You know the feeling, right? It’s like when the US makes a facsimile of your favourite UK show, or your most cherished childhood book gets the Hollywood treatment. You’re excited, because getting more of something you love can never be a bad thing. But you’re nervous, too, because the reason why you love it may be different to the reason others do. I get that same sense of uneasy delight each time I find out a game I love gets a port or a remaster. I’m at once both giddy and a touch apprehensive, and I’ve learned – mostly the hard way – to hold my giddiness firmly in check when a favourite franchise gets the mobile treatment.
In Respawn’s defence, Apex Legends Mobile isn’t a port. Built from the ground up for mobile, Respawn takes all I love about its irrepressible battle royale – its striking style, excellent sound design, fabulous cast, and delightful gunplay – and wraps it up in flashy new threads designed specifically for mobile devices. Not all of it lands – particularly its cluttered UI and complex progression and currency systems; more on those later – but there’s a lot to enjoy here, even if you’re new to playing shooters on mobile.
For those unfamiliar with Apex Legends, it’s an enjoyable twist on the team-based battle royale formula, offering the usual scramble for weapons, a shrinking ring, and battle to the death, albeit with a charming roster of characters – Legends – that each sport their own special abilities. The majority of them are well-balanced and bring something different to the battlefield, depending upon your comfort zone and gunplay preferences.
