APEX LEGENDS
Nat Clayton: Apex Legends has always been good. But for those first few years it felt like Respawn was still figuring out how to run an ongoing battle royale. But in 2021 the studio nailed it. Season 9 is the clear standout, bringing us not only a strong new character in Valkyrie, but a new Arenas game mode – a distinctly Respawn take on Counter-Strike that lets you immediately get into a fair fight. Arenas proved that Apex has legs beyond battle royale, cementing the game as not just a good BR, but one of the best team shooters around.
But it also feels like Apex is just so much more confident this year, both as a game and as a world. Respawn’s storytelling has gone into overdrive, bringing in community artists, and animators to help flesh out the world, while leaning fully into voice lines and BR downtime to bring the game’s cast to life. Apex is a soap opera now, and every new season escalates the drama between our sci-fi buds.
The game’s latest season, Escape, has only reinvigorated my excitement for the game after a somewhat lacklustre tenth season. Like Olympus, Storm Point is a gorgeous reimagining of what an
Apex map can look like, and Ash is a strong initiator who managed to be more than mere Titanfall 2 nostalgia. But at the end of the day, Apex is still the best and only shooter for punting yourself down a hill at 400mph as a floating Scottish lass. What more could you ever ask for?
Phil Savage: There’s a lot of personality in Apex’s maps, and – as each gets tweaked and upgraded over its seasons and through Town Takeover events – plenty of history too. King’s Canyon has covered its vast empty spaces with new attractions, and World’s Edge is breaking apart at the seams. Despite this, each new map manages to bring its own personality. The most recent, Storm Point, feels like a strong reaction to earlier maps, with more clearly defined routes that funnel players into conflict in interesting ways.
The strength of Apex’s third year is that there’s always something new to learn. But the enduring appeal of Apex as a whole is that it’s built on such an enjoyable foundation. Try sliding into a teamfight, SMGs blazing, and tell me any other battle royale is worth your time.
EACH NEW MAP MANAGES TO BRING ITS OWN PERSONALITY
Morgan Park: In a world of multiplayer games that are either ultra competitive or glorified checklists, Chivalry 2 is a rare game that just wants you to hop into a match and go effin wild. Objectives are little more than set dressing for the game’s impressively massive 64-player battles. You can push the battering ram toward the castle with your team, but no one will begrudge you for ignoring it and going on kicking spree instead. One time I decided I’m allergic to swords and was only allowed to kill people with dismembered arms and heads (it went surprisingly well).
Evan Lahti: If you’ve ever practiced a martial art, you know how crucial it is to manage and manipulate distance to beat an opponent. Chivalry 2 manages to contain this aspect of authenticity without going all-in on fussy medieval realism. It feels unbelievably good to survive a 3v1 by dodging at the right time, or forcing enemies to wallop one another with unexpected footwork.
This is a rare competitive multiplayer game that understands the value of being messy. Sometimes a catapult shot drops out of the sky and insta-kills me and five of my teammates. Over-enthusiastic teammates will hit you in the back of the head with their falchion. Archers are an absolute nuisance, cowardly arrow-lobbers who can kill with impunity. But Chivalry 2 embraces these warped aspects as charming texture. There’s a dedicated button for letting everyone around you know that you want to ‘Kill the archers’. I press it often.
Tyler Wilde: I love how Chivalry 2 balances negativity with positivity. When you die, you can tap a key to commend the knight who decapitated you, if they deserve it. A couple of times I looked for that key in Battlefield 2042 and was disappointed not to find it. And like Evan says, the combat is subtler than it can look. You’ve got to use footwork to find openings, and find a rhythm without being predictable. It’s a bit like boxing. But with swords.