APEX Legends

It's rare that we get gaming "surprises". 

The standard within the industry is often revealing your game way too early or several months before release to build up hype. If you're a particular developer (e.g. Naughty Dog, Rockstar), people will have enough hype already. Other games use that time to release gameplay trailers, story tidbits, tutorials, etc. They sell the experience to gamers in an effort to get their hard-earned [often] $60.

This year's APEX Legends didn't follow that trend at all. Instead, it was heavily rumored that something from the developers behind the incredible Titanfall 2 were cooking something up, potentially of the battle royale variety. An announcement trailer came later that week with the game being available for download FOR FREE, IMMEDIATELY. Gamers collectively did a double-take, tried to leave work early, and began downloading the game. Many, like myself, were expecting to "get what I paid for" and find a hollow experience with glitches and server errors. Truthfully, I was expecting something "fine" that would eventually grow over 6-9 months, becoming better.

Astoundingly, APEX Legends released with barely a hitch. Within a day it had been downloaded millions of times and within a week it had reached millions more. It was the new craze in multiplayer gaming and the heavily-competitive battle royale genre. Seemingly overnight, giants like PUBG, Fortnite, and Call of Duty's Blackout mode had some intense competition.

Even more unbelievable? APEX Legends was, even on Day 1, arguably the best Battle Royale game yet. 

[Insert "drop it like it's hot" joke here]

Now, I'm still not the Battle Royale genre's biggest fan. I do really enjoy it, but I find the rate-of-return still low with minimal action and, being completely honest, I'm still just not all that great at it. With APEX Legends however, more often than not, I find myself having a blast and enjoying it more regularly than I was with Blackout or PUBG. Many of the nagging issues the genre introduced, APEX Legends tackles head on and with innovative fixes. It also introduces some awesome new elements to the genre that instantly make it unique and more fun. 

APEX Legends is based in the world of Titanfall 2 - a game that missed sales targets because of asinine executive decisions at EA, but has since acquired a strong following - and marks an exciting return to shooter glory within this exciting landscape. Not everything you're used to makes its way into the game. There are no titans. There's no wall running. Overall APEX is slightly slower in pace. But the connections to the world and lore remain strong enough to be excited about what this game's success could mean for the larger series. Weapons from Titanfall are here, as is some of the technology we experienced in that game. Most important though is the utterly fantastic and tight gameplay. In the competitive FPS landscape, Titanfall was zippy, but also accurate with smart control mapping and realistic gun performance.

Unfortunately none of these screenshots are mine -- though I've been playing on Xbox One

Tons of that Titanfall verticality!

As a battle royale game, APEX Legends is something like a breath of fresh air for not being a copy+paste of PUBG/Blackout (Fortnite, to its credit, at least has building). APEX effectively combines the gunplay from Titanfall 2 with "legends" who each have specific skills and/or powers, much like the uber-successful and still relevant, Overwatch. This blend of the deep strategy involved with battle royale games, along with the quick gunplay and character powers, creates an addicting premise that plays out in exciting ways during the game's most intense moments. Additionally, we're also given smart solutions to some of the genre's biggest thorns like smarter/better looting, much easier UIs, an excellent ping system that's borderline revolutionary (even outside of royale games), balloon ziplines for fast traversal across the map, and a unique never-quite-down revive system that can turn the tide of games. And while a lot of the elements that make this genre stand out are still present - things like a shrinking map size and "dropping in", for example - APEX Legends manages to be distinctly unique and push the genre forward. 

Of course, many of these games are only as good as their map and/or their technical prowess. Somehow, someway PUBG managed to be a cult hit despite being graphically ugly and borderline incompetent for far too long. Perhaps it was because the only alternative at the time was Fortnite, but for the longest while I stated that PUBG and its developer needed to get out of "beta" phase and pour money/resources into their game. It would only be a matter of time before someone came along and did it far better. As I stated, APEX Legends ran smooth as butter on day 1 with rare connection issues and an easy party system. There were small issues like disconnects while in the lobby, but otherwise it was a hitch-free release. Furthermore, APEX's map is highly unique and while this seems to be a benefit for each of these royale games thus far, I found that I "remember" more of APEX's map on a recurring basis. This is largely due to unique environments and locales and it's rare that I get confused about where I am in relation to the bigger picture. There's also a substantial amount of verticality unique to APEX that shouldn't surprise fans of Titanfall, but is a blast to have here.

Likely a hectic moment, nearing the endgame...

Aside from my general skill, my complaints for APEX Legends are minimal and they all come with the reminder that the game is completely free to play and I've yet to put a single cent into it as of this review. As of the time of writing this (May 2019), content is still light. We've been given a new legend, and a couple guns but the only mode available is still just trios and there's only one map. I think APEX Legends has earned the goodwill to experiment with gamers given how strong their core mode is, so it'll be disappointing if we approach the end of the year without some sort of Titan version, a new map, different modes, etc, even if they're somewhat lower quality than the main game. And I still believe that any Battle Royale game would benefit from an AI mode against bots to practice strategy and learn the map. Another issue, which is a hard one for the game to combat, is that the random pairing can sometimes stick you with real a**holes. People who automatically break off on their own, fail to even try and revive you, loot in annoying ways, etc. What's strange is that in my royale "career" I've had both some of the weakest and strongest TMs in APEX (when not playing with friends) and APEX is still the only royale game I've actually won a round with randoms. To APEXs credit, my recent games have felt more balanced as I'm playing with people of my skill level and play type (less aggressive, survival > kills) so I imagine they've done some backend matchmaking tweaks. 

The top of this review states that we're not often surprised by gaming. Tactical and "flash" marketing isn't widely used. For some reason, maybe as an apology to Respawn, EA allowed APEX Legends to drop for free and right after it was announced. The result was a game that took the community by storm and became one of the best, most addicting, games of the year. Even for this gamer who isn't always fond of the Royale genre. 

Now bring on Titanfall 3 dammit!

CONS

• Light on content thus far
• Still wish this genre could figure out an AI mode hone skills and map learning
• Many of APEX's innovations fall apart if you're playing with a**holes. Seems like it has gotten better as of late

PROS

• Strong community support from Respawn thus far. I'm less worried about balancing and content because it's clear they care about the game
• Truly free to play and that's incredible. It's a GREAT game by itself. It's utterly awesome that it's free
• Surprise release that was exciting and actually worked
• Worked on Day 1 and I've rarely had any hitches with it aside from small bugs in the lobby
• Fantastic gameplay carried over from the world of Titanfall. Some fan-favorite elements may be gone, but it's still fast, vertical, and responsive
• Solves or improves a lot of this genre's largest pain points. Nice to see that it wasn't just a copy+paste *cough COD Blackout cough cough*
• The ping system is bordering on revolutionary, depending on how it's used in other multiplayer game modes
• Diverse map with lots of traverse-ability and memorable locations
• Strong graphics that doesn't sacrifice performance and great audio too
• Trending-to-be-iconic cast of legends. Some are definitely better than others, but the majority are widely played as and have their benefits
• Battle royale + Titanfall gameplay + hero-based powers = addicting and fun AF
• The best battle royale game - by a considerable margin - as of the time of this writing

Rath's Review Score | 9/10