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Is Apex Legends better than Fortnite?

Which battle royale game gives you the most bang for your buck?

With over 50 million players and counting, Apex Legends has taken the online gaming community by complete storm. When you have a well-crafted battle royale game backed by a triple A company and the game is released as free to play, it’s no surprise that the title would rise to the top. It’s a milestone for sure, but obviously, EA and Respawn Entertainment aren’t the first to do it. It’s a formula that PUBG did, that H1Z1 did it, and Fortnite has been absolutely killing it with. So now for the question that’s on everybody’s mind now that Apex Legends is on the up and up: “Is Fortnite on its way out?”

Apex Legends Free Download

It’s definitely way too early to say, but the competition is surprisingly fierce – probably fiercer than Epic Games had expected. To EA’s credit, releasing Apex Legends during the slow period of Fortnite’s long seventh season was a stroke of genius. Many bored Fortnite players picked up Apex Legends just to see what the hype was about, and whether this battle royale game was better than the reigning champion. Evidently, many found this to be the case, as it’s climbed up to the top of both Twitch’s ‘most watched’ and ‘most popular’ lists, Fortnite falling to third on both counts:

One might think that the opening weeks aren’t any real indication of a game’s longevity or quality, but the frank truth is that PUBG never did recover from Fortnite’s initial splash. Like any good battle royale player, though, Epic Games was quick on the trigger, and is already working to reel their audience back in.

How?

With lots of money (offered to players as rewards through tournaments) and by directly incorporating some successful Apex mechanics into Fortnite, namely the game’s ping system. Rumors are also circulating about Epic Games putting in Apex Legends’ respawn system in a coming update.

Fortnite leaked respawn beacon — An upcoming respawn mechanic in Fortnite might look like this.

So who wins when two titans duke it out, trying to endlessly one-up each other?

We do!

A new free contender in the battle royale genre? That just means more opportunities to hop online and see which game we like better! In the end, that’s kind of the best way to look at things: Neither game is objectively better than the other; they both offer different facets to the experience.

Comparing Fortnite to Apex Legends

Graphics

Apex Legends is obliquely set in the Titanfall universe, and carries some of the grit and more realistic character models with it. Fortnite fully embraces its unique visual aesthetic, and bumps the zaniness to 11 with players running around dabbing, riding chicken parachutes, and dressed as bananas.

Perspective

Fortnite plays in 3rd-person, while Apex Legends is the more classic 1st-person shooter. This means the player perspective in Apex Legends in smaller, and their view cone thinner. As with the graphics, Apex Legends is trying to push for a more realistic, less arcade experience.

Fortnite has building

Fortnite building — There is no building or resource mining in Apex Legends

Players making the switch from Fortnite to Apex Legends will immediately notice the lack of a building mechanic. Some will be frustrated with the limited mobility (Apex doesn’t have vehicles, either), but others will glad to return to the genre’s shooter roots without having to worry about building battles or resource acquisition.

Apex legends has classes

Apex Legends characters — Eight classes, eight play styles. More are on the way.

Apex Legends has eight (with more incoming) different Legends you can play as, each with their own unique perks and passives. This dramatically changes player encounters, and adds a fresh element to the mix (though Fortnite players might argue that building served much the same purpose).

Apex Legends ultimate character guide

Who's your favorite Legend?

Squad gameplay is mandatory in Apex Legends

Apex Legends champion squad — The strength of the pack is the wolf, the strength of the wolf is the pack.

Sure, you can free fall onto a different part of the map than your buddies, but that happens pretty rarely. In Apex Legends you’re not alone; you’re on a squad of three players who are your only chance of getting back into the fight if you’re downed or killed. This offers a (weighted) chance to get back in the ring that many players will be excited to have, but other players may find it frustrating to kill the same players multiple times per game.

Fortnite has more people per match

Apex Legends free fall drop — Since Apex Legends isn’t a free-for-all, there are fewer players

There are 100 players in a Fortnite Battle Royale match, and there are only 60 players per match of Apex Legends, a little over half the people, and therefore half the chaos. Combine that with the fact that many players go solo in Fortnite, and you’re looking at a much more frenetic experience.

Cosmetics

Fortnite dance emotes — We’re probably not going to see Caustic or Wraith ‘swipin’ it.’

