The most important thing you need to know about Apex Legends, EA’s surprise battle royale shooter, is that it is totally free. That lack of investment to play is no doubt the reason that Apex already has ten million players—also not bad for a game that was a secret until the day it actually launched. It’s packed with features that are missing from other BR’s like an excellent ping system for non-mic’d up teams and a color-coded loot system that makes picking up stuff a breeze.
On the other hand, it has Overwatch-esque skills and stuff which you may not want in a battle royale. Here’s our no-bias observations on how it stacks up versus the three most popular battle royale titles out there right now.
PUBG
- PUBG’s weakness has always been its janky gunplay and Apex Legends walks all over it in this aspect. Respawn Entertainment, Apex’s developer, is known for creating Titanfall—one of the smoothest shooters around–and it shows.
+ If you’re chasing gritty fun though, PUBG is still the best because it has no super-powered moves and ultimate skills to distract from the gunplay.
+/- Apex’s maps have good verticality but it can feel cramped and limited versus PUBG’s sprawling multiple locations.
Fortnite
- The most popular game in the genre is a love-or-hate affair because it has a kiddy vibe that may not be everyone’s type. Apex has a lively presentation style that is closer to Fortnite than the other two games on this list but its first-person setting easily makes it the more satisfying shooter.
+ When it comes to gadgets and environmental interaction, Fortnite remains pretty unique in the field.
+/- Maybe it’s Fortnite fatigue but there is the feeling that we’ve only been playing it because it was free and not because it was fun to shoot each other in this game. Maybe it's the same case with Apex being free and new as well?
Call of Duty: Black Ops 4
- Apex Legends is thematically the closest to COD’s Blackout mode in terms of gameplay and setting but the graphics are much better, which is embarrassing for COD since this is a totally free game.
+ Solos, duos, and quad teams are available in Blackout versus Apex’s exclusively trio-based gameplay. AKA it sucks to not have friends to tag along.
+/- Apex feels more refined in terms of gameplay, but Blackout has a bigger map, drivable vehicles, and less arcade-y abilities. If Blackout was free too, this would be a really interesting fight.