Why Apex Legends is your new favourite game

Wading into the cluttered battle royale space is a brave move and that’s probably why Apex Legends doesn’t so much have its own voice, more a mishmash of the best parts from other popular games. It sounds like it’s trying to hard, but what it has actually done is create your new favourite game.

Apex Legends combines the best elements of so many battle royale games before it.

APEX LEGENDS

Available now on: PS4, Xbox One, PC

Price: Free+

Reviewed on: Xbox One X

Wading into the cluttered battle royale space is a brave move. There are so many heavyweights in there that it’s tough to make a game with its own voice.

That’s probably why Apex Legends doesn’t so much have its own voice as a mishmash of the best parts from every other popular game, with some added stuff from Respawn’s previous franchise, Titanfall, thrown in there.

While that all sounds derivative, boring, and like it’s trying too hard, what it’s actually done is make your new favourite game.

Imagine the best parts of a hero shooter like Overwatch — the interesting characters with unique, but balanced skills, and the cartoonish art style.

Then have 20 teams of three jump out of a plane on to an island to find weapons and other loot and fight to be the last team standing, a la battle royale games.

Apex Legends has the potential to become the next big hit.

Last, but not least, the fun traversal and interesting weapons mechanics of Titanfall, and the unique flavour of a truly excellent tagging system that helps teams communicate without talking to strangers.

Then make it free, so everyone can play, and have the microtransactions all be cosmetic and entirely optional, save for the occasional hero (who are no more powerful than the six free ones).

It’s a pretty compelling prospect, and it all works excellently.

Apex Legends is a title with the potential to become the next big hit, perhaps not on the same scale as Fortnite, but it’s fun enough to keep people coming back for a long, long time.

It’s not perfect, though.

My first few games I kept getting put in wildly uneven match-ups that saw me be a drain on my teammates and very killed by someone on level 24.

I also don’t love how limited your ammo is, particularly when players take so long to die.

And, lastly, it is still completely unconscionable to have loot boxes in games that appeal to children and young adults.

Let’s not push gambling on 12-year-olds, please.

Bottom line: This is the game fans of battle royales and hero shooters have been waiting for — and it’s free. Just watch out for those loot boxes.

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