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Battlefield REDSEC arrives seven years after the battle royale genre began in earnest, boasting a free-to-play structure, a whole lot of destruction, and of course, a Battle Pass. It launched as a surprise free-to-play update to Battlefield 6, but it can also be downloaded separately.
Review info
Platform reviewed: PS5 Pro
Available on: PC, PS5, Xbox Series X and Series S
Release date: October 28, 2025
While Battlefield REDSEC does have a few interesting design choices, I’d almost guarantee that you’ve pretty much played this one before. You’ll no doubt recognize key mechanics lifted from several of the best FPS games to come out in recent years, with very little that jumps out as new.
Late for departure
The highlights then. Battlefield is a perfect fit for battle royale design, and its destructible environments are easily the best I’ve ever seen in the genre.
The class system borrows from the main game and offers genuinely enticing and decidedly distinct ways to play. There’s tanks too – yes, tanks in a battle royale game. They’re brilliant, but also balanced in a way that makes them extremely difficult to manage, especially if your enemies have brought in an Engineer.
Even the gunplay is tight and enjoyable, and really gives Warzone a run for its money. All in all, I’d recommend Battlefield REDSEC if you’re a fan of shooters, and if you want a more streamlined experience when compared to the bloated monster that main competitor Warzone has become over the years.
The main issue with REDSEC is timing. Had it launched 3 years ago, I reckon it would’ve been a rather exciting proposition.
Instead, it joins Apex Legends, Warzone, Fortnite, and other battle royale games, all jostling for your attention. It’s not just those games either, as 2025 has been a veritable goldmine of innovative multiplayer experiences like Peak, R.E.P.O, and most recently: Arc Raiders. With the arrival of the latter in particular, I’ve found it very difficult to justify sinking hour after hour in Battlefield REDSEC when there’s another game that I’d desperately rather be playing.
Military medley
In my mind, PUBG: Battlegrounds kicked off the ongoing fascination with closing circles and last survivor-victories all the way back in 2018. Battlefield REDSEC then, has quite a bit to borrow from, and borrow it does, rather masterfully in fact. There’s the map design of Warzone, the squad-formation drop-ins from Apex, and the Battle Pass structure perfected by Fortnite. All of this is spliced together into quite a neat package, making Battlefield REDSEC a sort of best-of compilation of games you’ve probably played over the last seven years.
There’s very little fat to trim here, and if you’re looking for a battle royale game that feels the way you remember Warzone feeling in 2020, you’ve found it. Inventories are clean and simple, armor plates aren’t stored in some extra menu or bag that you have to manage on the fly, and matches are all action, all the time.
Burn this city
My favorite quirk of Battlefield REDSEC is the closing circle of flame. Rather than slowly doing damage over time, the flames will instantly kill you if it catches you, and you’ll even take burn damage just by being anywhere near the closing wall.
This does two things: it prevents players from using the closing circle as a hiding spot, while encouraging players to move inwards at all times. That first effect is a very welcome one indeed, and anyone who’s played Warzone over the years can attest to how frustrating it is to get to the final circle and learn that the opposing team is using gas masks and health stims to stay alive in the gas.
Best bit
Don’t sleep on Gauntlet mode, which pits teams against each other in a variety of different mini-modes set on the battle royale map. For those that don’t want to invest in Battlefield 6, it’s a great sampler of what to expect from the more structured gameplay sessions of the base game. It’s the perfect way to learn the gunplay, as well.
The second effect can be felt dramatically throughout matches, as you and your team frequently have to change position and make quick decisions before the flames get too close. Given the rapidity with which the deadly flaming circle contracts, vehicles become vital means for repositioning.
Gatling gun-mounted buggies feel weighty and fun to drive, while helicopters are hilariously complicated beasts that require careful practice, and a whole lot of bravery to pilot. Add in the tanks and you’ve got a winning formula, as you send vehicles careening through buildings, charging across debris-ridden plains, and soaring across a sky filled to the brim with missiles.
