I had the privilege of being able to playBattlefield 6early, but I’m most excited about a game mode I wasn’t allowed to try.MyBattlefield 6hands-on previewcoincided with the game’s big multiplayer gameplay reveal in late July. Over two days, I played roughly seven hours ofBattlefield 6’s multiplayer. I was told that the build is roughly what players will experience during theopen beta weekends, though we had more structured playlists to accommodate the small player pool at the event.
I got to try out the latest iterations ofBattlefieldstaples Conquest and Breakthrough, as well as a couple of the game’s smaller modes, Squad Deathmatch and Domination. The latter two I wasn’t necessarily impressed with, but jumping back into the series' classic game modes convinced me thatBF6may be the series' big comebackfans are hoping for. But I also caught wind of a game mode that wasn’t yet ready to be shown off: Escalation.
BF6’s Escalation Game Mode Is Conquest With A Twist
Concentrating Battlefield’s Sandbox Gameplay
Conquest has long been theheart and soul ofBattlefield, giving players agency on where they concentrate their efforts. A simple twist on this hands-off approach has piqued my interest, though. Escalation was pitched to me as something akin to Conquest, where fewer objectives are available as the match goes on. Here’s an official description of Escalation that was provided to me at the multiplayer reveal event:
“Two teams fight to capture strategic control points. As the teams expand their territory, fewer and fewer control points remain, creating increasingly intense areas of combat. This battle for territory culminates in an all-out war, where both sides fight to control the last remaining points on the map.”
It’s unclear how exactly Escalation is scored and the manner in which objectives are removed from contention. I would imagine that locking an objective once it’s captured wouldn’t work, leading to the climactic battle too quickly. If I had to guess, I assume the objectives closest to each team’s spawn area become locked after a set time, with similar intervals following until only the center-most flags remain.
Regardless of these minutiae, the idea itself is very compelling. I adore the sandbox chaos of Conquest objectives constantly shifting hands, but Escalation feels almost like a half-step toward the likes of Breakthrough and Rush, which both promote more structured fronts.
Escalation Is The Perfect New Experiment For Battlefield
Building On What Works
Through many of the series' entries, I’ve never felt any particular attachment to the “non-Battlefield” modes like Team Deathmatch – those that aren’t in the so-called All-Out Warfare playlist. The series is clearly trying to cater to a wider audience by consistently including them, but I’ve always felt it was best to stick to the larger game modes where squad play and inter-squad coordination is key.
Escalation seems like a very smart iteration on Conquest, though, and it’s got me keen to try it out whenBattlefield 6releases. Conquest can, admittedly, become aimless at times. Especially in a close match, it can be hard to tell if your efforts at one objective wouldn’t be more effective at a different one. Without having played it, it feels like Escalation could remedy this, providing clear direction as the match reaches its final phases.
You’d want to focus on holding objectives before they lock, most likely aiming to secure persistent territory so that you are vying for subsequent objectives along a consistent front. It also incentivizes those that like to back-capture objectives on the opposite side of the map from their HQ in Conquest. If you’re able to hold an opponent home flag as it locks, you may be able to disrupt the enemy for the rest of the game.
As opposed to something like Team Deathmatch, Escalation seems to build on what already makesBattlefieldtick. The same general strategy for Conquest should, theoretically, apply to large swathes of Escalation. It also ensures that there’s a climactic battle, hopefully emulating the feverish last minutes of Breakthrough and Rush.
Escalation Won’t Be In The Battlefield 6 Open Beta
I’ll Have To Wait For Launch
Unfortunately for me and my interest in Escalation, the game mode will not be part ofBattlefield 6’s open beta. According toEA, these are the playable game modes:
Both weekends
King of the Hill
Weekend 2 only
Squad Deathmatch
Escalation, TDM, and Payload appear to be the threeconfirmed multiplayer game modesthat won’t be featured in the beta periods. It’s great to see all three All-Out Warfare modes included, even if Rush is only in for the second weekend, but it’s disappointing to have the most exciting new game mode left out. Unless I’m completely misinterpreting how it works, I think Escalation has the potential to be a big hit.
But I’ll have to wait until October 10 (or later, consideringBattlefield’s notorious launches) to try it out.BF6is promising from what I’ve played, but it’s a bit curious that Breakthrough, first introduced inBattlefield 1, was the series' last new core game mode. Escalation seems to be built on the same series DNA, and it’s got me very excited to see if it becomes popular onceBattlefield 6is out.
