox One.
Imagine this:you’re enjoying a peaceful day in Ancient Greece. You’ve spent your entire life fighting, your name is known across the land… and then someone stabs you in the heel.
It can happen to anyone.
But what do you do next? Retire? Rest? Reflect?
Achilles didn’t get the memo.
At the end of Achilles: Legends Untold, our hero landed in Tartarus. But instead of staying dead like a sensible person, he decided to get out and pick another fight – this time with Hades’ entire army. No peace. No pension. Instead, he charges into wave after wave of skeletons, spiders, and explosive plant-things that would ruin even the nicest afterlife brochure.
If you ask Achilles about his favourite pastime, the answer is obvious: he fights.
He’s quite happy in this game, because your main job is to battle through swarms of mythological enemies using your weapon, four power slots, and a bit of luck.
Prometheus, on the other hand, would prefer to sit this one out. Paris does his best to stay out of trouble (with mixed results). And Brontes… Brontes smashes and asks questions never.
Every hero in Achilles: Survivor handles retirement a little differently. As you progress, you’ll unlock familiar faces like Hector, Steropes, and Agamemnon – each with a unique signature power, talent, starting stats, and a class-specific passive tree. Whether you enjoy magical chaos, structure-based control, or old-school brute force, you’ll find a Survivor who fits.
Feel free to experiment – some powers are safer early on, while others really shine in the late game (looking at you, Pythia). My advice? Focus on upgrading one power early. The stronger your foundation, the better chance you’ll have of surviving the growing onslaught.
At higher levels, you’ll unlock powerful transformations in the Forge, which evolve your core abilities into something deadlier. Take Phalanx, for example: his venomous spikes stick around longer and spread across multiple rows, turning chokepoints into death traps.
Treat Your Build Like a Phalanx.
Your main power is the spear at the front – strong, direct, and always advancing. But without coverage on the sides or back, one bad flank and you’re done. If your main power is using close-range attacks, pair them with powers that control space around you or hit enemies from a distance. You don’t need a perfect set of upgrades – just one that holds the line.
And if you’re struggling with frontal powers, like Prometheus’ Fire Breath? Run in circles. Seriously. It might look ridiculous, but you’ll gain great AoE coverage!
Speaking of Foundations…
Combat is only half the story. The other half? Building.
During each run, you’ll gather stone – a resource used to place structures across the map. Flame turrets, traps, healing shrines… and yes, a Trojan horse that spawns backup. Structures are vital for your survival. If you’re feeling overwhelmed or had no luck with upgrades, they’re here to bail you out.
One of my favorite tactics? Luring enemies into a triangle of flame towers and enjoying the views. It’s oddly peaceful.
A lot of players forget that structures also grant passive bonuses. If you’re running a status-focused hero like Tantalus, placing a few Ominous Visages can give a solid boost to your poison damage without you having to change anything else in your build. Keep an eye on map objectives (like “Get X armour” or “Get Y amount of Luck” – placing the right structure can complete a side task for you.
And when in doubt? Especially on the first few maps, just spam flame turrets. They will do a lot of heavy lifting for you.
(P.S. This section was definitely not sponsored by Diomedes, king of Argos, said to have built at least ten cities before he died.)
Dying is a Feature Too
Be careful. It’s a roguelite, so nothing is permanent (except maybe the pain). Stone runs out, and structures fall under the waves of enemies. You don’t want them to be destroyed before you kill the boss.
Because you know what happens next?
You’ll see this screen a lot…
But here’s the good news: death is how you get stronger. Gods look favourably at your defeats. Or maybe they’re just bored.
Each run earns you resources that go into meta progression – general and class specific upgrades that stay with you no matter how many times you die. You’ll also unlock new Survivors, buildings, game modes, and more by completing achievements and in-game challenges.
It’s all part of your journey. You shouldn’t be gone for ten years, but some runs might feel like it.
Start Your Afterlife Adventure
To sum up, what do Greek heroes do after death?
They build flame towers. Dodge very unfriendly plants. Complain to the gods about exploding spiders, then ask them for more power to defeat said spiders.
As you can see, it’s not an easy feat: (after)life of a Greek hero. But whether you’re a roguelite veteran or just looking for some action to relax after another day at work, Achilles: Survivor has more enemies than the entire Trojan War.
Achilles: Survivor is a fast-paced, single-player bullet heaven set in Ancient Greece. Play as Achilles – or one of the legendary souls freed from Tartarus – and face relentless waves of enemies. Build deadly structures, evolve your powers, and grow stronger with every run. Defeat your enemies… or die trying.
