The Battlefield franchise is known for its large-scale warfare maps. Open playgrounds for players to create their own playstyle, almost like an RPG. With the class system you can be a medic, engineer, sniper, etc. A great Battlefield map will do its best to give players great freedom to express themselves with these classes, while also offering great fun with the sandbox elements. Some of these elements include big spaces for land and air vehicles to engage in dynamic combat. Here are the best maps that follow that philosophy, and that should be an inspiration for maps in the next Battlefield games.
7. Operation Firestorm
In the latest Beta test for Battlefield 6, most of the maps were on the smaller-scale side, which had a lot of players asking Battlefield Studios for bigger maps. The studio has said that large-scale maps will be available at launch, and that previous maps from other Battlefield games are also making a comeback. The first of these maps is Operation Firestorm, which will be available in Battlefield 6 at launch. Operation Firestorm follows what most fans believe is the perfect layout for a Battlefield map; a big sandbox with both open spaces for long range battles, and buildings for close quarters combat.
6. Damavand Peak
Dynamic levels and verticality are often cited as elements that make multiplayer maps great, and Damavand Peak offers both of those. Ask any Battlefield fan for their favorite moment in the franchise, and there is a high probability that their answer will be one specific moment in Damavand Peak; jumping from the helipad. Seeing your entire team running towards the edge of the cliff and jumping into the enemy base is one of the most cinematic moments in Battlefield. All made possible because of the dynamic and fun level design, both elements that should be important for future Battlefield games.
5. Ballroom Blitz
The ambience of war is another important element of the Battlefield series, and no game does a better job of that than Battlefield 1. Set during World War I, Battlefield 1 takes immersion to its max with great atmospheric visuals and sounds. From the soldiers screaming with their bayonets, to sounds of weapons and vehicles. All these elements are felt greatly in the Ballroom Blitz map, while also offering a fun sandbox with open areas, and one of the biggest buildings in the series with the Château. In addition to all of that, the map also offers one of the most fun features in Battlefield 1, an airship. Ballroom Blitz not only offers air to air combat, but also a dynamic ground to air combat as well.
4. Operation Metro
Besides large and open maps, Battlefield is also known for great close-quarter combat gameplay moments. Operation Metro is the best map to bring out those moments. While offering a more linear structure, Operation Metro is still a large map that will take players from an outside open area – to the underground – to the outside again. While linear, it isn’t monotonous. The buildings area offers destruction, while the underground with its escalators and elevators makes for dynamic firefights and matches that feel completely different every round.
3. Wake Island
Inspired by a real island of the same name, Wake Island takes the dynamics of vehicles to a new level. From boats to tanks and planes, it is the ultimate vehicle playground. The map is available in most Battlefield games, making it playable across different eras. Wake Island is a great representation of the realism side of Battlefield, with a team landing into the beaches while the other team defends. The island’s U layout makes for a unique playstyle with the map, in which you can follow the path in its U form, or you can use a boat to cut through the middle.
2. Strike at Karkand
Appearing first in Battlefield 2 and later in 3, Strike at Karkand brings out the best meaning of urban warfare. A map full of buildings yet offering the player great space to express themselves with every class, and every vehicle. Specifically land vehicles like tanks. While the Battlefield 6 record-breaking beta maps were mostly urban warfare, the corridors and streets still felt too narrow and linear, taking away a bit of that freedom of expression, especially for vehicles. A study of Karkand should help the team in fixing that. Destruction is another element that the Battlefield series is known for, and one of the things that 6 is doing right. Karkand could be the best map to showcase this new destruction technology, so it should be on the top of the list as a remaster for Battlefield 6.
1. Gulf Of Oman
Ambience, urban warfare, air combat, sea vehicles, dynamic levels, etc. All are elements present across a variety of different maps in the Battlefield franchise, but Gulf of Oman offers them all in one. As one of the largest maps in the series, Gulf of Oman offers every type of vehicle and sandbox feature to make every class shine. The US team has as their main base an air carrier, from which you can spawn air or aquatic vehicles. You can also use the position of the ship as a sniping spot. On land, there are some objectives in open areas great for tank combat. In the middle of the map there are high buildings that offer verticality for fun close quarter combat gameplay. All of that mixed with great visuals and the ambience of a desert makes Gulf of Oman the ultimate Battlefield playground.
That’s our list of the best Battlefield maps in the franchise that we believe should be a blueprint for the series in the future. Do you agree with these maps? Or do you believe other maps should be in here as well? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below, and for more coverage on Battlefield stay tuned to GameLuster.