Like Fortnite, Apex Legends is 100% free to play, but offers aesthetic upgrades to player skins, weapon skins, finishers, and emotes. Fortnite’s got a huge array of character customization, ranging from cool, to pop culture references, to absolutely ludicrous. Everyone’s got a lot of personality in Fortnite, and so far that’s not the case with Apex Legends. This comes as the result of Apex Legends already having eight established and fully voice-acted characters, though.

Apex Legends trailer Mirage Wraith Pathfinder — Each Legend has a fully voice-acted personality.

Right now Fortnite also has the advantage of multiple game modes, a larger community, and most importantly a name and culture behind it. Apex had a great launch and established themselves as a true competitor to Fortnite, but Fortnite is a game that’s held that top spot for years. Given the huge cultural phenomenon that Fortnite has become – and moreover, its continued popularity this long after launch – it’s not going to be that easy for Apex Legends to swoop in and steal the crown.

Fortnite Free Download

In the meantime, enjoy the fruits of the competing companies’ labors, and drop into whichever game is your favorite. Let us know in the comments below which game that is, and we’ll see you online!

PuBG vs Fortnite: Which is better?

Which should you play?

Apex Legends beginner tips

Ready to jump into Apex Legends? Here’s all you need to know.

Unless you’ve been living under a rock the past few weeks, you’ll have heard about Apex Legends: Respawn Entertainment’s new battle royale game published by EA. During the company’s development of Titanfall, the sudden success of battle royale games like Fortnite and PUBG, the dev team decided to take the genre into their own hands and the concept of Apex Legends was born. Like Fortnite, Apex Legends is free and can be downloaded with an Origin account literally right now. Get the game here, join the crowd of over 5 million gamers, and see what the buzz is about!

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Apex Legends is a new take on the battle royale genre, so it’s got a lot of familiar elements if you’ve played a game like Fortnite before. It’s a king-of-the-hill, one-versus-many, survive-to-win type deal where the battlefield shrinks as the match goes on, forcing players into an inevitable confrontation for that elusive top spot. Games start with the typical free fall into a vast map filled with varying tiers of loot and gear, and your success is not dependent so much on your killstreaks and aim, but more on your ability to survive and to know when to strike.

Apex Legends drop — Fortnite players will be familiar with this view

What’s different from Fortnite?

Apex Legends Bangalore — Bangalore uses smoke grenades and airstrikes to root out enemy teams.

The biggest difference between Apex Legends and Fortnite is that Apex Legends requires you to play on a three-person squad. While Fortnite’s battle royale mode allowed for this as well, Apex Legends endeavors to start you off with a full trio each drop. This is to emphasize the second biggest change from Fortnite: Apex Legends has a class system with eight different playable “legends.”

We’ll get more into their unique skills a little further down. Other broad differences include basic movement, pinging, respawning (which has limitations). Fortnite fans will also immediately notice the building mechanic has been removed entirely from the experience. Will some master builders will be sad to see the element gone, others will be happy to see a more classic FPS experience.

Now that the basic differences are out of the way, let’s dive in.

10 tips to get you started in Apex Legends

1. Know your character, know your team

Like we mentioned before, Apex Legends features eight different classes, each of which is unique and plays very differently than the others. If you play Pathfinder the same way you play Gibraltar you’re going to do poorly against more experienced players. For the patient players, the best way to find your favorite class is to simply play the game a lot. Get the feel for each, then decide which are your favorites.

Apex Legends Bloodhound — Bloodhound excels at recon and tracking.

For the less patient, you can get a quick overview of each character’s three abilities (as well as their aesthetic customizations) under the “legends” tab on the main menu. Once you’re familiar with the characters and their abilities, try and think a little more macro as your team chooses their classes: How does your character benefit from theirs? How can you enhance their play style? What items should you prioritize, and which ones are better given to someone else?

Bangalore, for example, can use a sniper rifle, but she’s probably better off with a shotgun or SMG. Save the sniper rifle for Pathfinder and the Ultimate Accelerant for Lifeline.

Apex Legends ultimate character guide

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2. Slide

Movement is huge in Apex Legends, and the difference between a stationary target and one that is moving and sliding is night and day. If you tap “crouch” while sprinting, you’ll begin to baseball slide along the ground. This is a great way to evade gunfire, but more importantly is a way faster way to get around, particularly in more vertical areas of the map.

