The most common thought I had while playing an early taster of Battlefield 6's single player was "ow!" Having been given the chance to play several missions from the campaign early with the dev team, I can say that gunplay in that game is punchy and tactile, with recoil, muzzle flash, and sound design all working together to make every bullet feel terrifying.
Call it literal bang for your buck, and it certainly makes shooting feel fun, but I quickly learned that this was a rule that applied both ways. Sure, enemies collapse in a puddle of their own offal the moment they take a bloated military budget to the face, but it's not like the player characters are any more durable. Running out of cover without preparation would usually lead to an immediate lattice of enemy crossfire, with suitably mortal results.
None of this is criticism, though! I'm a veteran of FromSoftware, Cuphead, Celeste, and recently the infamously vicious Silksong, just to name a few. I like hard games, and Battlefield 6 certainly isn't comparable to any of those. Still, the fact that it came with a few teeth was a surprise, even if it wasn't an unwelcome one, and has made me realise that AAA gaming right now is undergoing a bit of a transition, at least when it comes to the prevailing wisdom regarding challenge. And if nothing else, it's a far cry from the generation of gunplay that's the supposed inspiration.
