Friday Night, 6:00: The mission briefing is over, and my mission clear; investigate Apex Legends, which came out of nowhere and captivated the world. I downloaded the Origin launcher, even though it pained me to do so, what a lousy launcher. That aside, the download went surprisingly smooth, and I was soon into the game.
6:30: A few struggles with video settings, having to tell the game to use my graphics card explicitly, and the game was running like butter, even on my older laptop.
7:30: An hour has passed by. Where did that hour go? This game is insane, and such a breath of fresh air. The ping system is ridiculously in depth and might be my favorite thing. The characters all feel unique, and I’ve decided that while some of their voices annoy me, I still like them — especially Gibraltar, rock on [brudda].
8:30: Another hour has gone? This game is incredibly addictive; I don’t want to stop. The guns all feel amazing, and the raw speed of the game is enthralling. The numerous options to traverse the map are great. The more I play, the more I appreciate the jumpmaster system, where one person is the designated jumpmaster, and the other two players follow him for the first few seconds when jumping off the dropship, so everyone jumps together.
9:00: I’ve been having too much fun, I’ve got to take a step back. Mission report incoming.
Apex Legends is hands down the greatest iteration of battle royale, and Respawn Entertainment’s experience from Titanfall shine through. Apex is technically in-universe, though it is unclear how canon it is — mechanics to note — the previously mentioned JumpMaster and ping system, and the map design. The map design is second to none. Most battle royale games have boring, flat, open maps, which little patches of cover. Not Apex. The map can most accurately describe as a series of enclosed areas with small choke points between them.
Means you commit to going into an area, and usually, the areas are lower elevation than the choke points that lead into them, so you slide into the area fast, but getting out may take longer. When you choose an area, you commit to it. The map is also much smaller, so you are always running into other players. Last but not least is monetization. Some people are skeptical of Respawn, because of their connection to Electronic Arts [EA games], but if Titanfall 2 is anything to go by, there’s nothing for you to worry.
Right now, everything is cosmetic, and it can all be earned in game, though it takes a long time. You also get a free loot box every time you level up. The game is free to play, so there is zero reason not to try it out. If you like Battle Royale, but need a breath of fresh air, like so many others, give it a go.
What do you think? Have you played Apex, if not do you plan too? Let us know on social media!