Battlefield 6's Portal mode looks insane in every way - here's everything that's new

Portal in Battlefield 6 looks absolutely insane in every sense of the word. But that's not a bad thing in the slightest. It's actually a credit to what it's there to achieve.

It genuinely looks as though it has the potential to offer fun, rich, unique and experimental experiences, the gin to the tonic of a very grounded, more realistic first-person shooter.

Portal first appeared in Battlefield 2042 where players can create custom modes, host their own servers and more - and it's been beefed up this time around with experimental modes and creator tools never before seen in the series, along with the ability to gain XP in every game played in Portal.

In Battlefield 6, the big new addition is spatial editing where players can make changes and additions to existing maps at launch using open source development tools. Combat areas, sectors and HQs can be redrawn too.

New experimental modes will be available for players to get stuck into, such as Top of the World where players race others to reach the highest point of the map, using weapons to slow down other teams in their advance.

It's platforming mixed with a first-person shooter (because, well, why not?) with further experimental modes including Parkour Extraction, Vehicle Race and Bomb Defusal.

The granular modifiers return so players can really make their own experiences with toggles, sliders and drop-down menus for all sorts of customisable assets, such as fall damage, headshot multipliers and loads more.

As well as that, the in-game UI (user interface) can be modified so players can make the game look and feel exactly how they want it to.

For example, various in-game widgets can be removed in favour of custom buttons, icons, text and containers through script. Even the scoreboard can be replaced with a modified one showing different values.

Battlefield 6's Portal mode looks genuinely insane in every way - and that's nothing but a good thing / EA

The AI can be scripted in a number of different ways too and customised waypoints can be set between objectives.

Developers have said Portal can look intimidating at first and it will take time to master but getting to grips with it will lead to huge new experiences that have never before been seen in the Battlefield series. Official tutorials, beginner demos and playable experiences that can be reverse engineered will also be provided.

To access these creations in the game, there's a new Experience Search that lets players use keywords and tags to find exactly what they want to play. Popular Experiences could end up in EA's own featured list on the main menu too.

The server browser will provide a list of all available browsers so communities can play favourite experiences together. There will be filters and tags to help find specific game types.

Players can also host their own servers, either public or private to play with friends. Every player will have one persistent server tied to their account which will run whether or not the player themself is actually in the server or not.

Post launch, developers say they will take feedback from the community on board to make creating, finding and hosting experiences even better. The Portal builder tool will also continue to be updated.

Battlefield 6 releases on 10 October on PS5, Xbox Series X/S and PC through Steam, the Epic Games Store and EA App.

Elsewhere from indy100:

• Battlefield 6 gameplay leak reveals popular gameplay feature is returning - and fans are loving it
• Battlefield 6 Battle Royale blasted by fans - and now they're demanding something completely different

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