Battlefield 6: Season 1 Preview - Blackwell Fields and Eastwood ramp up the chaos

Previewing a first season of a multiplayer game is always a bit of a complex situation, as typically the game in question will only have just come out with a dedicated review encapsulating the wider whole accompanying it. You don't need us to tell you which parts of the game are good or bad anymore, as we've already done that and you've likely experienced the game for yourself too. Ultimately, we're left with just focussing on what is actually new and being added, and this is precisely the predicament we find ourselves in for Battlefield 6.

If you haven't read my glowing review of the game yet, I implore you to do so first, as it sets the precedent of what's to come. If you'd rather have a summary, let me just keep things brief and state that Battlefield Studios did a pretty excellent job with this game, something it now has the immense task of building upon with meaningful post-launch support.

The first season will begin this effort on October 28, when the initial batch of the three-part season arrives. This first round is known as Rogue Ops, and it'll be followed by California Resistance on November 18 and all before Winter Offensive on December 9. The latter chapter is not exactly much to write home about as it simply adds a seasonal and frosty variant of the Empire State map plus a new seasonal mode called Ice Lock too. But the first two rounds of the season bring some pretty big additions, which I've had the luxury to already experience.

Rogue Ops' Blackwell Fields is pure vehicular chaos

The highlight of the first round of the season is the new map, Blackwell Fields. This is a mid-size map at best, the sort of map that you can quite easily traverse around on foot on Conquest without feeling as though you're running miles and miles without respite. It's set on a sandy oil field and it's quite a flat and desolate landscape wracked and scorched by fire. As the points are relatively close together, the action is quite intense and fast-paced, far different to say Mirak Valley or Operation Firestorm. And it's only made even more intense by the inclusion of frankly too many vehicles. There are fighter jets and helicopters, tanks and anti-aircraft machines, trucks and buggies, and even the new Traverser Mark 2, which is essentially the midway point between a truck and a tank.

Effectively, if you like your Battlefield experience to be as suffocating and loud as humanely possible, then Blackwell Fields will be the ideal map for you. It truly is a chaotic and exciting map where it never feels as though the action takes a breather, and for Conquest fans that's no doubt a massively exciting premise.

California Resistance's Eastwood features your new favourite vehicle

Look, I could tell you about Eastwood and focus on the Hollywood Hills and the extravagant mansions that you can blow to smithereens. I can comment on what it's like to gun down enemies on tennis courts and golf courses, and how strange it is to hide in swimming pools to evade tanks and other thunderous vehicles. All of these are elements that make Eastwood fun, but they're also somewhat exactly what you expect from a Battlefield map. You see, what sets this map apart from the rest is the absolutely hilarious golf buggies. Yep, your favourite Battlefield vehicle is returning after last being almost two decades ago.

Sure there's a lot to appreciate about the structure of this map and how even for Conquest it encourages boots-on-the-ground action with a more limited focus on overwhelming vehicles, but the golf carts are the stars of the show. There's something about zipping around the map in a cart powered by a single car battery and something almost euphoric about ploughing into an enemy and getting the most satisfying roadkill of your life. This is what makes Eastwood so much fun, the sheer potential for Battlefield antics that are perhaps not as much of a focal point in the other maps.

There are a bunch of other new elements in Season 1, be it new weapons and even the Strikepoint game mode, which is a fun take on more close-quarters 4v4 action, but in the grand scheme of Battlefield 6, there's no denying that Blackwell Fields and Eastwood are the stars of the show. And from what I've experienced of them so far, they are both excellent and worthwhile additions to the wider game. For a deeper taste of what's to come, don't miss our dedicated gameplay for each map above.