Apex Legends Review

"Team Focused Battle Royale"

Campaign

February 10, 2019 at 7:55pm

Apex Legends is a free to play battle royale Titanfall spin-off that takes the core mechanics of that franchise and streamlines them into this really popular genre. It actually works out quite well, with great results and a very smooth experience. At the core of this is an excellent team focused ping system. It makes communication easy, which in turn makes this a distinct entry in the genre being an actual cooperative time. As with all games that fall into the battle royale formula you'll drop down onto the map, gather some loot and then try to be the last team standing.

A massive storm type scenario helps this process move along quickly as you're pushed inwards into smaller and smaller rings. Unlike other similar games this one focuses directly on matches that feature sixty players in groups of three. This adds to the whole team aspect, as does the heroes element of it. Taking a note from Overwatch and similar hero type games there's a class structure with each player in the team picking a character with a distinct ability. This directly alters how well you'll do, basically dependant on how well players understand what those abilities can do.

Gameplay

The visuals are rather impressive in this, the entire world is loaded right from the start and the map is fairly large in scale. You get a good draw distance and the quality is retained as you look outwards. I played this game on both the Xbox One X and Playstation 4 consoles. You get a good amount of viewing area, though the resolution on the former is far cleaner as you look outwards. Still, if you're using a distance weapon you'll easily be able to see on either. That aside, the environments of the world are well done as every little area feels unique.

You get that futuristic Titanfall look that features a realistic future and some elements of fantasy. This works well and I thought in general that the map offers many unique combative situations and routes to take. This is assisted by scaling back on mechanics from the main franchise such as wall running and the mechs. The sliding is retained and movement is splendid. I always compare it to Call of Duty 4, on steroids.

There are a wide range of weapons to use, armor to collect and special extras that can enhance your combat. The battles also seem epic as each one comes across as an intimate dance. It's not a quick elimination and there's an actual fight to survive. I would like to leave mention that kicking doors in the game is awesome, do it and do it multiple times as the effects change. This is a free to play game, so expect microtransactions. These don't alter gameplay at this point however as they're purely cosmetic in nature, with a fair drop rate.

The Conclusion

Apex Legends delivers the best team based battle royale available, it runs well across platforms and it's fun to play. I've actually quite enjoyed it, I am however getting tired of the genre at this point. Still, this is a great time and I'm sure many will spend countless hours battling in this. It has solid, slick gameplay that hopefully gets expanded upon in the future. They've got a core mode to play along with tons of cosmetics to try and get.

The combat feels intense, with each situation being an actual battle as opposed to a single second annihilation of one party. You get to feel a level of strategy with desperate shield charges and wacky movement to dodge shots. The ping system is remarkable in this as you give detailed info to teammates at the click of a button, really well done. I'm shocked we haven't seen something like this in other games, seems like a potential evolution industry wise for communication. This game does battle royale in a great way, with a good map and it provides a cooperative time unlike anything we've seen in the genre thus far.

Read our Titanfall Review
View our Apex Legends Hub

Apex Legends Review on Xbox One X & Playstation 4

Rating Overall: 8.2