“Iconic DNA”
EA has been hammering on about Battlefield’s “Iconic DNA” in the marketing for REDSEC. Presumably, this refers to the destructability and class-based warfare that I’ve certainly enjoyed while playing the main game’s multiplayer modes. In REDSEC, however, I’m left wanting a bit more of a signature style, something to differentiate it from the countless others vying for my attention.
Part of this identity crisis stems back to the overall design mentality of this new era of Battlefield. After the floundering performance of Battlefield 2042, EA has stripped everything back to the bone, choosing to appease Battlefield 3 and 4 purists rather than risk anything remotely new.
This has been an overcorrection, and while I do enjoy both Battlefield 6 and REDSEC, there’s very little that’s truly memorable about either. This all translates over to REDSEC’s Battle Pass, which is woefully dull, filled with generic military skins and green-brown color swaps of boilerplate character designs.
I’m genuinely left wondering why anybody would spend real money on any of it, and while I understand the need for EA to avoid the wacky and often-maligned cosmetics of Call of Duty, there’s got to be a middle ground.
On a mission
There’s a mission system in Battlefield REDSEC which gives players varied objectives to complete in addition to the main goal of looting and shooting. These range from bomb defusals to tasks that have you aligning satellite beacons. They’re almost always worth doing, and often serve as sneaky ways to bring rival teams closer together. It’s all little more than Contracts in Warzone, or missions in Fortnite, but I do like the implementation better in Battlefield REDSEC.
Similarly, the way loot is labelled and upgraded is sleek and intuitive. Orange crates give you loot that’s specific to your class, while weapon kits can be used to upgrade an aspect of your held weapon.
Custom weapon caches drop from the skies periodically, leading to yet more opportunities for skirmishes between squads. Battlefield REDSEC really excels in pacing, and I’ve found the majority of matches to be action-packed and just bit-sized enough to encourage me to jump back in.
In terms of incentives, however, REDSEC is once again held back by the trappings of the battle royale genre. There’s really no reward for winning, par for the course at this point, but other games like Fortnite have managed to use victory crowns and exclusive Gliders as a reason for players to want to win again and again. There’s an XP bonus that ties nicely into the shared progression of guns across REDSEC and Battlefield 6, but given the lacklustre nature of the Battle Pass rewards, I find very little reason to keep playing night after night.
By positioning Battlefield REDSREC as a separate, free to play, title, EA has at least made the barrier to entry fairly low. I’d recommend it for those that love battle royale games, as it’s solid enough, and often fun enough, to warrant getting a full squad together to give it a go.
Unfortunately, there’s only Duos and Quads right now, so be aware that you will need to play with randoms often, and there’s really no way to play solo, which is disappointing. For those that’ve gotten their fill from years of Warzone, Fortnite and Apex Legends, however, there’s very little that differentiates REDSEC from titles you’ve already played. Perhaps the genre has started to run its course
Should I play Battlefield REDSEC?
Play it if…
Don’t play it if…
Accessibility features
Battlefield REDSEC has some decent accessibility settings like Menu Narration, customizable color elements for the HUD, and Tinnitus-related audio sliders. There’s also color profiles for Deuteranopia, Tritanopia, and Protanopia color blindness options. Custom color blind settings can be applied too.
Subtitles can be increased in size, and tweaked to alter outline, background opacity, text opacity, and more. Camera effects like motion blur and HUD motion have sliders, and you can dial down camera shake and turn off camera sprint camera bobbing.
How I reviewed Battlefield REDSEC
I’ve played around 15 hours of Battlefield REDSEC, predominantly in Quads mode. I’ve also spent around an hour of that time in Gauntlet mode. All of this was on PS5 Pro in Auto (Performance) mode, using a DualSense Edge wireless controller with back buttons assigned to jump and interact.
While playing Battlefield REDSEC, I used an LG Ultragear 27GR93U 4K monitor, as well as a Steel Series Arctis Nova 7 Gen 2 headset. For one play session, I also tested the game on PlayStation Portal, and found Gauntlet mode to work well, and it looked great on the handheld screen.
First reviewed November 2025
The post Battlefield REDSEC review: a closing circle first appeared on TechToday.
This post originally appeared on TechToday.