Apex Legends is a free-to-play first-person hero-shooter/battle-royale hybrid. Developed by Respawn Entertainment – the team behind the Titanfall Series and published by Electronic Arts.
The game has been ported to PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Series S/X, and Nintendo Switch. In addition to this mobile ports for iOS and Android were also released. But these do not have cross-play support. The game features both microtransactions and loot boxes. In-game currency can be used to purchase outfits and various colors for weapons.
Gameplay:
Before each match, you can choose between a certain Character or Legend template. Each character has distinctive personality traits and powers. Loot is also present in random crates littered throughout the map. You have an exhaustible move-set including the ability to zipline, climb over short walls and slide down inclines.
One team member takes on the role of “Jumpmaster”(paratroopers). And has to decide where to land and skydive to, on an island. Players are grouped into two to three-player squads. The Battle Royale mode has 20 squads of up to 3 players or 30 of 2 players. Scavenging for supplies and weapons is integral. The “safe zone” gradually shrinks and keeps players on their toes. Falling outside of it results in death. The final team left standing is declared winner.
Then there is ‘Arena’ Mode which is the game’s version of deathmatch. In it, teams of 3 go head to head in 3v3 matches. At the end of the rounds, whichever team has at least 3 points and is in front by 2, wins. There is some overlap between Titanfall and Apex Legends. With several characters appearing as minor characters or playable Legends. Apex Legends has surpassed 100 million players. This makes it one of the most played games of all time.
Reception:
The game has a Metacritic score of 85+ on almost all platforms except the Switch. Which hovers at a measly average of 54. It has been called a worthy rival to Fortnite, Overwatch and Valorant. The combat and gunplay earned accolades. With Destructoid hailing it as the “best it had played up to that point”.
The game foregoes a traditional voice chat. Replacing it with a non-verbal ping system. Which is used to convey weapon and enemy locations, exchange strategies and other assortment of directions. Polygon, Destructoid and Rock, Paper, Shotgun commended it, anticipating that it would become the de facto norm among battle-royale games.
New Season:
Apex Legends enters a new season on the 9th of August. Kings Canyon, a map that has been around since the beginning will see the biggest do-up of all. The graphics too in particular the lighting and skybox have been upgraded.
List of Gameplay Changes:
- Relic is the first Point of Interest in Kings Canyon. But scaled back so that there is more breathing room for squads.
- Skeleton and Thunderdome have been filled with sand. Offering up a string of interlinked buildings for players to lock horns in.
- The cage and the POI near Containment are now harder to defend. Some of the buildings in Broken Relay have been refurbished. And ziplines reinstated.
- Traffic flow and pace have been ameliorated. By modifying caves and connecting bridges throughout.
- Increased loot counts and rebalanced loot distribution and quality across Kings Canyon.
- Perhaps most desirable of all, the level cap is being increased from 500 to 2000.
For further details head to Respawn’s blog post.
Also Read: Top 3 Guns in Apex Legends to Get You to Victory!
