AFTER ACTION REPORT
Can PC Gamer conquer the battle royale phenomenon?
his is a ‘last-manT standing’ online shooter, in which up to 100 players parachute onto an island in order to scavenge, fight, run and hide until only one person is left alive. It’s an Early Access phenomenon with over 3 million players, and the PC Gamer team wants to know what the fuss is all about. We’ll be playing squad mode, meaning we must work together as a four-man unit in order to become the most lethal lads on the island. Sounds simple, but there’s a problem: three of us have never played the game before.
Attempt 1
Andy: Every Battlegrounds game begins with a leap from a plane. But in multiplayer you have to make sure everyone jumps at the same time, otherwise you’ll all be scattered around the map. So I begin each round by marking a location on the map, then counting down from three. But despite knowing the map well, I choose the dangerous town Rozhok for our first attempt, which is right in the path of the plane. I’ve made a huge mistake.
Phil: I land and run to the nearest house. I find a backpack and new T-shirt. Score! Soon after, I find an even better backpack. I’m nailing this backpack progression. Eventually, I stumble upon a pistol and some ammo, and have the fun DayZ- esque experience of trying to figure out how the inventory works.
Tom: Everyone finds guns but me. All I get is one grenade. If I find myself outnumbered with no hope of rescue I have a dramatic exit strategy. How many people can I take down with me?
Phil: I think we’re about to find out. Our scurrying has attracted attention. Andy spots a guy on a roof, but he’s taken down. I try to flank him, but he’s got a mate in wait. I’m shot in the face with a shotgun. Goodbye, precious backpacks.
Tom: The attackers enter my building. I am so afraid that I forget to equip my grenade. I am quickly killed.
Andy: Considering I’m the only person who’s played the game, we did pretty well. As in we didn’t die straight away. Attempt 2 Andy: This time I decide to set a marker in the sticks, as far from major cities and settlements as possible. We land near some old cottages, but the loot is crap: pistols and shotguns. We’ll need rifles to stand a chance. It’s not helping that the safe zone is miles away, and the five-minute timer is ticking down.
Tom: We start moving towards the safe zone, which means all of us running at the same speed in-sync using Battlegrounds’ comical run animation. We pass some houses on the way. Do
we have time to go in and loot them? Time is ticking down.
Samuel: I’m stressing about the safe zone, because the map is gigantic and it’s miles away.
Andy: Even though piling into a car makes us a target, we decide to go for a road trip in order to reach the safe zone. I spot some buildings atop a hill, and decide that holing up there and ditching the car is probably a good shout.
Tom: Andy parks the car just outside the safe zone, which means we don’t have a car anymore. “I don’t know why I did that,” says Andy. It’ll probably be fine, I think. Then some bandits arrive. It’s not fine. It’s not fine at all.
Phil: Once again, I walk in through a door and am shot in the face. We always seem to be doing well, right up until the point we meet basically anyone. Attempt 3
Andy: This time I go for the middle ground and I seem to have picked the most popular farmhouse on the map. There are a few players running around, so I decide to hide. We’ve been scattered, and I hear Samuel shouting, “I’m being shot at!” in the distance. Another great start, then.
Tom: I have a disaster in the air, and land about a mile away. I run towards the objective marker, and hear alarmed noises coming from the rest of the team. I can hear gunfire ahead, but I hop in a car and drive towards it. Samuel is down so I try to rescue him, crashing my car into the side of a house so I can get out and heal him. I’m immediately murdered by a man I never see.
Phil: This is our worst attempt yet, although Andy is excited by the military bunker. I join him in running to it, hopeful that I’ll finally get a good gun. Instead, it’s bricked up, and now a sniper has our position. We duck behind a car as bullets ricochet off it. Sam’s dead, Tom’s bleeding out, and we’re pinned.
Andy: Despite some guy shooting at me with a rifle, and the fact that he’s blown all the tyres out, I decide to risk getting in the car. I make a mad rush, but the guy shoots me dead. Damn.
Phil: I couldn’t get in the car for some reason—hooray for Early Access—and now Andy’s driven off with my cover. I am shot. Attempt 4
Andy: Finally, a decent start. But we’re far away from the safe zone, so I decide to grab a jeep and indulge in some off-roading. Someone starts shooting at us, but we have the advantage of wheels again. We find some houses in the safe zone and start looting.
