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Surprised there's not a thread on this already. For those living under a proverbial rock for the last week, Apex Legends is a free Battle Royale set in the Titanfall universe that was announced and launched immediately on Monday after leaking over the weekend. And aside from it's peculiar out-of-nowhere release, it's also really bloody good...

Much like it's big brothers Titanfalls 1 and 2, Apex clicked for me right away. The same really solid gunplay is there, the traversal, while lacking TF's wall run and double jump, still has that same sense of fluidity that keeps the pace up and makes movement a core element, as important as the shooting. It looks great, a more colourful take on the visually fascinating Titanfall aesthetic, and it's hit a good balance between graphical fidelity and performance on console, at least.

There's just so many nice touches and variation on the BR formula as well. A context-sensitive ping system that makes communication and squad play a cinch even without a headset (assuming your squadmates will play along, but so far all the teams I've been matched with have made good use of the system), a squad deployment mechanic that means people won't just peel off to random corners of the map, a chance to revive fallen teammates if you can get their tags to a certain location. Even less immediately congruent elements, like the character powers, feel like an innovation on the formula rather than a gimmick and offer some real tactical flexibility in team play.

All in all, it's free, and highly recommended if you want a Battle Royale game but didn't gel with Fortnite or PUBG, or if you enjoyed Respawn's previous shooters.

Anyone else playing it? How are you finding it?

The trailer looks awesome, but man, not sure about a Titanfall universe game with no Titans. I loved the first game, but felt the second became too generic and got away from some of what made the original so awesome...

This got mentioned in the Mass Effect thread. But based on various reasons, the belief was that it was going to be somehow tied to ME.

Obviously, that wasn't the case.

That belief came from the PVP in ME4 was the players taking on the role of an 'APEX' team.

So... EA now has two new multiplayer ME games that aren't actually ME games?

I'd love to know what's going on inside their meeting rooms, because this is beginning to sound crazy.

Voss wrote:
So... EA now has two new multiplayer ME games that aren't actually ME games?

I'd love to know what's going on inside their meeting rooms, because this is beginning to sound crazy.

Um, Apex Legends is pretty far from a new Multiplayer ME game. Even if we are going just based off the gameplay, it is far more like Titanfall 2 and Overwatch than others.

Voss wrote:
So... EA now has two new multiplayer ME games that aren't actually ME games?

I'd love to know what's going on inside their meeting rooms, because this is beginning to sound crazy.

I mean, this is a Mass Effect game multiplayer game in the same way that FIFA is a Mass Effect Sports game... there's no connection whatsoever. This was something considered as a mode for Titanfall 2's multiplayer before being spun off into its own thing. It has no mechanical, visual or stylistic connection with ME beyond the coincidental name, but even then, APEX has been a faction in Titanfall since at least 2 if not the first.

@RiTides: I find it slots pretty well into being part of the Titanfall setting. Sure, there are no actual pilot or titans, but the aesthetic is still there and there's still a great sense of scale to its design (glance off the map, for instance, and you'll see two AT-AT sized creatures grazing in the shallows of the sea). And the movement, while not as vertical and dynamic as TF, does still have a sense of slickness to it, same with the gunplay, so it still has that Respawn game feel, rather than becoming a generic CoD-esque package. Don't go in expecting Titanfall 3, but if you like the aesthetic and the feel of TF, I say give it a go.

A Titanfall game without Titans and the ridiculous mobility when not in Titans isn't a game I'm particularly interested in. That it's yet another Battle Snoreayle is the last nail in the coffin.

I think I need more eye roll icons. The conversation was just about how people thought it was ME related. Pay some attention to the context of the thread, folks.

I've been playing it for the Xbone, and I have to say its growing on me very quickly. I play PUBG and BO4's Blackout mode alot, and my son has Fortnite, so we have alot of battle royale games going on in my house. I feel that Fortnite is too aimed at kids to enjoy playing, but my family hates me hogging the TV to play COD. This is by far the best of both worlds, because I enjoy the fact that it takes skill, and learning the abilities of each legend, while everyone else gets their not super serious gameplay and fun graphics.

It's great!