Are you ready for battle?
DEFEAT YOUR ENEMIES… OR DIE TRYING
Achilles has never faced monsters like this – and now it’s your turn. Dive into chaotic, action-packed runs and hold your ground against relentless waves of enemies. Pick from dozens of powers and transform them mid-run in the Forge.
The deeper you go, the tougher it gets. No two runs are the same – and surviving means adapting fast.
BUILD LIKE A STRATEGOS
Drop flame turrets, raise healing shrines, or summon Myrmidons to fight at your side. Unlike other survivor-likes, your best weapon might be the map itself. Structures aren’t just defenses – they’re tactical tools for crowd control, sustain, and damage that can turn the tide of battle.
But remember – your resources are limited.
Build smart, and you’ll live longer.
WIELD THE MIGHT OF LEGENDARY HEROES
Achilles made a bit of a mess escaping Tartarus. Now the world’s crawling with souls that shouldn’t be here – and you’re one of them.
Unlock and master a growing roster of heroes, each with a unique playstyle and signature power. From Achilles’ raw melee strength to Paris’ precise shots, Pythia’s devastating magic, or Brontes’ brute force – these are just a few of the heroes you can discover in the game.
SURVIVE THE TRIALS OF THE OVERLORDS
Every region throws new horrors at you – venomous beasts, relentless ranged attackers, and bosses that won’t give you a second chance. Learn their patterns, adapt your build, and survive escalating waves until it’s time to face an Overlord.
These bosses don’t wait for you to get ready – they’ll punish weak strategies and reward smart structure placement.
GET STRONGER WITH EVERY RUN
Death isn’t failure – it’s part of your path. Complete challenges to unlock new characters, earn treasures and Favors, and improve your stats with long-term upgrades.
The further you push, the more power you bring into your next run.
EXPLORE ANCIENT GREECE
Return to the world of Achilles: Legends Untold and slay them all!
Battle across mythical arenas drawn from Greek legend, such as Troy and the sun-scorched coasts of Greece. Each map features unique objectives, building zones, and mythological threats waiting to be conquered.
Special thanks… to YOU
We’re a small team making the kind of games we love to play – and they wouldn’t be the same without your feedback.
We’re adding new content, improving systems, and optimizing performance with every update. Got suggestions, questions, or a wild build to show off? Join our Discord or drop us a message – we’re always listening.
Borderlands 4 has been available to preorder since June, but only for PS5, Xbox, and PC gamers. We knew that the new game would be coming to the Switch 2, but it wasn’t until recently that we finally got a release date. The Switch 2 version of Borderlands 4 is set to arrive on October 3, almost a full month after its console and PC release. And as of today, you can now preorder your copy for $70.
Preorder Borderlands 4 for Nintendo Switch 2
As of right now, it looks like the standard edition of Borderlands 4 is the only version available to preorder on Amazon and GameStop. Both the console and PC currently have Super Deluxe Editions available for preorder that include additional content and fancy packaging. It’s unclear at this time if the Switch 2 will get a physical release of the Super Deluxe Edition as well, but we’ll update this page with any new information as soon as we have it.
That being said, the Super Deluxe edition is available to preorder directly from the Nintendo eShop. So if you want the benefits of that version without the actual physical copy of the game, that’s one way to do it.
Preorder Bonuses
Although this is the standard edition of the game, preordering does come with a few bonuses when you buy from Amazon. Alongside the base game, you’ll also get the Gilded Glory Pack. This features a Vault Hunter skin, a weapon skin, and an Echo-4 drone skin. You can see more details about the pack from the 2K website.
What Is Amazon’s Preorder Price Guarantee?
If you’ve never actually preordered anything from Amazon before, it’s worth noting that if you purchase this art book ahead of the release date, it includes Amazon’s preorder price guarantee. According to Amazon’s own help page, this means that if the price decreases between now and when the item ships, you’ll pay the lowest price. So in this case, if any of these editions of the game get a discount before they actually start shipping then you’ll pay whatever it dropped to rather than the full price.
Although not every preorder gets discounted, physical editions of games especially seem to rarely drop in price compared to other product categories before they actually release. That is especially true for popular Nintendo Switch games, which rarely receive discounts of any kind even after release.
EA have given us our first proper look at Battlefield 6‘s multiplayer, after revealing the game with a single player trailer last week. They’ve also confirmed the new shooter‘s release date – 10th October 2025 – and announced dates for a series of beta weekends in August.
