Apex Legends

Respawn Entertainment · Electronic Arts

Apex Legends is Respawn Entertainment's free-to-play battle royale, released in 2019 and set in the Titanfall universe. Squads drop onto an island, loot weapons and gear, and fight to be the last team standing. What makes Apex stand out is its speed, its movement and its cast of legends, each with their own abilities. Respawn designed Apex around teamwork. Every legend has a passive ability, a tactical and an ultimate: Bloodhound scans for enemies, Lifeline heals, Wraith opens portals. A good squad combines them. Downed teammates can be revived, and even fully eliminated teammates can be brought back by collecting their banner and taking it to a respawn beacon. That keeps friends involved longer than in harsher battle royales. The ping system, which lets you mark enemies, loot and locations with one button, is so good that many other shooters copied it. It means you can play effectively even without voice chat, though sitting next to your squad at a cafe is better still. PC is the most common choice for Apex at cafes, ideally a monitor at 144Hz or faster with a good mouse. PS5 is excellent too, especially for players who like aim assist. The game also runs on Switch, but it looks and performs worse there. You will need an EA account; Steam works on PC. Getting better quickly. Pick an easy legend first: Bangalore and Lifeline are straightforward. Always pick up a shield and swap to a stronger one when you can, and carry heals. Stick within shouting distance of your squad; a lone player in Apex is easy prey. And learn to slide down hills and climb walls, because movement wins fights. How long does it take? Matches last up to roughly 20 minutes if your team survives to the end. Mixtape modes such as team deathmatch are shorter. One hour gives a squad several drops; two hours lets you warm up and try ranked. Apex is rated T and suits trios of friends who like fast, movement-heavy shooting with strong team tools.