Apex Legends is releasing its new update today called “Shockwave” with a lot of changes to the general gameplay, a new map and new modes to invite new players in. This is coming as Respawn Entertainment, the developers behind Apex Legends faced backlash for their infuriating battle pass changes which would no longer offer everything that is on the premium battle pass even if full price was paid.
What New Map?
The new map is called the “E-District” is a futuristic city complete with various neon signs with a night sky to enshrine itself as a cyberpunk city district to play in. In a developer update video, Steven Ferreira, game director of Apex Legends reveals the map as being the result of 5 years of developer work in building complex, engaging maps to keep it fresh with every major update. As per their own words, it features a lot of verticality, mainly focusing on urban warfare and is also being called one of their densest maps to date. The map is reminiscent of call of duty maps which were designed for fast-paced gameplay around tight corners but here players have access to almost all the buildings seen which makes it much more in-depth than any call of duty map.
A Significant Change To The Pace With Revivals
This season players who get killed can now respawn near their teammates as long as at least 1 teammate is alive on the ground. They said they did this to make it more fast-paced and exciting compared to the previous setting where players who died had to wait and hope that their team reaches a spawn point and also potentially fight off another imposing team handicapped. This of course introduces a new decision to make as players who have respawned must decide to either engage again or run in the hopes to regroup and survive.
Some Quality Of Life, A New Perk And Changes To The Beacons
A much needed quality of life update is the addition of enemy health bars which no doubt will players say with confidence if an enemy is truly “one shot”. Another addition is player highlights, in close range enemies will be highlighted for easier tracking but this only happens at extremely close ranges and will not help in spotting distant targets. A new perk is being added to recon legends such as Bloodhound, Seer etc called “Scout Master” which will give them “Threat Vision” when they aim down sights but this does not apply through Banglalore’s smokes. Beacons are getting a revision this season as now they will be faster to use and will be available more frequently throughout the maps but now they will reveal a portion of the map around themselves and not the entire map.
Lootbins, Akimbo Weapons And LMG Changes
Changes are being brought to lootbins and now they will all restock their items at the midpoint of the game for players to revisit and the developers created an incentive here as there will be rare lootbins that spawn alongside the regular ones at the midpoint hiding purple or gold attachments, armors etc. Players can also dual wield specifically when they pick up two p2020 or two mozambiques. This will happen automatically at the moment they pick up the second weapon but what is a noteworthy point is picking up an attachment for one will apply it to both thus, players don’t need to pick up two light magazine upgrades or anything of that sort. Another update is being rolled to a weapon type, Light Machine Guns, as per the developers themselves they aren’t going to keep increasing its damage so that it can compete with the meta of submachine guns, instead they opted for 2 attachments, a shield which activates as players aim down sights to cover their upper body with a shield and a reverse hip fire attachment that prevents aim down sights but tightens the crosshairs when pressing down to aim. This is to make players with LMGs engage in close quarters more often taking advantage of the bullet spread LMGs have.
Some New Modes And Some Old Ones
The “Straight Shot” game mode is making a return where players have ready access to pre-kitted weapons and smaller maps as a sort of “streamlined Battle Royale” compared to what is at the heart of Apex Legends. The new revival system is also present here making the mode as fast paced as it can get. A new mode called “Bot Royale” is coming this season where players can load up a match full of other bots to test out their skills and their legends to better grasp gameplay fundamentals, guns and most importantly their chosen character. This mode is also a great way for new players to get introduced to the general gameplay of Apex Legends and get a feel for everything instead of getting introduced to it all in actual public lobbies.