Finally got not one, but 2 wins last night. Ironically I had no kills the second time, but had over 700 damage dealt.

I'm loving it right now. A free way to kill time. The only problems I'm finding right now is that my taste in the weapons is limited (shotguns, including the special one, aren't of much use to me), and I had an unfortunate win where the last two teams were unable to reach each other and it came down to who could regenerate their life faster.

It's quick, the action is satisfying and the results don't seem unfair when you lose. Loving it so far.

Managed a few top three finishes, maybe one top two, not pulled off a win yet.

But, unlike my experience with Fortnite or PUBG, it does feel attainable. The final few rounds are a tense exchange where I feel I might actually be in with a (small) chance, rather than cowering in a shed waiting to be one-shotted by people with top-tier loot or the ability to build a colossal doom-tower.

I think I'm getting a feel for the guns now. Wingman pistol with some decent optics and an extended mag can be an amazing mid-range sidearm, I find the Scout the most comfortable/versatile sniper up close, either of the regular shotguns are decent, the EVA-8 is probably better due to the higher RoF but the Peacekeeper just feels so punchy.

I downloaded it and played a match. It's OK, but I think I prefer PUBG.

Mostly, I dislike that it's FPP, as FPP makes me nauseous.

If this were a TPP game like PUBG, I might go back to it.

I gave Apex a shot at the weekend and I'm really conflicted about whether I like it or not.

On one hand, the movement/shooting is very fluid and there are a lot of quality of life additions like grouped deployment and loot pinging

On the other, none of the characters interest me and it doesn't do enough to differentiate from most of the other battle royale games

The character designs are interesting, but they're cartoony like Forkknife.

The real issue is that it appears that the characters have skill trees, so the more you play, the better your character gets. Also, matchmaking has rank newbies with Level 25+ experienced players?

The combined result of this is that it's very bad for new players, because the window to ride the wave of early adopters is rapidly closing. If you come in a couple weeks from now, you'll be matched against more experienced players with better characters, and just keep dying with little chance to "win". I can't see anyone joining late and enjoying the experience.

I think the game starts to die out in 3-6 months, because the cumulative reward of time investment will create an insurmountable barrier to new players, in the same way that P2W hack advantages destroy skill based shooters.

At least PUBG minimizes the P2W aspect by having everyone start with the same character every game.

There's no character progression, everyone's abilities are the same whether it's their first game or their hundredth. The game does track kills and other achievements per character, but these have no in-game effect. Likewise, you can unlock all sorts of cosmetic options, but none that affect gameplay unless you could a camouflage pattern skin as some kind of advantage.

As for an experience gap, sure, there'll be one, but no moreso than, for instance, CoD or Battlefield. The game is accessible enough that you'll pick it up after a few games, learn the map after a few more, then be on an even footing. There'll still be a skill gap between people who are good at FPS games and those who aren't, but that's unavoidable.

Yes, there's the potential to be in an unbalanced team, but that was happening on launch day; I happened to get matched with a really good team who carried me to 3rd place in my first game despite my lower-than-average ability with most shooters. I don't see that it's going to be an issue. Fortnite, PUBG, CoD, Battlefield, all of these games still have people coming to them a long time after launch, so I don't see why this case would be different.

 Paradigm wrote:
There's no character progression, everyone's abilities are the same whether it's their first game or their hundredth. The game does track kills and other achievements per character, but these have no in-game effect. Likewise, you can unlock all sorts of cosmetic options, but none that affect gameplay unless you could a camouflage pattern skin as some kind of advantage.

As for an experience gap, sure, there'll be one, but no moreso than, for instance, CoD or Battlefield. The game is accessible enough that you'll pick it up after a few games, learn the map after a few more, then be on an even footing. There'll still be a skill gap between people who are good at FPS games and those who aren't, but that's unavoidable.

Yes, there's the potential to be in an unbalanced team, but that was happening on launch day; I happened to get matched with a really good team who carried me to 3rd place in my first game despite my lower-than-average ability with most shooters. I don't see that it's going to be an issue. Fortnite, PUBG, CoD, Battlefield, all of these games still have people coming to them a long time after launch, so I don't see why this case would be different.