Phil: Yes! A shotgun! After all the times I have been killed by a shotgun, I’m stoked to have one all to myself. In fact, I’m so excited, that I briefly lose sight of my team, which has not only moved deeper into the town, but now seems quite animated about something.
Tom: We hear the sound of engines and everyone starts shouting, “Car, car, car!” Another player driving a car barges through the centre of the town and drives off a cliff. I watch as the car, far below, makes a slow turn and drives back up the hill to take a run at us.
Samuel: I open fire on the car, but another player gets out and pops a few shots at me and I’m down. Andy comes out and heals me in the midst of the gunfire. He succeeds! Unfortunately, car man returns the second I’m revived and I’m run over. We all laugh.
Phil: I watch the slow-motion drama unfold, as this rando’s car squashes Sam and then circles around for another go. Then I realize: I have a shotgun! I run towards the car, take aim, and fire right at the windshield. It doesn’t seem to have an effect, and I am run down. That was embarrassing.
Tom: The car goes off the same cliff. “He’s coming round again!” I shout out. This is ridiculous.
Andy: I fire at the car, and while I see a mist of blood indicating a hit, I don’t manage to kill him. Then he speeds off, presumably bored, or maybe just concerned I’m a better shot than I actually am. We push on regardless, only to get popped by an unseen assailant in a nearby farmhouse. That’s Battlegrounds for you.
Attempt 5
Andy: Fifth time lucky. We land near some buildings hidden away from other players, and gear up with an array of rifles, bulletproof vests, and grenades. We’re the most tooled up we’ve been, brimming with confidence.
Phil: A level-three backpack! I have been blessed. I also find a vest and a shotgun, which I take, despite its ineffectiveness in the last round. This area is quiet, and in the middle of the safety zone. We’ve done well.
Tom: I’m convinced I’ve found the best house on the map. In the kitchen there are two assault rifles on the floor with loads of ammo. Upstairs there’s an 8X scope and a handle that decreases recoil. I even find a nice hat. Suitably equipped, we head out. As we approach a small cluster of buildings, the team spots an enemy player, who runs frantically into a field and hides behind a hay bale. We lose sight of the guy and never see him again, which leaves us paranoid for the rest of the round.
Phil: We hide out in the house for a bit, but eventually the tension gets the better of us. We decide to move out. Andy takes the lead, and guides us through a field towards some nearby woods. Suddenly, we hear gunfire. Andy calls for us to go prone, but I’m still exposed. I’m shot, and quickly bleed out while the others are pinned down. As I die, I see our attackers: a heavily equipped gang of four. One of them’s even wearing a ghillie suit. We didn’t stand a chance. As if to prove my point, Sam is also gunned down.
Andy: I get separated from the group and find myself cowering in a shack as the four players circle me firing their rifles at it. I decide to just lie prone at the door and point my gun at it, hoping to take anyone who pays a visit out. But
the shooting stops and everything calms down. It’s quiet. Too quiet
the shooting stops and everything calms down. It’s quiet. Too quiet.
Tom: In a nearby field, Andy and I spot a couple of other players. They don’t have a scoped assault rifle, though. I get down behind a rock, flick my assault rifle to single-shot mode and start shooting. I get one guy, but his pal revives him. I’m about to finish them off when gunfire breaks out all around us. We’re in the middle of the safety zone, and everyone is converging on us.
Andy: Tom and I escape the gunfire by stealing a jeep and driving away. But along the way I notice a motorcycle by the side of the road, which were added in a recent update. “I’ve never driven one before!” I exclaim, leaving the jeep and grabbing the handlebars. Tom gets on too, and we speed off. Well, for a bit.
Tom: At this point I wonder when precisely Andy took his clothes off. Except for his guns, some harnesses, and mercifully a pair of grey underpants, he’s naked, and I don’t know why. I don’t know why we got out of our jeep, either. And I don’t know why Andy decides to drive slowly around towns that are full of players. Suddenly, there’s gunfire. Then Andy slumps off the bike. It careers on for a bit before toppling sideways. By that time I have been shot dead.
Andy: The match ends with my guy lying in a heap on the ground in his pants. Oh, the indignity.