Apex Legends First Impression

So two days ago I heard news that Respawn had some new-new to reveal. Initially I got a hard-on because Titanfall 2 took a huge chunk of my life when it first released and I thought TF3 was low key being announced. To my surprise, this big reveal was that they were doing a battle royal spin off based in the Titanfall universe.

The second I got home yesterday, I downloaded that joint and sat my fat ass in my chair for a good old test drive of Apex Legends.  Here are my first thoughts on a unique take on the battle royale genre.

Unlike other popular Battle Royale games in the genre, Apex Legends focuses on class based team play. With eight initial Legends to choose from in teams of three. (Trios being the only option, though I can see Respawn implementing solos and duos in the future). Apex Legends pushes for a strong team composition since each legend boasts different passive and ultimate abilities (think overwatch characters). I really enjoyed playing in a well thought out team, and having a dedicated medic to save my ass, or having a teammate spot out loot felt good. I really enjoyed playing with people who gave a shit about team composition, and even when I was queuing with randoms, it still felt right since you can’t double up on characters.

Apex being a Respawn game, this next point is pretty much a given (bias shmias). The gun play is fucking good. Since Apex Legends takes place in the Titanfall universe, there are several guns that crossover and just like in Titanfall 2, they feel great. My shots felt like they mattered, and using a fully modded gun felt good as hell. The guns aren’t hitscan, so you do have to lead your shots. Though there isn’t a huge variety of guns, you are able to add attachments/mods to them and make each weapon work better for you. I did think the snipers were a bit underwhelming, but overall I thought Respawn did a great job making gunplay feel solid.

That being said, I thought the loot system in the game was really evenly balanced. I felt that the distribution of common to rare leveled equipment was pretty balanced, and I never really found myself with a shit gun or loot for too long (Plus you can choose a legend whose ultimate is a supply drop). Of course there were games were I was beat to a gun off the bat and ultimately met my fate in 10 seconds, but most of the time I was able to well equip myself for the later rounds.

Though the map is smaller than most BR games, it’s compensated by the fact there are only sixty people per match. Moving on, I really like this map. There’s a lot of cool shit saturating it, and the environment makes sense for what Apex Legends is. There isn’t much high ground to fight over however, making sniping a little less viable since most gunfights are mid to close range, and you aren’t on high vantage points to hit shots safely. I do hope there are going to be more maps that drop for the game in the future, but I think I’m going to enjoy the current map for a while.

Apex legends has a lot going for it, and though it’s still early in its lifecycle, I really think this game has the potential to become a big name in the genre. If you’re a fan of class based shooters, traditional BR games and getting meleed by a full trio while completely unarmed 35 seconds into a match, Apex Legends might be something for you to look into.

-Big Lex