Ryan McCaffrey
Guest
Battlefield has always been defined by scale: sprawling maps, crumbling buildings, and squads working in sync to turn the tide of war. With Battlefield 6, Battlefield Studios is aiming to bring that same sense of chaos and unpredictability into the single-player campaign. After going hands-on with several missions, it’s clear this isn’t just a throwaway side mode – it’s a confident, varied experience that constantly shifts objectives, introduces new tools, and keeps the action fresh. From storming beaches under fire to chasing trains through collapsing tunnels, every level I played delivered a new surprise and kept me constantly excited for what I would experience next.
Fearsome Foursome
The campaign drops you into the year 2027 as part of Dagger 1-3, an elite squad of U.S. Marines. If you’ve played the recent multiplayer beta – or any Battlefield before – you’ll immediately recognize the squad archetypes. Carter fills the Assault role, Murphy handles Engineer duties, Gecko manages Recon, and Lopez rounds out the team as Support. Curiously, Lopez isn’t playable in the campaign, and Battlefield Studios declined to elaborate when asked why. Whether it’s a design choice or a story reveal saved for later, time will tell.
What makes the campaign stand out so far is how it blends traditional FPS action with light squad management. Each mission hands you a different Marine, but you’re rarely operating alone. You can call on your squadmates mid-fight to use their specialized abilities – Gecko tagging targets, Murphy blowing open defenses, Lopez keeping everyone supplied and revived. It’s not a deep tactical system, but it makes your squad feel integral to success, and it adds a dynamic layer that’s genuinely fun.
What makes the campaign stand out so far is how it blends traditional FPS action with light squad management.
The small touches sell the squad dynamic even further. Take out an enemy gunner, and your Marine calls out, “MG down!” Drop an engineer, and suddenly you know their SAM launcher is no longer a threat. These callouts double as gameplay feedback, helping you adjust tactics mid-fight. Even in single-player, the firefights carry the tension and layered pacing of multiplayer matches, with squads clashing and roles countering one another. It’s exactly the kind of squad-driven storytelling Battlefield fans have long hoped for.
Buckle Up and Hang On
During my hands-on, I had access to three missions scattered across the campaign, and it was immediately obvious why these were chosen. Each mission felt completely different, with objectives that constantly changed the pace and approach. These three levels honestly felt closer to nine, and I had to remind myself partway through missions that I was still in that same level. `
The first one I played was Operation Gladius, the third stage in the story. It opens with an iconic “war-game” spectacle: storming enemy beaches inside an armored vehicle. From the moment it began, I was floored by the presentation. Mud and smoke obscured my vision while explosions rocked the shoreline. The waves sent our floating tanks rocking back and forth, while a hazy, smoke-filled sky gave me a preview of the battle I was heading into. As the gunner, I was tasked with taking out bunkers and enemy troops, and what could have been a straightforward turret section became a tense scramble to see through debris and support my squad.
Once the tanks landed, I, still playing as Murphy the Engineer, began escorting a tank through a war-torn town toward City Hall. This section leaned into classic Battlefield gameplay: waves of enemies, constant destruction, all while keeping the tank operational, while Lopez resupplied and revived me. Gecko tagged threats from a distance, and Carter and I pushed the front line while entire buildings, balconies, and trees collapsed around us. For stretches, it felt like playing multiplayer condensed into an intense single-player package.
The town itself kept me on my toes. Enemies poured out of alleys, rooftops, and damaged buildings, but the destruction turned unpredictability into opportunity. Snipers hiding behind cover could be flushed out with grenades or RPGs, and alternate flanking routes allowed me to approach firefights in multiple ways. The level design rewards thinking like a Battlefield player: if the enemy can occupy a space, so can you.
The mission culminated in a massive push on City Hall, reminiscent of defending a hard-won capture point in multiplayer. My squad and I held the line against relentless waves while clearing buildings and mopping up remaining enemies. The chaos of the finale mirrored the opening sequence, cementing the sense that the campaign isn’t afraid to keep objectives moving, destruction constant, and action relentless.
A Great Script
The other missions I got to play further reinforced this variety. Mission five began with a tense apartment sweep, clearing floors with my squad while using a sledgehammer to break dow n walls. The shootouts were intense and had me checking my corners diligently as my thermal scope helped me spot the pesky PAX in the dimly lit apartment building. This section ended with a shootout between apartment buildings – a bit of a shooting gallery moment as I waited for enemies to pop up so I could take them down, but still enjoyable nonetheless.
Going underground, the squad and I continued to pick off enemies in smoke and dirt-filled tunnels. Luckily, my thermal-scoped rifle was still in my hands, or this mission would've been much tougher. The mission then pivoted hard into a high-speed car chase through subway tunnels. While one of the more scripted moments of my entire preview, it was still fun to live through the spectacle, even if I felt like I didn’t have much control over what was happening.
After a short jaunt through a construction site, the mission reaches its big explosive moment by blowing up New York’s Brooklyn Bridge. The once intact bridge then becomes the final stretch of this mission, as I was then tasked to make my way through the rubble to disable some transmitters. While completely in shambles, I never found myself lost as I made my way through the bridge, and instead got to take in a Levolution moment in a single-player campaign. Again, I know it’s a scripted set piece, but blasting my way through the ruins still felt like an organic way to push the intense moments of the story further. Overall, the fifth mission once again proved that Battlefield Studios is looking to up the ante every moment they can.
Room to Roam
Mission eight was easily my favorite. Instead of tight corridors, it opened into a semi-open map that gave me room to experiment. Playing as Gecko, the Recon, I had a bomb-dropping drone and a vehicle I could hop in and out of at will. Jumping into a Jeep with my squad beside me immediately brought back Halo vibes, marking the first mission I played that genuinely felt like I could set my own pace. The initial objective was to take out a few SAM sites, and from what I could tell, it seemed like I could approach them in any order – though my limited playtime didn’t let me fully test that freedom.
The sense of choice made the mission really enjoyable. I wasn’t funneled into predetermined vantage points, so it was up to me to drive around and find good positions for my squad to post up and take down enemies. The drone added a whole new layer of strategy. I could get a bird’s-eye view of the battlefield to scout and mark enemies, then rain bombs down until the enemy spotted and destroyed my drone, which would trigger a brief cooldown before I could deploy it again.
Firing missiles from a first-person perspective to take down helicopters and tanks was incredibly satisfying.
The objectives escalated quickly, moving from taking out SAM sites to guiding rockets with the Switchblade system against waves of enemies. Honestly, this part was awesome – I’ll take more Switchblade missions, please. Firing missiles from a first-person perspective to take down helicopters and tanks was incredibly satisfying, and it honestly makes me want a mini-game just for that mechanic.
The mission wrapped up with a climactic firefight across a dam, the drone continuing to add another chaotic layer while letting me choose how to approach combat. There’s even a Battlefield version of a boss encounter, where an enemy helicopter circles the dam and needs to be taken down. This mission isn’t as explosively over-the-top as some of the others, but the freedom it offers makes it stand out, and it still includes some epic set pieces that are genuinely fun to experience.
After playing these missions, it’s clear that Battlefield 6’s campaign isn’t filler. Battlefield Studios is taking what makes multiplayer memorable – destruction, unpredictable firefights, and meaningful squad dynamics – and trying to translate it into single-player form. And so far, they seem to be right on target. Whether I was storming beaches, chasing trains, or raining fire from a drone, the campaign consistently kept me on my toes and surprised me with new objectives and moments of spectacle. If the full release keeps this momentum, Battlefield 6 could finally deliver a single-player experience worthy of the series’ scale and intensity – something we arguably haven’t seen since the Bad Company days.