The game they’re pitching is a return to the contemporary warring of Battlefield 3 and Battlefield 4, after the mildly futuristic disappointments of Battlefield 2042. It’s got four familiar classes, the old Battlefield mode trinity of conquest, breakthrough and rush, and maps that incline towards close quarters combat or wide-open vehicular blasting or some blasphemous hybrid of the twain. It seems fine. And loud.
Considering we’re living through a period where it feels like every other game is a remake, remaster, or throwback of some sort, perhaps I should be less surprised that Battlefield 6 feels a lot like Battlefields 3 and 4. They were, of course, the glory years for EA and DICE’s large-scale multiplayer shooter – excellent maps, engaging objective-based modes, spectacular destruction, and the all-important class system. It seems like Battlefield 6 replicates all of that, at least as far as I can tell after having played two hours and change of the new, contemporary-set FPS across a number of maps and modes. That is a good thing, of course, especially since recent Battlefield history has been a bit of a rocky ride. But is this resurrection of past glories actually exciting? In the moment, absolutely. But on a grander scale? That’s a more difficult question.
Those exciting moments are often the result of the well-defined class system, which returns in a comfortingly familiar guise following Battlefield 2042’s missteps with its hero shooter-like Specialists. The Assault class can use their grenade launcher to breach through walls and then turn the startled soldiers who once huddled behind it into swiss cheese. The Engineer is the vital cog in a tank battle, using their acetylene torch to repair friendly armour and keep the cannon fire rolling, even as an entire building collapses around them. The Support is the squad’s literal lifeline, diving onto the objective with bags of spare ammo and soldier-reviving defibrillators at the ready. And finally there’s the Recon, the tactitician who marks enemies for all to see before scoring a hattrick of headshots with a sniper rifle.
There’s nothing revolutionary about these classes, but they are much clearer in their parameters than they have been in the past. You won’t find the team’s dedicated infantry killer fulfilling anti-tank or medic duties, for instance, as the Assault has been forced to do in the likes of Battlefields 4 and 5. But as clean and traditional as these roles are, there is a minor shake-up. Like Battlefield 2042, any class can use any weapon, but now each role has a “signature” specialism designed to encourage you into the specific loadouts of yesteryear. For example, the Recon is able to hold their breath while aiming sniper rifles, making them the clear choice for long-range engagements, while the Engineer benefits from improved hip-fire control when using SMGs. As someone who would score a low-end grade in a sniper exam, this means I can play Recon while swinging around an assault rifle or LMG, which fully opens up the class roster. But I can’t help but wonder why I should brute-force my way into playing Recon when I could find my specialism elsewhere. Isn’t that what class play is all about?
The odd, freeform elements of 2042’s weapon system saw their fair share of criticism, and I agree that tighter restrictions would have been of benefit both there and here in Battlefield 6, especially since there’s real strength in the design of the prescribed specialist gadgets for each class. The Support’s deployable cover is a solid example – it’s great for hiding behind while resurrecting fallen squaddies, provides a safe space for allies to restock on the ammunition bags you can drop, and acts as a surface to mount the LMG that the class specialises in. In short, the components of each kit can harmonise wonderfully, and I think the interesting choice is finding which class kit provides the best melody for your playstyle, rather than adjusting the individual notes within that.
Ultimately the weapons system is a small wrinkle in a very familiar package, and that applies to basically all the new ideas present in Battlefield 6’s demo. A new movement system (ridiculously dubbed the “Kinesthetic Combat System”) promises smoother leaning around corners, bracing against cover to reduce recoil, combat rolls as you land from high jumps, and several other improvements, but I can’t say I found these valuable additions – especially the contextual lean, which rarely seemed to activate. Like the omnidirectional movement in last year’s Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, I wonder how much genuine impact this will have on the experience of regular players. The one addition that I do love is the ability to grab a fallen soldier by the scruff of their neck and drag them to safety before reviving them. It’s a useful ability that everyone has access to (which admittedly does infringe on the Support’s duties, but it’s far from the instant revive of the defibrillator.) More importantly, it’s something that creates a “moment” – there’s few things more heroic than dragging a buddy to cover while machine gun fire kicks up dust around you. If all the small additions add up to something that feels as good as that, then maybe Battlefield 6 will develop a more distinct character in time.
This is a series that needed to find secure footing after a couple of wobbly outings, and it certainly feels like this new iteration is standing on reinforced concrete.
