Apex Legends Mobile: A new Champion has entered the field
Ever since Apex Legends was launched in 2019, Battle Royale games took on a whole new level of play. Sure Fortnite and Call of Duty Warzone offer Battle Royale modes as well, but those are mostly for PC and consoles. If you are a mobile gamer, Battle Royale games like Cyber Hunter, Call of Duty Mobile, PUBG Mobile, Free Fire and a plethora of other Battle Royale or BR games are also readily available. Adding to this list, Apex Legends Mobile made its way to the Google Play Store and the Apple App Store a few weeks ago. So how does it stack up against its PC counterpart?
Well, for starters, if you’ve played Apex Legends before, then the core mechanics of the game should be familiar to you. You can form either two or three-player squads and choose from a pool of characters or “legends”, each with their own skills and abilities. Battle Royales consist of up to 20 three-person squads or 30 two-person duos who land on an island, looting and scavenging for weapons, ammo and shields, all while getting into, or avoiding combat until you are the last squad standing. But be quick as the playable area shrinks over time, making combat eventually happen whether you like it or not. If you’re caught outside the safe zone, your chances of survival are incredibly slim. Be the last team standing and victory is yours.
Arenas on the other hand have three-player squads fighting against other squads in a 3v3 team deathmatch over a number of rounds. The first team to score 3 points wins the match.
How is Apex Legends Mobile?
If you’re familiar with mobile FPS (first person shooter) games, then Apex Legends Mobile has a gentle learning curve that is not too difficult to master. The initial setup of the game has you entering your year and month of birth, followed by the signup process. Depending on your play style and experience, you can choose if you’re new to BR and Apex Legends or if you’re fairly well versed in one or the other.
From there, you can choose your preferred HUD (Heads Up Display) layout. If you’re into more traditional controls, then you can select that style, or if you would like to try Apex’s own style, you can do that too. Once all the formalities were taken care of, it was time to see if I had what it takes to be an Apex Legend.
The first character available is Bloodhound, a character who uses technology to track down and hunt enemies. Unlike the PC version of Apex Legends, where you need in-game currency to unlock new characters, Mobile uses a leveling up system to unlock characters.
Each match you play and win awards you with XP. Earn enough XP and you can level up and unlock said characters. Unlocked characters or legends also have perks that can be unlocked. I personally like the chaos that Octane brings, with his stim pack that gives you a speed boost at the cost of a bit of health, and his ultimate ability which is a jump pad that you can use to jump away from all your problems. Also, unlike abilities which differ by legend, perks offer a more consistent set of advantages but you can customize them to suit your style, depending on the legend you play. After you hit Level 8, matches get a tad more competitive. Ranked matches are also available, which means you can play with your friends and build up your rank to be on the Apex Legends Mobile leaderboards.
“I’m the Jumpmaster”
My first few matches in Apex Legends Mobile were insanely fun. The controls are easy enough to get the hang of, but a bit challenging to master. I did encounter a minor annoyance where I would try to turn around with my right hand that would immediately trigger, well, my trigger and if you’ve played Apex Legends, you’d know that ammo is a precious resource and also the sounds of shots being fired can attract enemies to your location as well.
Because I’ve played mobile BR games such as Cyber Hunter, PUBG, and CODM, it didn’t take me too long to get used to the controls of Apex. What did take a bit of time though was the recoil of certain weapons. Again, because I had played Apex Legends on PC, I was able to adjust my in-game sensitivity without too much hassle. But that doesn’t mean I’m a pro at the game. In fact, I’m pretty sure it’s still pure dumb luck, but I’ll still take it. The game looks really good as well. By default the game automatically selects the best settings based on your device’s hardware and I kept it at that. What I did change was the framerate because why not? More FPS (frames per second) for no performance loss is always a good thing. As such, I was getting a constant 60fps. It would drop when I jumped out of the airship and was about to land, (probably due to the game loading in-game assets), but after one or two matches, that too went away.
I personally felt the game is a tad slower paced than the PC version, but it doesn’t make it any less intense. If you’re the type to go into a team fight, guns blazing, you better make sure your teammates are closeby or you’re going to be in some very hot water indeed. The auto pickup feature definitely saves time as it picks the best attachments, med-kits and shields for you so that you don’t have to keep doing so manually.
Ammo too is picked up so you can go on your killing spree if you so wish to, loot your enemies and be on your merry way. If you’re good enough, you can also become the Kill Leader. Although, that also means that other players will either avoid you, or come charging at you to take over your crown.
Each match lasts anywhere from 10-15 minutes but can be longer or shorter depending on the toughness of the opposing teams. One interesting thing I noted was that it was easier for me to get kills and do more damage on the Apex Mobile than on PC, which is probably due to how easy it is to get used to the controls on mobile. There’s nothing quite satisfying as taking down an entire squad by yourself, or using a finisher on a downed opponent.
Is it worth it? Definitely Yes!
Overall, I feel EA and Respawn Entertainment have done a solid stellar job in making a mobile version of Apex Legends. It’s insanely fun to play and if you’re the type who’s up for a challenge and you have the hardware on your phone to run it, Apex Legends Mobile is definitely a must have. Speaking of which, time to go get some finishers. Maybe even become the new kill leader. Apex Legends Mobile is available on both the Google Play Store and Apple App Store completely free.
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- Arenas on the other hand have three-player squads fighting against other squads in a 3v3 team deathmatch over a number of rounds. The first team to score 3 points wins the match.
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