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Battlefield came back strong with the all-new Battlefield Studios this year, combining the forces of the four EA studios to work on one of the most ambitious titles in the series. We got to taste what’s coming with Battlefield 6 during the Beta with four maps, and now we got the chance to reach the frontlines in a Battlefield 6 Multiplayer event to test the biggest maps: The Mirak Valley and Operation Firestorm. One that’s my favorite of the six maps I’ve played in BF6 so far, and the other brings back childhood memories.
Big franchises are famous for their unique features, and that’s how they’ve become known from the start. Assassin’s Creed‘s stealth, God of War‘s gory action, and Mortal Kombat‘s brutality. In my opinion, messing with something adored by fans is not the recipe for success, and meddling with those core features is what makes fans get loud about it.
Battlefield‘s signature features in this case are destruction, vehicle combat, and, of course, big maps. If you’re wondering why Battlefield 6 is so popular in the gaming community right now, showcasing these three in almost a perfect state is your answer. It features a slick destruction system and compelling vehicle combat. The maps I played during this test are pretty large and well-crafted, with detailed environments and various points of interest scattered throughout.
Mirak Is My Favorite Valley
We started the playtest on Mirak Valley, the largest Battlefield 6 map at launch. The map is approximately 0.6 km in size, which is comparable to the Caspian Border from BF3 and Hamada from BFV. All-out warfare, jets and tanks, and of course, sections that take soldiers indoors to test their close-quarter combat skills.
The first thing that catches the eye when playing a map for the first time is its visuals, and man, does Mirak Valley look astonishing in Battlefield 6. Teams either start in a farmland with small and definitely destructible houses in their next checkpoint, or near the woods where all the trees are burned. Each of the two areas is unique, and they both provide opportunities for players to hide behind buildings or take cover near trees and ruins.
The time to reach the first engagement is when you arrive at one of the two buildings at the center of the map. With ziplines and stairs, these two add verticality to the whole gameplay, and if you’re a sniper playing Recon, I can say the two buildings translate to “Bread” and “Butter” for you.
Now you can completely reshape these buildings with your missiles and tanks, but this is the part of the map that encourages the infantry to enter, clear the area, and capture the objective. In the case of Breakthrough, one building is for the defenders, and the other will be invaded by the attackers, creating a nice balance that one team must break to secure the golden W.
Tank and jet lovers can get more action going a few meters away from these two buildings. There’s an open space with only trees and small capture sections, where tanks absolutely dominate. However, there are also ruins and tiny buildings for the infantry to take cover and secure the point.
Now, when I played some maps in the beta, such as Liberation Peak and Empire State, I can clearly see that they lean toward a specific playstyle. Not that you shouldn’t play Assault or Engineer in Liberation Peak, but snipers are king on that map. That’s not an issue; not every map needs to be perfectly balanced for each class, and having a map that encourages sniper fights is actually great. The same goes for close-up engagements in Empire State.
However, Mirak Valley is the map that features a balanced layout, allowing players to ram tanks through small houses, snipe from different levels of the big buildings, crash the crane on the same building with jets, or take the gloves off and get inside for close-quarters rivalry.
No Operation Calls For More Pilots Than The Firestorm
Hearing Operation Firestorm during the BF6 reveal made me stand on my toes as my childhood memories kicked in. The map is set in a desert near oilfields with extra-large open spaces between the objectives. Back in the day, this was one of the best maps for proving who had the best tank and jet pilots in each team, and I’m happy that Battlefield 6‘s reimagination hasn’t changed any of that.
In the Operation Firestorm map in Battlefield 6, players spawn on either side of the oilfield, surrounded by nothing but sand and vehicles that work as the tickets to the combat zone. Trust me, taking no tanks, jeeps, or jets when starting the game is going to cost you 5 minutes of non-stop running until you reach the center of the map. You should at least climb one of the tanks if there’s no room inside.
As you move forward, there’ll be two sides on the map: 1. The sand and small buildings around the map that hold different objective points. 2. The infantry traffic area at the center facility, where you can spot a few large buildings. The dominant group on this map is the tank specialists and those able to fly the jets and helicopters, but it doesn’t mean there’s no room for snipers and infantry combat.
Like I said, some maps lean toward a special playstyle, and this is one hell of a playground if you enjoy dogfights and tank showdowns. But right in the middle, you can climb the towers, grab a sniper rifle, and enjoy hunting anyone trying to capture the nearby zones. The large buildings, on the other hand, are your ultimate path if you play Assault and love to test out your new unlocked AR/SMG.
The pipes around the oilfield are the parts that I found players love the most. Personally, I’m a big fan, but not as the guy running/camping on them, but as the tank driver who chases them. Speaking of routes around the map, there’s a straight-line highway that’s best for reaching the other side to take the far objectives by surprise or flanking the enemies.
Unlike Mirak Valley, the open space in Operation Firestorm has almost no place to hide or terrain features. Aside from the central facility, however, there are oil containers on the north side of the map, which I didn’t find best to be at with or without a vehicle. Additionally, the unfair tactical advantage of the mountains near spawn locations, which players used to bring tanks onto in BF3, is now fixed, which is a significant win in my book.
Overall, so far, Battlefield 6 appears to offer a variety of maps for different playstyles, while also featuring a well-balanced experience, particularly in Mirak Valley. We were familiar with Operation Firestorm from Battlefield 3 and 4, and it’s a safe bet that it will be remade with the exact details. However, for the new maps, BF6 is trying to attract as many FPS enthusiasts as possible by offering variety.
