That leaves only Anthem , whose global February 22 launch will mark the only proper live-service competitor to Apex Legends . Though Anthem is unquestionably beautiful and has thrilling combat and movement that Crackdown developers ought to take note of, there is the unavoidable fact that it is EA's answer to Destiny , and the online loot-shooter genre Anthem 's obvious source material spawned is marred by a series of hard-to-avoid caveats. It does more to ensure that players won't be locked out of certain time-limited content by providing matchmaking in areas that the Destiny franchise neglects, but (as EA has clearly done its homework) it's difficult to not fear that launch content will prove much more sparse than initially expected, much as it was in both Destiny entr

Another unique element to Apex Legends is the ability to revive downed allies. Like other battle royale titles, a player is downed before being killed off and they can hold a shield item in their inventory to prevent players from shooting them to finish them off. Enemies can however, get up close an employ a lethal execution animation (these are also battler royale fists). But even then, players can recover the tags of their downed ally and bring them to a revive point where they can then re-enter the match via a dropship, but without any of their loot. These layers upon layers add so much to the dynamic of the usual die and go back to the menu style of more punishing battle royale experien

The SLG game Money Guide's monetization model involves selling premium currency that can be spent on (very expensive) premium character and weapon skins, and the game's loot boxes (called Apex Packs). The Apex Packs contain everything from skins, to emotes, lines of dialogue for characters, and scrap that can be used to craft cosmetics not yet acquired. The best part of this take on the Overwatch loot formula is that there are no duplicates, and the rarity levels of everything are outlined on the official Apex Legends website. In the future, there will be battle passes for seasons (taking from the Fortnite and Rainbow Six Siege playbook) that last three months where limited time cosmetics can be earned or purcha

Why was Apex Legends able to rest on its laurels this week while Respawn works on future content? The simplest answer can actually be found in what was likely perceived by EA to be its greatest weakness: it's near-total lack of pre-release marketing. Leaked only a day prior to launch, Apex Legends set the internet abuzz with the immediate promise of an all-new and well-polished experience that players could get their hands on for the tantalizing price of "free." Meanwhile, Crackdown 3 has suffered from a grueling, years-long embarrassment for Xbox Games Studios that began when it was revealed all the way back at E3 2014, greatly reducing the impact of the exclusive's largely overlooked February 15 release d

Use the Tagging System - Apex Legends has one of the best non-verbal forms of communication in gaming today with its tagging system. Calling out the location of extra weapons and armor, tagging nearby enemies, and marking ideal drop locations are all possible with this tool. Put it to

Opening a door is boring. Violently kicking it open is where it's at! There may come a time when you are unable to open a door - someone is on the other side, or there's a dangerous gas trap waiting to be tripped. Luckily, you can knock down doors by running at it and holding the melee button. Your character will burst down the door, which in turn will knock over an enemy or disable a gas trap! Respawn really did think of everyth

One thing to be said is that this is a pretty unique rifle, kicking out a horizontal spread of three simultaneous shots per trigger pull, which can really help with tracking long distance targets. You can tighten the spread a bit with the precision choke hop-up mod. But again, it is still a sniper ri

Caustic - This Legend is all about baiting characters into a trap and killing them with toxic gas. Caustic is also a good defensive character for those that are trying to put some space between them and their attack

Taking the dubious honor of this list's bottom entry is this unremarkable semi-auto pistol. The magazine size is best described as claustrophobic and it has the weakest damage output in the game, barring maybe the melee attack. But even that has redeeming qualit

But while it's decent at mid-range, it shines at long range, and you'll find that a lot more fights are truly decided in closer quarters. If you absolutely need to have a sniper rifle in your hands, this is a great pick. The ammo's common and you could do a lot worse for DPS. But I'd still suggest something a little more pressure intens

Caustic's gas traps are one of the most frustrating things to encounter in the game. Finding yourself in the middle of a gas maze almost always results in elimination, and the traps can seem way too OP as a result. Luckily, there IS a way to counter the traps (aside from utilizing tactical abilities). Simply shoot the red portion of the trap (located near the bottom) in order to disable it, allowing safe passage for you and your team. Easy pe