What is Apex Legends? The free-to-play Battle Royale Game
Apex Legends is a first-person, online multiplayer game published by Electronic Arts and developed by Respawn Entertainment. Set on a distant planet in the aftermath of a galactic war, players take on the role of characters fighting in huge gladiatorial games for the entertainment of unseen settlers. 60 players are dropped onto a battlefield in team battles across a variety of locations while searching for supplies and weapons, including machine guns, rifles, and explosives. The map area decreases over time, forcing teams closer and closer to each other until only one team remains, the champions.
Players in the core game form teams of 3 made up of pre-designed characters, A.K.A Legends. Legends each have their own personalities, abilities, skills, and boosts – making them feel like fully fleshed-out characters.
Each Legend has 3 unique abilities: a passive, a tactical, and an ultimate. For example, Bloodhound has access to three abilities: Tracker (Passive), Eye of the All-Father (Tactical), and Beast of the Hunt (Ultimate). Each of these abilities feeds into Bloodhound’s namesake. Their abilities are all about tracking down their opponents and then finishing them for good. Those words might not mean much of anything to you right now, but he’s the only character who can do those three things.
Another example is Loba, her abilities are an Eye for Quality (Passive), Burglar’s Best Friend (Tactical), and Black Market Boutique (Ultimate). Loba’s kit is all about optimizing loot searching.
Teams can comprise groups of friends who want to play together, or individual players can choose to be randomly assigned to online squads. Up to 20 teams battle one another in a variety of maps that include towering mountains, cityscapes, industrial installations, and abandoned settlements, each of which includes roaming alien wildlife.
The various character’s skills also work well with each other and can be used to complement the squad to make you an efficient fighting unit.
The game is also unusual in that it only supports three-player squads at this time. So you can either play that or duos (playing with just one other friend).
Another difference comes when you jump into a game. One member of the squad is selected as a “jumpmaster” – essentially the squad leader who chooses where the team is landing. Other players in the squad are bound to the jumpmaster as they vector in on the landing spot ensuring all the team sticks together and are ready for action.
Other highlights include the ability to use ziplines to dash across areas of the map and various hot-air balloons that you can venture up to then glide across open ground to another location. Players are also able to call in things like airstrikes to deal damage or death on enemy teams.
With Apex Legends, it’s also possible to revive fallen teammates. If one of your squadmates dies, but you manage to survive the battle, you can go to their loot crate, pick up their banner (data chip) and take it to a green respawn location. From there, you’re able to call them back into battle. Doing so is risky as it takes time and exposes you to being killed yourself but it’s worth the effort to keep the team at full strength. Revived teammates won’t have any weapons when they return, but at least that brings your numbers back up. It also means if you die, you don’t just have to spectate until the end of the match. If a team-mate’s banner respawn is timeout, some of the legends (not all) can craft the banner using a replicator, it requires 30 crafting materials points.
It’s also worth knowing that there’s no fall damage, so you don’t need to worry about a horrid death from falling off a high location.
Playing Apex Legends Online
Like many battle royale games, Apex Legends is played online with others. Players can either team up with friends to battle it out or sign on individually and get grouped with random teammates. Unlike similar team-based games, Apex Legends does not require direct person-to-person communication via voice chat to make a team effective, although it always remains an option (you can use ur mic with push-to-talk in-game). For those who do not wish to use voice chat, there is the “Ping system”, an entirely unique mode of communication. Players can highlight items and enemies for their team with the “Ping” system. This lets the squad know about important things in the nearby area and is a brilliant option for those who don’t have or don’t want to use a mic. Visual and audible pings make it easier to grab the attention of your friends and keep the squad playing together.
The pre-game hub in Apex Legends gives the player options to start a game, change their Legend, edit their loadout, and visit the in-game store.
Loot and Gear
Similar to other Battle Royale games, there are varying levels of loot scattered around the map for you to pick up. Not just weapons but armour too. These vary in quality which is highlighted by the colours – grey, blue, purple and gold.
The usual armour style exists with helmets and such being collectable, but there’s also a shield mechanic and the ability to recharge that shield and your health by finding boosts as you play.
