Battlefield 6 Season 2 Preview: Contaminated shines but you'll either love or hate the gas

Later than expected, this week it's finally time to welcome the second season of Battlefield 6. You could argue that for the second batch of post-launch support - following a first season that basically started right after launch - to face such a delay is not exactly a great indictment of what the future could hold for Battlefield 6. But the season is ready all the same, so we'll let this slide under the assumption that Battlefield Studios will get their house in-order so future seasons and support will be on time.

This next round of content will be looking to reflect what we saw added to the multiplayer game in its first season, with a perceptibly medium amount of new elements offset by their actual size. By that I mean we're getting a couple of new maps across the season, maps that are enormous and that will entertain players across the variety of game modes and that bring new vehicles to master too.

While some of this is saved for later portions of Season 2, namely the second phase dubbed Nightfall that arrives on March 17, I've had the chance to go hands-on with the part of the seasonal content that debuts later this week in the first phase known as Extreme Measures. This means that I've been in Little Bird helicopters in a Battlefield game once again, I've tested out some of the new weapons, and most importantly, I've had a good taste of the German map Contaminated.

Immediately, the premium design and appearance of Contaminated shines through. It's a biome that we haven't really had much time to explore in Battlefield 6 yet, meaning we can expect mountainous terrain, lush forests, and sprawling underground bases all merged into one coherent whole. Considering the often beige and drab colour palette of the other Battlefield 6 maps, designed to reflect the rather grim state of warfare, Contaminated actually comes across as a bit of a breath of fresh air, albeit with the caveat that the rural and wilderness focus can make it challenging to keep tabs on flanking enemies with the right kind of camouflage.

So from an appearance standpoint, Battlefield Studios has nailed the job with this map. I tested it on both Conquest and Escalation (with gameplay for each mode littered throughout this text), and Contaminated proved to be an effective vessel for both kinds of experiences. However, I did ponder how the structure would apply to more focussed objective modes like Breakthrough or Rush, something I have yet to reach an answer about. There's definitely hope all the same, especially in the areas with deep and sprawling tunnels or even savage trench warfare that reminds of Battlefield 1. And speaking about that game, Contaminated brings a key feature that fans will either appreciate or simply despise.

I'm referring to the VL-7 Psy Smoke. This is effectively a large scale smoke effect that can occur around key points on Contaminated. It's an orange smoke, so it's less visually-obscuring than traditional smoke, but it does still obscure all the same even if its intended purpose is to mess with your mind. The premise is to use a new Protective Mask item to filter out the smoke and prevent its disorienting effects, which could include seeing enemies and threats that aren't actually real... I get the idea behind this feature, but the last thing you really need at times in an intense Battlefield match is to have to put on and remove a gas mark every 10 seconds or so. And yes, it's that frequent as the mask has a timed effect where your filters steadily block your oxygen and force your character to sputter and choke. Again, I understand the idea but in the short time I encountered the feature it came across as very Marmite-like. You will either like it or hate it, there's no in between.

Beyond this, the AH-6 Little Bird brings an attack helicopter option that is more mobile and agile than the other Apache options, while the new troop carrier MH-350 provides a more team-focussed option in the skies. You might be thinking that surely this means too many aerial threats at once. I'd understand that and fortunately Battlefield Studios does too, hence the inclusion of the 9K38 Igla, a new anti-aircraft launcher that should make completing those pesky Engineer class-specific challenges less of a headache.

And on the topic of weapons, I had brief encounters with the M121 A2 LMG and the VCR-2 assault rifle, with the latter particularly standing out as a slightly overtuned tool of warfare as of the moment. Will that be the same in the live public build coming this week? It's hard to know, but perhaps just be cautious of what could be coming to Battlefield 6.

As I mentioned earlier, there are plans for additional content to come later in Season 2 as well, but I didn't get a chance to experience these for myself at this current time. So stay tuned as no doubt we'll be back in a few weeks to discuss how Hagental Base, the dirt bikes, and the other new weapons will look to expand and evolve this otherwise well-structured shooter.