The second weekend of the Battlefield 6 Open Beta has officially kicked off, and like the first, it’s off to an explosive start, with nearly 400K fans playing through Steam alone right now as I write this article, according to SteamDB. Once the weekend begins properly, it’s expected to climb even higher to around the 500K mark, and may even surpass the first playtest’s record of 521,079.
In addition to a new map set in Brooklyn, New York called Empire State and a Custom Search feature that lets players skew matchmaking towards specific maps and gametypes (more details here), one of the biggest things drawing players to Weekend 2 of the Open Beta across Xbox Series X|S, Windows PC, and PS5 is the introduction of the classic Battlefield mode Rush.
First added to the series way back in 2008’s Battlefield: Bad Company as Gold Rush, Rush is a smaller and more tactical infantry-focused mode compared to Breakthrough or Conquest. Like Breakthrough, it features an attack/defend structure and is centered around objectives.
Rush, though, has much smaller team sizes, promoting flanking maneuvers and making each kill more impactful on the outcome of a match. Its objectives are also M-COM stations that need to be destroyed with planted explosives instead of sectors taken through numbers alone, opening up many opportunities for individual players to make clutch game-winning plays.
Since its creation, Rush has become a staple of the Battlefield franchise and a fan-favorite game mode. Thus, excitement for its arrival in the Battlefield 6 Open Beta this weekend was sky-high. After actually playing it, however, many have ultimately been disappointed by the new game’s iteration.
The primary issue most people have with Rush in Battlefield 6 is that it’s 12v12 — a full eight players smaller than the mode’s traditional 16v16 team sizes (the Bad Company games were 12v12 on consoles due to technical limitations, but 16v16 on PC).
Though Rush has always been a smaller mode compared to Conquest or Breakthrough, many argue and report that team sizes that minute have led to extremely tight close-quarters engagements in which you’re forced to use a shotgun to stand a chance. As a result, this new version of Rush has quickly garnered a reputation for being a repetitive and boring “shotgun fest.”
It’s a problem exacerbated by the design of Battlefield 6’s Rush maps, with many feeling that they don’t have adequate flanking routes. Rush only being playable with open weapons in the beta — a setting that lets any class use any weapon, including any shotgun — is another contributing factor.
“12v12 no vehicles and open weapons, so it’s just a shotgun fest. They didn’t actually want to bring this mode back lol,” reads the top comment on the Battlefield subreddit. “Seriously, they’re leaning too hard into courting the Call of Duty crowd at the expense of the battlefield DNA, and it’s frustrating asf,” said another player.
“Mode is dead,” one simple, scathing reply asserts.
This strong negative reception to Rush stands out as one of the only truly major problems players seem to have with Battlefield 6 (the lack of an official server browser is another one). Hopefully, Electronic Arts (EA) and developer DICE can make some team size and/or map tweaks to improve the mode ahead of the game’s full October 10 launch.
Outside of this feedback — as well as critiques that vehicles are underpowered, the Assault class’ Weapon Sling double primary weapon gadget is too strong, and that player visibility is a bit rough — fans have been pleased with Battlefield 6 and how it feels like a long-awaited sequel to games of the franchise’s “golden age” like Battlefield 3 and 4.
Indeed, with its return of Battlefield’s iconic soldier classes that facilitate teamwork through strengths and weaknesses, the most advanced map-changing destruction there’s ever been in a Battlefield game, a grounded, “gritty realism” style, and more, it looks to be a triumphant return to form for the legendary FPS series.
Sure, Rush may not be in the best state now. But the good news is that by testing it out in an Open Beta like this, the developers have given themselves time to make refinements based on fan feedback. Obviously, the hope is that they do — and I believe they will, based on how responsive they were to criticisms made during early Battlefield Labs testing.
Note that preorders for Battlefield 6 are available now on Xbox Series X|S, Windows PC (Steam, EA app, Epic Games), and PS5 for $69.99. Some initially thought it would be $80, but EA has promised to avoid that price point (for now).
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