Surprise! It’s now official: Respawn’s been quietly working on a free-to-play, first person shooter battle royale called Apex Legends – and it’s already available for players to download.
Although many of the game’s details have been splashed across the internet, there’s still plenty here to discuss: including how the game actually plays, monetisation, and what this means for the Titanfall franchise. At a closed-doors event last week, I was able to trial Apex Legends for a full six hours, and ask Respawn a number of questions about its decision to go full battle royale.
First, the key details.
As Respawn is eager to reiterate, this is a battle royale set within the Titanfall universe rather than a Titanfall 2 sequel. It takes place about 30 years after the events of Titanfall 2, in an area called the Outlands, featuring an eclectic bunch of characters who are all competing in “the Titanfall equivalent of a blood sport”. Hunger Games, but more sci-fi.
Apex Legends Official Launch Trailer Watch on YouTube
To be crowned champion, you’ll need to lead your 3-player squad to victory against 19 other teams – a total of 57 other players. Finally, my chances of winning have increased.
It’s essentially a genre-merge of battle royale and hero-based shooter. There are currently eight “legends” in the game, each with unique passive, tactical and ultimate abilities – but Respawn has gone to significant lengths to ensure the gameplay feels balanced. Apex Legends also introduces a variety of other neat additions to the battle royale genre. More on that later.