But it's not just about improving what already works from the battle royale genre since Apex Legends adds many all-new features too. Matches are fast and usually completed in less than 20 minutes. At the beginning of a given match there's a dropship players jump from, like any other battle royale, but in this one players jump together as a squad and one player is designated the "Jumpmaster" to keep them together. Players can manually separate from the pack of course, but it's a smart change to enforce the idea that Apex Legends is a truly a squad-based SLG Game Money Guide. There currently are no solo or duo mo

That downer aside, Apex Legends must be applauded for offering such a deep and polished experience from the get-go. Without any demo or beta tests, Apex Legends launched without a hitch and actually functions better than most full-retail triple-A online games. We can't emphasize enough how refreshing it is to have a polished battle royale game, that's also a polished triple-A online title, that's also F

Pathfinder - Ideal for scouting ahead, Pathfinder is equipped with a grappling hook to climb up cliffs in order to survey the situation ahead. His Zipline Gun is also great for getting teammates out of a sticky situat

But of course, being limited to two selections at a time, you’re inevitably going to have to make some tough calls as you’re ravenously vacuuming loot into your backpack. So which ones do you take into battle, and which ones get left in the dust? Knowing the answers to this question ahead of time can mean the difference between victory and def

Apex Legends' game map also includes an emphasis on verticality. There are zip lines in and around the map and its hot spots, and there are balloon launching points that players can zip up to and jet away to other parts of the map. One of the playable characters can even deploy their own zip lines for the squad. These systems work well with the nicely flowing control scheme and animations of Apex Legends where players can slide down hills or mantle up to high ledges. If you see something, there's usually a way to get there, except for some of the cliff and mountain tops which are out of bounds. Did we mention that top player Legends will be displayed in-game on banners and there's bonus XP for taking out kill lead

Opening a door is boring. Violently kicking it open is where it's at! There may come a time when you are unable to open a door - someone is on the other side, or there's a dangerous gas trap waiting to be tripped. Luckily, you can knock down doors by running at it and holding the melee button. Your character will burst down the door, which in turn will knock over an enemy or disable a gas trap! Respawn really did think of everyth

That really is the summary, unfortunately. It's terribly inaccurate and leaves you with your pants around your ankles way more often than you should be comfortable with. Give this a hard pass as soon as something else comes up, but appreciate its limited charms if you really need

New players may feel the need to pick up everything - after all, you never know when a Skullpiercer will come in handy! The only thing is that certain items are only applicable with certain weapons, and that Skullpiercer is useless if you're using a Devotion and Peacekeeper. Picking up random items is a good way to needlessly clog your backpack, and worse, you could be inhibiting your teammate who DOES have a gun compatible with the Skullpiercer. Pay attention to what does w

Like Dark Souls, Apex Legends contains many "hidden" mechanics, and it expects you to learn as you go. And that's not a bad thing. Unfortunately, this causes a rift between the experienced players and the newbies. How dejecting is it to see your level 5 player with one kill next to a level 85 adorned with achievement bad

**Apex Legends ** may not be the Titanfall 3 some fans were hoping for from developer Respawn Entertainment but it's the best battle royale game on the market. Respawn and publisher Electronic Arts' surprise release is instead a spinoff of the Titanfall series but barely resembles the mech-heavy, wall-running g

Of course, that's impossible to truly ascertain from our experience so far with Anthem 's early hours , meaning players will have to wait and see if they will be undergoing the gauntlet of tedium that constitutes for the genre's standard end-game. However, it will undoubtedly be nigh impossible for Anthem to be able to suitably compete with a free-to-play battle royale like Apex Legends when it comes to keeping players interested with a steady flow of content. For those in the industry seeking to recreate Apex Legends ' sleeper success, or at least successfully leech away some of its massive player base, there are a couple of lessons to be learned from this week's cramped mix of launches. First, consider the option that prolonged marketing and over-exposure might actually serve to hurt games; while not all games can capture the attention of millions overnight, producer's should at the very least take steps to avoid Crackdown 3 's five-year gap between announcement and release. Second, and most importantly, developers should innovate where others have not within their genre, even if it doesn't amount to reinventing the wh