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Even though it's the latest entry, Battlefield 6 actually has some of the smaller maps in the FPS series thus far. This is according to data compiled by a discerning fan who has gone through many of its installments and ranked their multiplayer areas by size for comparison's sake.
The information was shared on Reddit by users ClaratheRed and PENGUINonPC, who did "nothing but work on this the entire weekend," and it comes in three distinct datasets. The first is a top-down view of every map across the Battlefield games, as if they were islands. You can plainly see number six stands as one of the meeker offerings, Operation Firestorm and Mirak Valley not coming close to the bigger landmasses.
After that, there are two size charts. The first is by playable area in kilometer-squared. Bandar Desert from Battlefield 3 reigns supreme, at nearly two-and-a-half kilometers overall. Then Alborz Mountains, also from 3, which is just over one-and-a-half kilometers. Battlefield 4's Paracel Storm is next, and we’re back to 3 with Strike at Karkand.
DICE and EA were truly on one for Battlefield 3's multiplayer, huh? Nothing from Battlefield 6 is in the top ten, the highest-ranked area being its version of Operation Firestorm, and that's less than 500 square meters. What are these, Battlefield maps for ants?
A third ranking looks at total size in kilometer-squared. Battlefield 3 still dominates, and four of the bottom five are from the sixth installment, Saints Quarter being the second smallest, just ahead of Ziba Tower from the third. Seeing the numbers laid out like this is eye-opening, since the devs made a song and dance about returning to Battlefield’s peak. This just compounds complaints about 6 feeling more close quarters than some expected.
"Honestly, some of the maps actually look really good, but they've been made annoying as hell to play on due to the extremely claustrophobic out of bounds areas," reads one response on Reddit. "I enjoy Liberation Peak because it's larger and because of the U-shape. I do think the maps are too small, but it doesn't help that most of them put you in a box where you can be seen from everywhere," says another.
Who knows, we might see bigger multiplayer sandboxes further down the line. If for nothing else than to give the game a greater leg up when compared to its forebears.