Killing other players gives you access to their gear. Dead players drop loot crates, these crates are also highlighted in various colours to let you know which player has the most valuable gear and what to loot first.
A cool feature of Apex Legends is the simple way the looting works. If you swap out your weapons, any attachments you had will automatically move to the new gun. Another stand-out feature is the champion. This is a specific single player in a given match. The winner of a previous game who is now seen as the most important player in the new game – killing that player gives you more experience points.
An image of that champion is projected on massive screens around the game world as a constant reminder of their value to other players.
Levels and experience points
Players earn experience points by playing and winning. These points will eventually see you levelling up. Each time you gain a new level, you’ll also earn rewards like Apex Packs and Legend Tokens (as mentioned below).
Play levels are capped at 500, but after you reach the max level you can still carry on earning Legend Tokens.
What are ranked leagues?
Apex Legends has a ranked mode in the game that allows more competitive players to battle it out for scoreboard glory. This ranked mode includes a ladder that lets players see how they stack up against the competition, but it also has a skill-based matchmaking system that ensures players are up against other gamers of similar skill levels. This ensures a more even playing field and a much more competitive game.
Players getting involved in ranked mode will also get access to in-game rewards at the end of the season based on the rank they achieve in that period.
Ranked Leagues have different tiers split into Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum, Diamond, Master and Apex Predator. All players start the league on the Bronze tier but can work their way up through the tiers as the season progresses.
Higher tier matches cost RP to play (silver costs 1RP, gold costs 2RP, platinum costs 3RP and so on) but you can also earn up to 17RP during a match. Getting kills and placing in the top positions is the best way to earn RP. You can read more about ranked leagues here.
What are “Seasons”?
Many popular online games have introduced seasons or chapters as a way to release new content into the game. Each season in Apex Legends introduces new storylines, Legends, items, and battle passes to excite fans and entice new players in. Some of these changes are permanent while others will only last for the duration of the season.
A season on Apex Legends lasts approximately three months or twelve weeks.
Where Can I Play Apex Legends?
The game is available for Nintendo Switch, PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series S/X, and Steam. Apex Legends is cross-play enabled for PC, PlayStation, Switch, and Xbox, meaning that players who own different devices can play with one another.
- PC – Download from Origin
- Steam – Download from Steam
- Xbox – Get it from Microsoft
- PlayStation- Download from the PlayStation Store
- Nintendo Switch – Grab for free here
How Much Does Apex Legends Cost?
Apex Legends is a free game but, like many free-to-play games, it offers cosmetic items for purchase in the online store. These include weapons, decorations (aka “skins”), as well as outfits, short victory or finisher animations, emotes, and quips for specific characters.
In some cases, these cosmetics can be unlocked through free gameplay or events, but some individual items can only be obtained through the game’s online store. They are purchased using Apex Coins, which are tokens that can be purchased with real money. Players can also buy Apex Packs and Battle Passes.
Apex Packs are loot boxes that contain random cosmetics and other goodies. They come in different tiers, with the more expensive packs more likely to contain high-value in-game items.
Battle Passes are released for purchase roughly every three months, often with a new Season, in which new maps, modes, characters, and cosmetics are introduced. The Battle Pass gives players new goodies right off the bat and allows them to unlock new progress paths. This includes opportunities to earn extra items as you achieve various challenges. Players who do not buy the Battle Pass can also earn cosmetics but are blocked from earning certain items.
There are a few legends you could unlock right away by spending real money, but you can eventually unlock them for free just by playing and earning “Legend Tokens”. It costs 12,000 “Legend Tokens” to unlock a legend.
It’s important to remember that cosmetic items don’t impact the actual gameplay. There is no “pay-to-win” in Apex Legends. They are there for players who like to individualize their legends and show other players their level of progression.
I tried playing Apex Legends two years ago but I was too hooked on Elder Scrolls Online and I didn’t want to commit to another game. This year, in February (2023), I gave it another go and I’m so “in love with it”.
Next post I will write a small guide with some “Tips & Tricks” for new players like me. Hope you enjoyed the post ♥
