Much is riding on the success of Battlefield 6, not least the need to recoup the game’s eye-watering budget (reported at around $450m). Three years ago, predecessor Battlefield 2042 launched to a whole lot of indifference and some outright hostility. That game’s reputation improved over the intervening years but it was never able to recapture the series’ magic. In a misguided bid to capitalise on the hero shooter craze, it bastardised its much-loved class system, while 128-player matches often left individuals feeling like insignificant cogs in a joyless machine.

Happily, Battlefield 6 is a confident return to form and an almost defiant statement of intent. Drawing inspiration from the intense, teamwork-driven combat of Battlefields 3 and 4, but without their notorious launch-day technical woes, it has reverted to 64-player skirmishes. This might seem like a retreat but it works in its favour: the reduction in scale restores the clarity, rhythm and sense of purpose that defined the earlier titles.

With the removal of the previous game’s controversial ‘specialists’, teamplay is once again a core part of the experience. Anyone can now revive teammates by dragging them to cover and administering aid, a small but transformative tweak that lends battles a tactile, human quality and keeps the fight flowing. The usual fleet of vehicles is present, with fighter jets and combat helicopters offering support from the air, and a variety of tanks and assorted land vehicles scaring up the troops on the ground.

The launch maps are small to medium in scale, dense with choke points, flanking routes and destructible cover. This tighter design of play encourages constant ‘Battlefield moments’: exhilarating passages of chaotic cinematic action. The audiovisual design is wildly intoxicating: the bleached-out urban warfare of Battlefield 3 collides with the ferocious destruction of beloved spin-off Battlefield: Bad Company 2. Buildings splinter under bombardment, smoke chokes the air and panic sets in as structures crumble to the ground. The soundscape (always a Battlefield speciality) is astonishing: a near-constant maelstrom, albeit one packed with detail among the bombast. There will be moments when players will choose to forego a revive simply to get a moment’s peace.

Compared to the spawn/kill/die/repeat of multiplayer Call Of Duty, Battlefield has always been the more nuanced, tactical alternative. Its four core classes (assault, engineer, recon and support) mesh neatly across the two main game modes of conquest (capture-and-hold warfare) and breakthrough (attritional offence versus defence). A generous arsenal of weapons, gadgets and grenades unlocks quickly, though the post-match breakdown still prioritises loot and cosmetic trinkets over meaningful analysis of play.

A singleplayer campaign is present, notable only for a few novel set-pieces and a mission cutely located on the Rock Of Gibraltar. It’s entirely optional but it misses a trick by doing nothing to introduce newcomers to the multiplayer mechanics. But that hardly matters: Battlefield 6’s real power lies online. This is a blistering, chaotic, brilliantly executed return to what Battlefield does best: creating unforgettable moments of shared, explosive mayhem.

Battlefield 6 is out now on PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X/S.