The First True Big Boy Battle Royale Has Arrived
Give credit to PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds for starting the Battle Royale craze, even though it wasn’t the first of its kind. The game showed how a massive audience existed for this style of shooter, where up to 100 players battle it out to be the last one standing on an increasingly shrinking battlefield. Epic Games also knew how to capitalize on this with Fortnite: Battle Royale, whose similar style combined with Epic’s improved updates and support made it even more popular than PUBG. The pricing schemes also helped, with PUBG being $29.99 and Fortnite being free-to-play, which solidified both as the genre’s kings.
It didn’t take long for bigger companies to start entering the genre with their franchises. Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 included the Blackout Battle Royale mode as an option, while Battlefield V included the Firestorm mode as its take on the Battle Royale subgenre. These are good entry points into the genre, but they aren’t as serious as the above examples thanks to being options included with games with plenty of other modes.
Now, a Big Boy has truly come to play in the Battle Royale sector, as the EA-owned Respawn Entertainment announced Apex Legends, which takes a page from Fortnite in being free-to-play. It seems like a new IP if you just read the name, but the details and gameplay footage show how it’s actually a spinoff of the Titanfall series, a military shooter that included athletic mechs. This created another issue, as the mere mention of the name “Titanfall” had people imagining this game would also include mechs, except in Battle Royale-style arenas. Unfortunately, it doesn’t, though that’s also why “Titanfall” isn’t in the actual title.
The core gameplay includes of Titanfall, with an overall style that represents a fusion of Blizzard’s Overwatch and the aforementioned Blackout from BO4. The heroes themselves, meanwhile, have abilities similar to those from MOBA titles, who can fight either by themselves or as part of a three-player team — though the latter is encouraged. Lead producer Drew McCoy explained to Eurogamer that the earliest prototype did include mechs, but they disrupted the game’s balance, and their attempts to balance them made using them less fun. So, they did without them here, which is understandable considering the reasons.
Several details about the game leaked before the official reveal stream occurred today, including some gameplay elements explained above. These notably happened before Respawn made the bizarre decision to show small teases for four hours before officially revealing the game this afternoon, despite the initial announcement not being phrased in such a way. Given the combination between the styles of a Battle Royale title and a hero shooter, it’s nice that this has a unique spin on the formula and isn’t just a blatant attempt at cloning PUBG and Fortnite.
But even after understanding why they won’t be present, the mechs will be missed. Anyone who wants that kind of action will have to keep playing Titanfall 2, which still has a healthy online community after releasing over two years ago.
This is a fine project, but there were hopes that it’s a stopgap for the eventual release of Titanfall 3. Kotaku’s Jason Schreier, via a trusted source, mentioned that it was in development at one point, and was due for release in the holiday season of 2018. But it was halted due to development team members and producers feeling the game wouldn’t look graphically impressive enough if it released at this stage, thanks to it utilizing Valve’s aging Source engine like the first two titles.
Any hopes of a new numbered Titanfall game still coming were put to rest when McCoy bluntly confirmed that a third game is not currently in development. This means anyone who wants Titanfall-like action and doesn’t want to stick with the previous game will have to get their fix through Apex Legends, though it won’t be the same without the mechs. The characters in this title are also nowhere near as flexible in their mobility.
Regardless, the existence of Apex Legends shows how much current faith EA has in Respawn. They could be releasing two games this year between this and Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, the latter of which is scheduled for a fall release even though it mysteriously hasn’t been revealed yet. Given the time at which they were acquired, they’re nicely filling the vacant spot left by Visceral Games after EA shuttered them. Let’s just hope they don’t end up like them eventually, and too many other EA companies to mention. How Apex Legends develops (or doesn’t develop) over time will help show which path Respawn is headed down.
Apex Legends is already available PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC via Origin. This is unlikely to be the only true Big Boy Battle Royale (original phrase: please do not steal) on the horizon. From here, it’s simply a matter of waiting for the next one.
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Geoff
News Editor | Geoff is some nerd who writes for a blog and thinks he's knowledgeable. He write a lot about video games, but is capable of writing about other subjects, too. Twitter
