Battlefield 6: This is how I experienced the first weekend of a beta that could dethrone Call of Duty.

Since Call of Duty came into my life in the middle of the pandemic, it's become my safe haven for spending entire afternoons. It was my favorite battlefield... until now.

The first weekend of the Battlefield 6 beta left me with a feeling I haven't had in years: that of finding a real competitor that can not only match, but surpass, the experience that has accompanied me for so long.

Beyond being a simple shooter, Battlefield 6 feels like a living, breathing, ever-changing war experience. These aren't just large maps; they're breathing environments that decay and transform as you play.

Facades that crack and collapse, columns of dust that blind you, explosion craters that become improvised cover... everything moves and adapts, and that forces me to do the same. There's no truly safe place for a camper.

The sound design also captivated me. Gunshots have incredible depth, and footsteps, both friendly and enemy, are heard with a realism that doesn't give you an artificial advantage: this isn't about learning audio patterns to "hunt" rivals , but rather reacting as you would in real life, with all the chaos that entails.

On the technical side, the game surprised me with its stability. I tested it on an ASUS ROG Strix laptop with an RTX 4090 and it was completely fluid, with no performance drops. The queues to enter were long, but that speaks more to anticipation than a glitch.

I found the mechanic of dragging a downed teammate to safety before reviving them brilliant , and the localized damage system—which lets you stay on your feet if you take a hit in the arms or legs, but ends things with a headshot—reinforces the game's more realistic tone compared to other shooters.

Not everything was perfect. A few bugs sent me flying with an explosion or even a strange collision while jumping, but in a beta, that's easily forgiven. The important thing is that, at its core, the game already feels solid, competitive, and ready to attract a massive player base from day one.

Leaving Call of Duty isn't easy, but Battlefield 6 gave me enough reasons to think it might be time to switch sides. If this was just the first weekend of the beta, I don't want to imagine what the full game will be like.