The fact that it takes energy ammunition is both a blessing and a curse. That ammo type tends to get passed up because only two weapons take it, the Devotion and the Triple Take. It also tends to be a little sparse for that very reason, however, so your mileage will vary from match to ma

This strange, triple-barreled shotgun-pistol hybrid handles poorly, and necessitates frequent, sluggish reload animations. The only upside is that if you come face to face with another poorly equipped looter in the early game, you'll be able to kick out surprising amounts of dam

Generally speaking, some sort of long-range, sniper rifle equivalent would normally be a must-have piece of kit for a battle royale match. But while they're certainly not the worst things to have, sniper rifles are a little unimpressive when it comes to Apex Lege

That downer aside, Apex Legends must be applauded for offering such a deep and polished experience from the get-go. Without any demo or beta tests, Apex Legends launched without a hitch and actually functions better than most full-retail triple-A online games. We can't emphasize enough how refreshing it is to have a polished battle royale slg game patch notes, that's also a polished triple-A online title, that's also F

Pathfinder - Ideal for scouting ahead, Pathfinder is equipped with a grappling hook to climb up cliffs in order to survey the situation ahead. His Zipline Gun is also great for getting teammates out of a sticky situat

That leaves only Anthem , whose global February 22 launch will mark the only proper live-service competitor to Apex Legends . Though Anthem is unquestionably beautiful and has thrilling combat and movement that Crackdown developers ought to take note of, there is the unavoidable fact that it is EA's answer to Destiny , and the online loot-shooter genre Anthem 's obvious source material spawned is marred by a series of hard-to-avoid caveats. It does more to ensure that players won't be locked out of certain time-limited content by providing matchmaking in areas that the Destiny franchise neglects, but (as EA has clearly done its homework) it's difficult to not fear that launch content will prove much more sparse than initially expected, much as it was in both Destiny entr

Pathfinder is an often overlooked Legend, mainly because the majority of people sleep on his tactical and ultimate abilities. Why shoot zip lines when you can rain down missiles, you know? However, his grapple is actually very effective in the right hands and can be utilized offensively. Pathfinder can grapple enemy players, which of course swiftly closes the gap between their respective locations. Follow this up with a quick shotgun blast, and you can see how useful it can

No Traffic Zones - Competitive fans may be agitated to hear this, but sometimes securing victory is as easy as hiding until the very end. Pay very close attention to the location that each enemy team is dropping. If the frequently loot-heavy areas are all claimed, players should head as far away from everyone else as humanly possible. There will still be loot to find once they land and from that point it's just a matter of waiting out the clock and grinding for

Why was Apex Legends able to rest on its laurels this week while Respawn works on future content? The simplest answer can actually be found in what was likely perceived by EA to be its greatest weakness: it's near-total lack of pre-release marketing. Leaked only a day prior to launch, Apex Legends set the internet abuzz with the immediate promise of an all-new and well-polished experience that players could get their hands on for the tantalizing price of "free." Meanwhile, Crackdown 3 has suffered from a grueling, years-long embarrassment for Xbox Games Studios that began when it was revealed all the way back at E3 2014, greatly reducing the impact of the exclusive's largely overlooked February 15 release d

Use the Tagging System - Apex Legends has one of the best non-verbal forms of communication in gaming today with its tagging system. Calling out the location of extra weapons and armor, tagging nearby enemies, and marking ideal drop locations are all possible with this tool. Put it to

On top of being initially perceived as a somewhat desperate attempt on EA's part to chase market trends, Apex Legends launched on February 4 with almost no fanfare leading up to its surprise arrival. Nevertheless, Apex Legends has ballooned into nothing short of an enigmatic triumph for EA and developer Respawn, shattering player count milestones at speeds that would have made Fortnite wince. On its surface, it would seem that Apex Legends does little to nothing that this week's major releases don't, lacking the graphical spectacle of Metro Exodus and Anthem , the open-ended sandboxes of Far Cry New Dawn and Crackdown 3 , and the pop culture mélange that Jump Force provides. But it stands out from the throng, largely thanks to its simple-yet-enthralling gameplay loop, well-refined Titanfall gunplay and movement systems, and refreshing additions and improvements to the battle royale form