With millions of players online within the first three days of its release, it is safe to say that “Apex Legends” has a lot to live up to. Does this free-to-play title have the goods to put its publisher Electronic Arts in the “battle royale” cash train?  

This first-person shooter game from Respawn Entertainment borrows many features from other titles like the hero aspect of “Overwatch” and the rarity loot rating of “Fortnite.”  The shooting mechanics feel similar to “Titanfall” minus the wall-running and the objectives remain similar to any “battle royale” games.

Graphically speaking, the game is similar to “Titanfall” since it is made using the same source engine and it is supposed to be set in the same universe. King’s Canyon, the arena of the game, feels like a sample platter of “Titanfall 2” levels. Respawn basically recreated the atmosphere of the “Titanfall” franchise.

Despite this, “Apex Legends” has unique characters with different abilities that make them useful in the game. The features that separate this game from others in the pack are spawn beacons and pings.

The features that separate this game from others in the pack is the player’s ability to revive dead teammates by dropping their banners to a spawn beacon in addition to helping drowned teammates. This mechanic gives players the option to get their squad back to full strength and increase their chance of winning, and since the game forces players to play in a three-man squad, “pinging” helps these players to communicate without the use of their headset.

Of course, we can’t talk about an EA game without talking about microtransactions and it is surprising to say that it was handled well. For those who are unfamiliar with microtransactions, these are small payments that a player would buy if they wanted a skin for a character or a small boost of some kind. The microtransactions in “Apex Legends” are not invasive since they are only cosmetic items such as gun and character skins.

Crashes are common on the PC version of the game, there is no option to play solo, and some guns are unusable in a fight, and while there are a few edges that need to get sanded out, it is hard not to recommend “Apex Legends.”

The game is available on all platforms and it is free to play so there isn’t anything stopping the average gamer. “Apex Legends” is definitely worth the bandwidth used to download this game, just make sure you have your friends with you.