The new free battle royale game “Apex Legends” by Respawn has gained a lot of traction with over 25 million players just two weeks after its release.

Battle royale games have amassed popularity since the release of the popular PC games “PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds” and “Fortnite.” In a battle royale game, your character is put with either a squad of a few other people or by itself and must fight on a map that decreases in size. The goal is to be the last team or person standing.

“Apex Legends” was released on Xbox One, Playstation 4 and PC on Feb 4. The game is heavily based on teamwork and communication, implementing a system of “pinging” or highlighting an area or item of interest.

The map is built with varying regions each with different level rarity of loot. The game is very fast paced and a round is shorter compared to other battle royale games. With each match being fast paced, it is either kill or be killed. There is armor and support characters to give an extra boost as well as the fact that there is no fall damage so surviving is easier.  

There are eight playable characters with each having a different set of abilities. The characters, called “Legends,” are categorized in classes that serve different purposes such as team support and team defense. With each match starting in squads of three, the characters all have a purpose in supporting your squad.

When a squad member takes too much damage, they get knocked down and can be revived by a teammate, which can render both players vulnerable. If you are knocked down, an enemy can execute you. Executions are animations done before an enemy eliminates your player. If a squadmate dies, their banner can be retrieved so they can be brought back to the game from one of the many beacons sprawled across the map.

“Apex Legends” has been seen as the successor to “Fortnite” and brings cooperative play to another level in a battle royale game. The “Legends” and weapons in the game are also customizable with items from skins to player executions being different for each character. The game does a great job with its map named “Kings Canyon” as it brings an eye-popping sci-fi theme to a battle royale game.