Apex Legends tutorial slide — Experience players spend more time sliding than shooting.

You can also slide way further than you’d think at first glance, which pretty much ensures that Respawn wanted this to be an integral part of the game. Next time you’re in a hurry or are under fire, stop sprinting and start sliding!

3. Holster your guns

An unusually realistic aspect of Apex Legends is that your characters can sprint much faster if their weapons are unequipped. As long as you’re not in a firefight you’re probably better off leaving your gun in its holster. You’ll move significantly faster, and as we said before, you’ll spend way more time moving during a match than you will firing your gun.

Apex Legends sprint weapon away — If you’re going to be running for a while, holster your weapon.

It’s also worth mentioning that while putting your gun away will increase your speed, all characters move and sprint at the same speed. You wouldn’t think it at first glance, but Caustic and Gibraltar can run every bit as fast as Bangalore or Lifeline.

4. Ping

Since Apex Legends capitalizes on teamwork and communication, the ping system is a huge component to your team’s success and survival. You can ping practically anything in the game – locations, enemies, weapons, armor, supply crates, and drop spots. If there’s something you see that’s worth mentioning, you’re always better safe than sorry. If you see it, ping it. This is especially true if you don’t want it or if you see that your teammate needs it.

Apex Legends ping tutorial — Ping items, enemies, and locations so your teammates can see them.

You can help yourself out by doing this, too. If you open up your inventory you can ping a bunch of different components, such as shields, health, ammo, or armor – even weapon attachments. This will alert your teammates that you’re actively searching for something. If they see it while scavenging, they might just ping it to let you know it’s up for grabs.

Apex Legends ping inventory — Open your inventory and ping items to tell teammates you’re searching for them.

5. Relocate with balloons

Scattered around the map are big red balloons. At any time you can go up to one, zip up the rope, and propel yourself back into the air, just like you did at the start of the match.

Apex Legends balloon — Activate these to launch yourself back up into the air.

This is handy if you’re trying to relocate quickly, or if you suddenly find yourself outside the ring. Be careful, though; you’re a pretty obvious target to anyone looking up.

6. Break the loot bots

While you’re scrambling for loot, you should also be on the lookout for loot bots. They’re typically found indoors tucked away in corners or behind staircases. Strike them with your melee attack and watch the leveled goodies burst out.

Apex Legends loot boxes — These are the piñatas of Apex Legends

7. Stick with your squad

Everything is awesome. Everything is cool when you’re part of a team. Apex Legends is meant to be a team-based battle royale, as opposed to the typical free-for-all. Character abilities work best in conjunction with each other, and pinging objects that are nearby is far more useful than pinging something across the map.

Apex Legends squad — Don’t play the lone wolf in Apex Legends. It means no one has your back.

Let’s also state the obvious: If you get surrounded by three enemy players with higher-tier loot than you, you’re probably going to die. Having teammates available to flank enemies, revive you when you’re downed, or trade supplies with you is a huge help.

8. Mod your weapons

There are dozens of weapons in Apex Legends, and all of them support modifications that you can find lying around the map. Sometimes they’ll alter the way your scope looks, sometimes it’ll extend your clip size, sometimes it will even completely change the way your gun fires. Before you throw away an upgraded gun for one that you just like better, weigh your choice carefully.

Apex Legends weapons — Modifications lying around the map come in different tiers too.

Some attachments like the Selectfire Receiver can even transform a burst-fire gun into a fully automatic weapon, which opens up entirely new possibilities for tactical weapon pairings.

Apex Legends Selectfire Receiver — The Selectfire Receiver allows you to select different firing options

9. Damage is color-coded

By default, Apex Legends has hovering numbers over enemies as you shoot them. These numbers obviously indicate how much damage you’re doing to them, but it actually tells you more: The color of these numbers indicates what tier of armor they have equipped – white, gold, blue, or purple. If the numbers are gold it means you’ve scored a headshot.

Apex Legends colored fire indicator — Switch ‘stacking’ to ‘floating’ under the Settings menu for a accurate damage output reading.

The higher-tier shields do not offer superior damage negation, by the way; it just means the shield will last longer. If you see purple, go for it.

10. Crates are color-coded, too

Lastly, when you defeat an enemy the color of their crate will match the level of the highest-tier loot they were carrying. If the crate is blue, for example, it means they were running around with that some form or other of gear at that level.

