Apex Legends Released – A Unique F2P Battle Royale

by MikeJ in Apex Legends | Feb, 6th 2019

Respawn, the developers of the Titanfall series, surprised gamers everywhere February 4th by releasing their newest game titled Apex Legends. Apex Legends is a free-to-play battle royale game that was released for the PC, Xbox One and PS4. But this new game has several unique traits that separate it from the many other Battle Royale games on the market.

Many gamers were shocked because it was expected that Respawn would be announcing Titanfall 3, yet they went the total opposite direction by releasing Apex Legends — a title they had been secretly developing for years. Not only does Apex Legends use the battle royale format — which has yet to be seen in any of the Titanfall games— but it features none of the popular Titan mechs from the series as well.

Surprisingly, Apex Legends does take place in the Titanfall universe though. According to a recent interview with the lead producer of Apex Legends, Drew McCoy, Respawn started with the Titanfall formula before transitioning to creating a new game:

It is only a day after its release, but Apex Legends is already looking like it will be a successful game. According to the CEO of Respawn, Vince Zampella, Apex Legends hit one million players in just under 8 hours after it was available on all platforms.

If it can continue to maintain that large player base, then Respawn’s newest title might be able to compete with the juggernaut BR games such as Fortnite and PUBG.

Several unique traits separate Apex Legends from the other major battle royale games: One, there’s no solos, duos or squads enabled — each game consists of twenty different three-person teams. Trios-only was a design choice that optimizes the Apex Legends experience.

Next, there is a respawn mechanic. This is very different from the typical battle royale game where if you die, you’re eliminated. Players with a slain teammate can pick up their fallen comrade’s calling card, bring it to a “Respawn Beacon” location, and in just a few seconds their squad member will be air dropped back onto the map.

Finally, similar to Overwatch, players will get to choose from eight different heroes at the beginning of each game. Every character has their own unique special abilities that can significantly impact the game. This adds another layer of strategy to the Apex Legends, and we can expect to see more heroes added later in the year.

There are many other great, unique features in the game as well, which will be explored in the upcoming “Apex Legends Impressions” blog on Esportstalk.com.

Until then, go download and play Apex Legends!