But what about the battlefields themselves? The series has always had to find its own formula when it comes to level geography, simply because the classic three-lane design doesn’t work for 64-player chaos. Thankfully that rule still applies, which means Battlefield still feels unlike any other shooter out there. The flagship Conquest maps retain that almost open-world feel – much more expansive than Call of Duty arenas, with an eye for real-world authenticity. City streets feel like genuine (albeit thankfully evacuated) population centres, and buildings are realistically laid-out with coherent stairwells and floorplans. The designer’s hand can be felt when you realise that there are maps nested within maps, but they leave a good impression. The broad edges of Empire State replicates the wide, tank-friendly streets of New York City, but push further into the centre and there’s rabbit warren-like alleys and a large concrete multi-storey building that’s perfect for claustrophobic, close-quarters fighting.
One or two matches simply isn’t enough time to understand the nuances of a map, and so I can’t say where exactly the few on offer would rank among the all-time greats. But Liberation Peak, set along the slopes of the Pamir Mountains in Tajikistan, provides the ideal amount of wide, rocky terrain for land vs air battles alongside pocketed military bases that give birth to desperate infantry fights, while Siege of Cairo has the dense street networks ideal for luring tanks into RPG ambushes. With no demolition centrepieces there’s nothing that instantly becomes a map’s signature element, but I hope that continued play will reveal carefully-placed details in each street, room, and capture point.
Talking of demolition, Battlefield’s trademark chaos remains very much in-tact. It is somewhat restrained in comparison to the map-shifting “levolution” system that powered Battlefield 6’s most obvious touchstones, but the alternative is much more useful in the minute-to-minute play. Entire building facades crumble away under cannon fire, opening up buildings like sardine cans to reveal the fleshy fiends hiding within. You can breach floors, allowing for Rainbow Six Siege-like downward assaults… or simply blow the support from beneath a pesky sniper. This late into Battlefield’s lifespan it’s hard to be truly excited about all this – this is the series’ schtick and likely always will be now – but it’s nonetheless impressive. As much as it is a technical feat to be boasted about alongside the most photo-realistic graphics in the series’ lifetime, it’s also a foundational tool that makes Battlefield its own distinct beast.
If it seems odd that we’ve reached this far into the preview without mentioning the multiplayer modes – you know, the things you actually play – then it’s only because they almost blend into the background among the explosions and squad roles. The hands-on session provided matches of Conquest, Breakthrough, and Squad Deathmatch, and they’re exactly as Battlefield tradition dictates. Personal preference naturally applies, but at least from my perspective it’s the classic story of the objective-focussed modes reigning supreme and the smaller-scale, kill-everything-in-sight games still feeling like a square peg in Battlefield’s round hole. It’s not that they’re a bad time, it’s just that the “Battlefield Moments” EA likes to shout about seem to only happen when you’re desperately holding down Point C during a close game of Conquest, or pushing tooth-and-nail through the fiercest defence in Breakthrough.
As part of what seems like a project attempting to recapture the glory days of Battlefields 3 and 4, I don’t hold any grudge against these modes feeling like business as usual. This is a series that needed to find secure footing after a couple of wobbly outings, and it certainly feels like this new iteration is standing on reinforced concrete. But I can’t help but feel that those old, faithful objectives could have been freshened up a little, perhaps with unconventional capture point designs or equipment used specifically for objectives. Perhaps new thrills lie in the new Escalation mode, which was unavailable to sample at my hands-on demo, although considering the official description provided to press claims that it “sees two teams fight to capture strategic control points,” I’m not expecting it to add too much extra fizz to the established formula.
When Battlefield 6’s open betas go live across a couple of weekends in August, I expect there will be a lot of fans who will be relieved to find a package that largely seems focussed on returning Battlefield to its peak years. And I can’t deny that the modern combat aesthetic, equipment, and classes speak to me in a way that the series’ near-future and pseudo-historical guns never could. I had a good time. More than a decade after Battlefields 3 and 4, though, it doesn’t fill me with the same sense of adrenaline it once did. But nostalgia’s still a hell of a drug, and maybe that’s just what the medic ordered.
Do you have any questions about Battlefield 6? Tell us what you want to know in the comments, and we’ll do a follow-up soon to bring you as many answers as we can.
As I sat down to write this review, I typed ‘What is the lifespan of a housefly?’ into my search bar. It’s not a question I ever really pondered prior to my playthrough of Time Flies. Somehow, this minimalist indie puzzler got me curious enough to wonder. I can’t say there’s ever been a piece of media that’s ever piqued my general interest in a pest in quite the same way.
That’s because Time Flies’ protagonist is a fly, and they made him cool. That’s not how I thought I’d be anchoring this review, but it’s the truth. Much like how the goose in Untitled Goose Game wins hearts by being a chaotic menace, the fly is an existentialist rebel worthy of an Albert Camus novella about, say, the absurd search for meaning in a life measured in seconds.