Apex Legends legendary crate — If you see a gold crate it means this player had a legendary item you can take.

If you’re in a hurry, prioritize searching crates that are purple or gold first. You can always ping these crates to return to them later, or so your teammates can find them.

As a final word, don’t be afraid if you end up head-to-head with high-level players. Their banners might show outrageous killstreaks or rare armor, but this actually has no bearing on their combat efficiency; it simply means they’re more experienced players. With the exception of Mirage and Caustic, the only unlockables in Apex Legends are aesthetics for your character, guns, finishers and emotes – none of which have any effect on how much damage your weapons do, or how much health you have on the battlefield.

Apex Legends Devotion LMG weapon skin — Weapon skins are nothing more than aesthetic changes.

So there you go! Hopefully, our beginner guide will help ease you into Apex Legends, and let us know in the comments below anything you’ve found helpful in your matches. Stay tuned, and we’ll see you online!

How to win Black Ops 4’s blackout mode

Ready to try the latest battle royale craze?

Blackout is the standout new multiplayer mode in Call of Duty: Black Ops 4. While it’s a familiar experience for fans of Fortnite and PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, it features the tight gunplay and fast-paced action that Call of Duty is famous for, providing a fresh experience. The mode combines essential parts of the Call of Duty experience, like perks, with vehicles, futuristic equipment, and even zombies.

Trying to score your first victory royale? Here are some tips to help you knock out the competition.

How to win Black Ops 4’s blackout mode

Know the map

Blackout’s map is smaller than both PUBG’s and Fortnite’s. With fewer named locations, it’s vitally important to know the ins and outs of every major spot. The helicopter that you start in also flies closer to the edges than the bus in Fortnite, so be prepared to learn the edges of the map in addition to the center.

Certain locations have already proved popular with players, including Firing Range, Train Station, and obviously, Nuketown Island. Be extremely careful when landing in these locations, as there will almost always be multiple people landing there with you. However, if you want to directly practice your shooting skills, it’s recommended to land in these locations instead of hiding somewhere more obscure.

I believe I can fly

Jumping and landing is a much different process than landing in Fortnite or PUBG. In those games, you usually want to wait for the plane/bus to fly close to and parallel to the location you’re aiming for. This does not apply to Blackout, as with careful timing, you can fly almost anywhere you want from any point.

After you figure out where you want to land, jump as soon as possible. Dive straight down until you hit a speed of 70, then immediately pitch up hard. If done correctly, this should level you out, allowing you to carry your momentum and fly fast and far to your destination.

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Prioritize your loot

It’s important to prioritize certain types of loot; the type you’re aiming for depends on how far you are into the game. Once you land, your absolutely immediate priority is finding a gun, so ignore all other pickups until you find a gun right away. Finding a gun before someone nearby does can mean the difference between a 30-second game and a victory royale.

After you find a gun and are relatively safe, focus on finding armor and healing items. Armor comes in three tiers, and level 3 armor is the only one that gives your head protection. Regarding healing items, if you find trauma kits use them right away. Trauma kits are the only healing items that give you bonus health, even when your health bar is full. It’s also important to note that unlike other games, you can heal while sprinting.

For other loot like equipment, attachments, and perks, try to synergize them based on your weapon loadout. For example, if you have two assault rifles, put a powerful scope on one of them and a reflex sight on the other so that you can be effective at multiple ranges. When you find perks, you should usually just use them right away (as long as you’re safe). Most perks last for several minutes, so it’s better to be safe than sorry.

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Embrace the undead

As if dozens of other players weren’t trouble enough, Blackout also features zombies! Don’t fret if you see them, though, because they drop amazing loot like modded assault rifles and even the ray gun!

When fighting them, use strategies you would typically use in Zombies mode, like staying mobile and making sure your back isn’t exposed. Zombies appear in specific locations, such as Asylum (based on the Zombies map Verruckt) and Lighthouse.

Additionally, pay attention to the sky, as you’ll sometimes be able to see giant blue beams. These beams reveal the presence of mystery boxes, which grant you powerful weapons and items. They’re always guarded by a horde of zombies, however, and they must be eradicated for you to open the box. Unfortunately, that hellish laughing teddy bear from Zombies is also back, and it will teleport the box somewhere else if you use it too much.

Have you won a Blackout game? Any tips we missed? Let us know!