The “Battle Royale” genre of games started arriving on the scene back in early 2016 when H1Z1: King Of the Kill came out in early access. Ever since, the style of game has had a boom in popularity. The idea of dropping down by yourself or with allies in an arena that slowly gets smaller and being the last one alive motivates you to stay on your toes. Games like Activision’s Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 (Blackout Mode), Hi-Rez Studios’ Realm Royale, and Epic Games’ Fortnite have popularized the category and captivated players around the world. Recently, a new game has been added to the already oversaturated market: Respawn Entertainment’s Apex Legends. Apex Legends is a free-to-play game on Xbox One, Playstation 4 and Microsoft Windows. After the game had reached ten million players in less than 72 hours, I felt obligated to try it. Respawn Entertainment’s Apex Legends is an unique take on the popular game format, but it feels like a chore to play.

To begin, every game requires playing in a group of three; there is no solo play, meaning you will always have the crutch of playing with others. This can lead to frustration if you have one teammate who refuses to help the team or bad mouths you constantly over voice chat. Arguably the biggest difference of this game from others would be the introduction of a class system. Whether you want to play aggressively with characters like Wraith or Bangalore or you want to support the team with Gibraltar or Lifeline, there is a character here for everyone’s playstyle. However, this creates a load of balancing issues with some of the characters just not being as good as others. An example of this is the aforementioned Gibraltar, is a bigger target with larger hitboxes than the rest of the cast. Another area where the game lacks is variations in the color scheme. In other games like Fortnite you can cross the map and go from a lush jungle to an arid desert all the way to a frigid tundra. In Apex Legends you can go from a temperate forest of browns, greens and grays to muddy wetlands with even more browns, greens and grays. The whole map blurs together into a boring combination of dull colors.

However, the game does succeed in some aspects. It has exciting movement compared to other battle royale games. You can slide down hills at high speeds and some characters can create ziplines and bounce pads; all of it feels exhilarating and fun. Also, the in-game pinging system makes the need to communicate with your teammates become almost unnecessary. Everything from weapons to armor locations to nearby enemies can be communicated at the press of a button. There is a great variety of weapons to use for any type of player; close range shotguns to mid-range pistols, and all the way to long-range sniper rifles. Overall, I would give this game a 5/10 because even though the game presents new and interesting ideas, the balancing issues and lack of solo play make the game less fun compared to other similar games in the category.