If you’re a fan of Battle Royale style games then I’ve got a news for you. Respawn Entertainment, a development studio of Electronic Arts, has recently released its take on the likes of Fortnite and PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG). The new addition to the Battle Royale gaming genre is called Apex Legends and it’s a spin-off of the popular Titanfall series.
GameSpot dropped a gameplay trailer 2 days ago on their YouTube channel. Have a look.
The trailer didn’t do much justice as it looked like any other Battle Royale. However, after playing the game, I quickly learnt to love it. There were certain aspects of it that appealed to me a lot. The first and most important one being how polished the game was compared to Fortnite and PUBG. During some points, it even felt like a combination of Call of Duty: Blackout and Overwatch, which is definitely a plus point.
Characters
Unlike PUBG and Fortnite, you get to take roles of different characters. There are 8 of them, each with a different personality, back story and ability. The characters are as follows:
- Wraith: A female who has the ability to create portals for quick retreats and surprise attacks.
- Lifeline: As the name suggests, she’s a nurse who specializes in increasing her and her teammates’ health by using drones.
- Mirage: He’s a narcissist who also happens to have the ability to disappear and create holograms to confuse the enemy.
- Bloodhound: A weird gas-masked tracker who can see through walls.
- Pathfinder: A fairly jolly robot who can create grappling hooks for its teammates.
- Gibraltar: He’s a muscular fellow who can conjure a protective dome shield.
- Caustic: Another gas-masked guy who has skills with poison-gas and enemy traps.
- Bangalore: She’s a soldier with heavy artillery weapons.
The skills of the characters, however, remain unchanged throughout the game. They do not change or upgrade. You can change their appearances by accessing skins through either levelling up or Apex Packs (loot boxes).
Jump Start
Like PUBG and Fortnite, players have to jump from the plane and skydive towards the map. However, that’s where the similarities end as Apex has a lot more to it than just jumping. One player from each team is randomly chosen by the game to be a Jumpmaster. The Jumpmaster chooses to control the landing of the whole team. That way, the whole team can land together in the same area and play more strategically.
Jumpmasters can transfer their responsibility to someone else in their team. Players who aren’t jumpmaster can suggest landing spots to the jumpmaster. A player may even choose not to follow the jumpmaster and land separately as well.
Map
The map of Apex Legends is significantly smaller than the ones in PUBG and Fortnite. So does that mean its a bad thing? No. This is because, with just 60 players in a game, there’s plenty of space to move away from danger and explore the terrain. There are plenty of building nests like giant stadiums and military complexes.
There’re also giant natural formations that can provide good cover. Players need to move inwards through the course of the game as the playable area decreases.
Ping Communication
This is my favourite feature of this game. So in Fortnite and PUBG have a voice chat feature that allows teammates to communicate and coordinate accordingly. However, this had an issue as some members did not have a mic and could not communicate. Apex solves this issue by introducing the Ping system.
How it works is that it lets you notify your team members about where you’re going, an enemy or say if you’ve found a cool gun. The ping can change its type depending on what you’re pointing at. The best thing about this is that it’s ingeniously simple as it can all be done with just one button.
Purchases
The game itself is free to download and play on PC, XBox One and PlayStation 4. You just need an Electronic Arts account to log in. The rest are in-game purchases. You can buy various skins, but only subject to their availability. Other than just finding Apex Boxes, you can also purchase them for better luck getting a high-value item. Lastly, you can also purchase some characters that aren’t free. Each character cost $7.50.
Verdict
For a game that’s just come out, this is a truly incredible one. The gameplay is satisfying. The shooting physics is on the same level as the best FPS. Overall, the game seems, well made unlike what its main competitors were when they came out. There aren’t any bugs or glitches. The graphics are excellent.
You may have guessed where I’m going with this and you’re absolutely right. I believe this is here to stay. It’s going to give Fortnite and PUBG a run for their money and might even replace them as the most popular Battle Royale.