I am not immune to theBattlefield 6hype. It’s easy to be skeptical of aBattlefieldgame these days, but it’s a lot harder to look at footage fromBattlefield 6and not think “Okay, that’s actually pretty cool.” Blowing a hole for cover with C4? Grabbing onto the back of a moving tank? It’s all full of the dynamism that makesBattlefieldspecial, and while I didn’t bother with watching Twitch streams for early beta access, I did eagerly download it ahead of thefirst beta weekend.
Only then did I discover that I can’t actually play it, or at least not without putting in some significant effort.Battlefield 6’s Secure Boot requirement demands a lot of troubleshootingon my part, and after fiddling around for a while, I eventually decided against pressing the issue. I still felt the need to scratch theBattlefielditch, however, and turning instead to one of the best games in the series has done just that.
Battlefield 6 Anti-Cheat Is A Huge Roadblock
My PC Doesn’t Want To Play Ball
Battlefield 6’s kernel-level anti-cheatcomes with a big ask for a certain percentage of PC users. While Windows 11systems and plenty of Windows 10 setups won’t have any issue launching straight into the game, others — like my rig — aren’t set up for it.Fixing compatibility issues requires you to run some commandsto change the partition format on your OS drive and BIOS mode, a process thatEAhas detailed in a basic walkthrough.
Secure Boot, the Windows feature thatBattlefield 6ultimately requires, is a nice thing to have for general security reasons.I don’t love fiddling around with disk formatsand boot options, though, and most people would recommend you back up your data before attempting anything. EA doesn’t bother to acknowledge this, and the guide never really explains what you’re doing or why it’s generally safe, it just tells you to do it.
I would still have gone through with it, but my PC started bouncing some errors at me, andtroubleshooting those just led to more layers of troubleshooting. If I really needed to swap my PC to Secure Boot, I would have spent a few hours playing whack-a-mole, but again, it’s a big ask to playBattlefield. I could have spent my Saturday evening identifying the exact failure point in the BitLocker encryption, or I could simply pivot to aBattlefieldgame that didn’t force me to jump through endless hoops.
Battlefield 1 Is A Great Battlefield 6 Alternative
A Battlefield Game That’s Still Special
In the end, I chose the latter,uninstallingBattlefield 6to make room forBattlefield 1.I’m not alone in taking this route, and one of my friends refused to installBattlefield 6on the basic principle of disliking kernel-level anti-cheat. That same night, we were able to get a full squad of five together, and the trenches of the Great War are just as interesting now as they were in 2016.
Battlefield 6’s return to the present day (well, 2027) makes a lot of sense, butBattlefield 1remains a special setting for the franchise. No otherBattlefieldfeatures cavalry and zeppelins, and the early 20th century clash between classic and modern warfare lends itself perfectly to the series. While other popular World War I games likeVerduntake a more grounded approach,Battlefield 1is able to lean into conflict’s fundamental absurdityon a large scale, making for especially engaging results.
Plenty ofBattlefieldveterans would point to games likeBad Company 2andBattlefield 3as the peak, but years later,Battlefield 1delivered a cocktail that still feels great to play.The pace, balance, and atmosphere are all stronger thanBattlefield 5, to say nothing of2042.It’s rare for a match to go by without some memorable moments, and storming a position with your squad while dodging mustard gas and shells is exhilarating.
I’m Happy Playing Battlefield 1 In 2025
The Game Is Alive For A Reason
I’m not going to make the claim thatBattlefield 1is fundamentally better thanBattlefield 6. I haven’t played the newest game, after all. After overcoming my initial frustration withBattlefield 6’s Secure Boot requirement, however, I’ve realizedthat I’m probably just as happy to return toBattlefield 1as I would be to enter the modern combat arena.
Perhaps the best thing aboutBattlefield 1is that it still benefits fromEA’s frequent discounts. Check Steam during a sale, andit’s almost guaranteed to be no more than $3.99. It’s a far cry fromCall of Duty’s reluctance to drop games from 20 years ago lower than $14.99, and it definitely contributes to the active player base thatBattlefield 1still enjoys.
I’m sure FOMO will hit me again as the barrage ofBattlefield 6clips continues, but at this point, I feel like I’ve made my choice. Maybe I’ll get a chance to playBattlefield 6someday, and I might eventually feel the need to deal with my Secure Boot roadblocks for another reason. For now, however,Battlefield 1is the newBattlefield 6.