Oh? It seemed like that characters and special abilities were experience gated.

And yes, camo skins are an advantage in many shooters. That's why PUBG cosmetics tend to be a little garish, rather than full-camo outfits.

Unbalanced teams happen to a lesser extent in PUBG mobile, which I play. Ranked play is tiered by server, so if you are seriously working on rank, then you'll be matched with, and against, players of similar skill level. Raw newbies won't be matching against Aces.

There are two characters that need to be unlocked (by in game rewards or a shortcut purchase) but they're not any more powerful, just a different ability set.

To be fair to the camo cosmetics, they're as cartoony as the rest of the designs, so don't actually help blending in at all. And many of the skins are very garish, even glowing in some cases.

I like it. Been playing it a lot with some friends. I am not that great as I hadn't played a FPS in about a year. So I am still getting practice and Battle Royales can be really bad for practice sometimes.

No titans? Not Titanfall 3? Pass.

I got into an immediate shootout in Skulltown upon dropping last night. Both of my teammates got themselves killed, but I somehow managed to kill the entire enemy team with an RE-45 and a frag. Both of my teammates bailed before I could pick up their banners (I guess they assumed I would die). I went on to place 4th.

 JohnHwangDD wrote:
The character designs are interesting, but they're cartoony like Forkknife.

Honestly while their art style is some where closer to boarder lands cartoony, their voice lines and actions are over the top serious with maybe life line being super meh and mirage being my favorite for the setting. we get 2 super edge lords with wraith and caustic, nature edgelord bloodhound, super cereal Bangalore, and doesn't understand emotions pathfinder.

had a ton of fun dropping straight into bunker. dropped a dude with a mozambique . failed to get first place when my squad went down and the enemy had one left as well and i missed the final shot with the mastiff

Still chasing that elusive first win. Had another couple of second place finishes and a few thirds in the last few days, one that was down to the wire where I made the mistake of thinking it was a two-man team left only for the third to appear out of nowhere and dismantle my squad almost single-handed.

Definitely doing better on average now than when I started though, having learned the map, the guns ect. I'm having a lot of success with Wraith, though another player in my regular squad has been maining her from the start, so I only get to use her with randos. Usually in that case, I go Bangalore, the smoke grenades are the best getaway tool in the game. Really need someone on my team to start playing Bloodhound a bit, so we can combo smoke grenades and their super-vision ultimate.

Bunker is definitely a favourite of mine, depending on the flight path. If you can get it to yourself (happens more than you'd think, to be honest), it's a great way to get kitted out fast then makes an excellent defensive position for the first few rounds should the circle force people to cross that ridge it cuts through. Water Treatment is similar, but being so close to the edge, it can leave you stranded should the circle fall further north.

Speaking of the circle, as i main lifeline, some times id tell the team to hang out in the pain zone for a bit instead of pushing up quickly, gives us way more loot time in relative peace and then we find a good place to enter and heal bot up. the damage is honestly not that bad.

Also love it when the team knows to nab me all the accelerators. had a game where i dropped like 4 lifeline packages before 3rd circle

My friends and I are obsessed.
All other games and hobbies have been set aside.
Pathfinder FTW! Can't wait for the Chappie skin!!!

The game does seem a bit strange as far as loot placement.
My second game ever I landed in the middle of nowhere and opened a crate that had but a single gun inside...
A golden Peacekeeper with maxed out upgrades. I turned and got 3 kills before being mowed down by everyone else... In the middle of nowhere... Its like they knew or something.

Was it in the high loot circle? Those places get swarmed straight off the drop, and the chances of you being the one person to pick up the tooled up gun are slim.

Yep gotta learn the map. some areas that look like a dump can often be high tier loot areas for some reason.

Had a game last night were me and the crew flew onto the supply ship on drop. managed to punch a guy off that had a shot gun. i still need to learn how to land on the bottom deck for max safety.

Snow day today, decided to download and try it out on my xbox, pretty fun if you get a good group. I had a few games where people just run off. Just got my first win after like 20 games. We had a fight at the beginning and then a good 10+ minutes of wandering around not seeing a soul till the very end. Battle royale mode is fun but I still prefer a plain ole team deathmatch