Rush isn’t quite working in Battlefield 6, but I see what the developers are trying to do with it. The game mode debuted in 2008’s Battlefield: Bad Company, originally as Gold Rush, before adopting its current name two years later in Bad Company 2. It doesn’t quite have the series-spanning history of Conquest, but it’s become a beloved legacy game mode, and is one of the three principal options that make up the All-Out Warfare suite.
Rush and Conquest are joined by Breakthrough (a Battlefield 1 invention) as Battlefield 6‘s three main game modes. Conquest and Breakthrough headlined the first weekend of the record-breaking BF6 open beta, with Rush being a special addition for weekend two. Players are not happy with Rush so far, mainly because it has become a small-format mode in BF6, and lends further credence to the complaints that BF6‘s maps are too small. I understand Battlefield Studios’ new vision for Rush, and I think there’s some potential, but it’s already made too many missteps.
Battlefield 6 Wants Rush To Be Unique
Breakthrough Took Its Spot
Some sort of overhaul to Rush or Breakthrough has been necessary since the latter made its debut in 2016. The two modes are very similar, with attackers securing objectives in one sector in order to move onto the next. The main difference is Rush almost always has two objectives per sector – the MCOM stations – while Breakthrough has anywhere between one and three.
There are subtle differences, simply by their nature, but they’re effectively the same game mode otherwise. Rush has often been smaller than both Conquest and Breakthrough; Bad Company only supported 24-player lobbies, and Bad Company 2 only increased it to 32 players on PC. The difference between Rush and Breakthrough is clear in Battlefield 1, where the latter was introduced as part of the large-scale Operations game mode, while Rush remained relatively small at 12v12.
I believe Battlefield 6 is largely trying to continue this legacy for Rush, keeping it a smaller game mode so that it provides an alternate experience to Breakthrough, even while the two maintain their similarities. In All-Out Warfare, you now have Conquest as the largest game mode, Breakthrough occupying a middle ground, with Rush being the smallest, but still not as arena shooter-leaning as game modes like Domination and Squad Deathmatch.
Rush Can Stand Out Without Such Drastic Downsizing
Rush Needs Room To Breathe
I don’t mind Rush once again featuring 12-person teams; but I think the play area has been constrained too much. Right now, every sector has the two MCOM stations directly adjacent to each team’s spawn area. Take Bad Company 2 maps, like Arica Harbor or Isla Inocentes, for example. Both feel as though they were designed specifically for Rush, and the attackers begin much further from the MCOM stations, which are situated near the defenders’ spawn.
It’s a setup much closer to Battlefield 6‘s Breakthrough map layouts. It provides room to maneuver, so the conflict to spread out a little bit, plus there’s plenty of space for vehicles. Even with smaller teams, Rush in previous games felt like classic Battlefield because there was enough room. It differentiates itself from Breakthrough by simply requiring the attackers to plant explosives, rather than maintain control of a wider area.
A quick solution for Rush in BF6 would be to simply adopt the Breakthrough maps, and find interesting locations for the MCOM stations in each sector. Make the attackers push and take control of certain buildings to plant and defend the MCOM explosives. Even this subtle difference, with the smaller team sizes, provides a different enough experience to Breakthrough. Battlefield 6 is on the right track trying to keep Rush unique, but it has shoved it into too small of a play area.
