A new season of “Apex Legends” began earlier this week and with it came many new changes. From a new map to a new legend, “Apex” has added some exciting features and tweaked their existing legends, guns and fixed a few bugs here and there to deliver what looks to be a great new season for players.
Starting out with the new features, Respawn has added a new map to the game, Olympus. This floating city is an exciting, futuristic, and action-packed map that borrows certain aspects from the two other maps. The map is open and promotes range and mobility, which is great since their new legend is a mobile one.
The map is a load of fun. It is filled with rift portals that encompass the map and allow players to quickly move between areas. A new game mode allows players to explore the map without worrying about other players. That is a great feature especially since it also gives players the opportunity to know the spread of loot in different locations so that they know the best places to land at the start of a game.
I think that the new map is a great addition. Players can expect that gunfights will not be interrupted by multiple teams like it did in King’s Canyon. At the same time, the map is small enough where it is easy to find an enemy team rather easily and quickly, unlike World’s Edge.
Along with the new map, season 7 also introduces a new legend, Horizon, a gravity specialist whose abilities complement mobility. Her primary ability allows her to drop a device that can lift players into the air, allowing them to get up onto high buildings or edges to get a better vantage point. Her passive allows her to move through the air as she falls and reduces the stagger when she lands from a high place, one of the better passives in the game. Her ultimate creates a mini black hole using her trusty drone which draws players, making them easy targets. Her ultimate is like Orissa’s ability in Overwatch, just on a slightly larger scale.
Playing Horizon is a blast. Her primary ability can be used for mobility but can also be rather disruptive to opponents if they are caught in it. Her hitbox is about the same size as Bangalore and so she is great for first-time players if they are able to unlock her.
Another exciting addition to the new map is the new usable vehicle, the Trident. It is an open hover vehicle that is quick with a boost feature added in. The vehicle allows two players, the ones not driving, to still be able to fire guns and hurl grenades. At the same time, each player on the vehicle is exposed to gunfire from other teams and the vehicle itself seems to be weak against Arc Stars, at least it looked that way in the trailer they had given us.
All these features, from the map to Horizon to the rift tunnel and the Trident are all indicators that this season is indeed all about mobility. The map is littered with rift structures that give the entire place a dark feel combined with the bright exteriors and futuristic architecture adding some contrast.
The game also featured some changes to existing legend abilities and gun stats. The legendary weapons, the ones players can only receive from a neutral care package, have also rotated, with the R-99 coming out and back into regular rotation to be found around the map. The Prowler takes its place and this, in turn, removes the Select Fire from rotation all together (The Peacekeeper and the Kraber remain in legendary status). A new hop-up is introduced for the Wingman and RE-45 called the Quickdraw which allows the pistols to be drawn at a quicker rate, as the name suggests. Gold guns have also changed with a new rotation of golden guns coming to the players.
With all these changes, season 7 of “Apex Legends” has a lot more to offer for players. The new map and legend allow the game to move at a quicker pace and the addition of vehicles and the new hop-up complements that notion. Whatever may come in future patches, I think that Apex Legends is taken a step in the right direction.