Across the United States, stores deemed non-essential are closing — either voluntarily or by government order — to help keep people safe and limit the spread of the outbreak of COVID-19. But employees at video game retailer GameStop claim managers and corporate executives are failing to comply with these ordinances, and GameStop has confirmed to IGN its intention to keep stores open as “essential” businesses.
A representative for GameStop has since confirmed to IGN via email that the corporation is keeping stores open as an “essential business” during the pandemic, citing a list of items GameStop sells that the company deems to be “essential” products. The list of items provided to IGN includes webcams, microphones, mice, keyboard, monitors, chargers, audio equipment, and more. No specific games or game consoles are listed.
IGN obtained internal memos sent from GameStop corporate informing them that stores should remain open despite the pandemic (as first reported by Kotaku).
“Due to the products we carry that enable and enhance our customers’ experience in working from home, we believe GameStop is classified as essential retail and therefore is able to remain open during this time.”
The internal memo provided to IGN also informs employees what to do in case local authorities attempt to close the store. “We have received reports of local authorities visiting stores in an attempt to enforce closure despite our classification. Store managers are approved to provide the document linked below to law enforcement as needed,” the notice reads.
The memo then links to a simple printout that directs questions about GameStop’s policies to its corporate office phone number.
“GameStop corporate is putting its employees at risk of COVID-19,” one concerned GameStop employee claimed to IGN. “They aren’t closing stores and they aren’t offering paid time off. They are still pushing their employees to advertise events at their stores that will draw crowds of people.” GameStop has since canceled midnight launches for Doom Eternal and Animal Crossing: New Horizons. GameStop also announced it will sell Doom Eternal early to help keep crowds small.
Another GameStop employee located in a city that recently ordered non-essential businesses to close also reached out to IGN about their concerns. “We are not getting cleaning supplies. But GameStop is still telling its guests we are getting them and cleaning high traffic surfaces,” the anonymous employee said.
One of the main complaints from employees is the alleged difficulty in getting clear answers from GameStop’s corporate office. Despite multiple daily correspondences with GameStop corporate, employees reportedly did not receive answers on whether they would have to close their stores or not. Furthermore, it’s been difficult for employees to figure out how they might be affected financially if their stores are closed, according to our sources.
One GameStop employee working in a county that declared a “Bunker in place” order, which closed non-essential businesses for several weeks revealed how difficult it was to communicate with GameStop on how to handle the situation.
“Our corporate representatives notified us hourly of how GameStop would proceed.” However, they claimed that GameStop told employees of the store to ‘continue business as usual.’” Multiple sources have also told IGN that GameStop corporate is using phone calls so as to not leave a paper trail.
One California-based GameStop employee told IGN that GameStop is utilizing a section in a ‘Shelter in Place’ order that exempts “Essential Infrastructure” to remain open during a lockdown.
Some items have been difficult to procure during the COVID-19 emergency. Items like toilet paper and cleaning supplies have been scarce since emergency lockdowns have come in place across the country.
As for webcams and keyboards, businesses like IGN do require these for our production needs. As IGN’s senior director of video production Dave Toole says,
“We haven’t had any issues finding mic setups using sources like B&H (Photo, Video, and Pro Audio), but quality webcams have been impossible to find. We had to pull webcams from IGN’s conferences, using the Logitech c922 as a minimum benchmark in quality.”
However, these aren’t items that should require people under lockdown or shelter in place orders to leave their social distancing. This is more applicable to items like groceries, pharmacies, and even take-out delivery.
Simon Pegg and Nick Frost parodied Shaun of the Dead in a new coronavirus PSA.
In a video uploaded to Pegg and Frost’s production company’s YouTube channel, Pegg and Frost are seen planning what to do during the coronavirus pandemic over the phone. Throughout the video, they repeat lines of dialogue and mimic their characters from the classic British comedy, particularly the scene where the characters are figuring out their first steps in the zombie apocalypse.
“Hey, so what’s the plan?,” Frost starts in the video. “Right. Call Mom, make sure she’s okay. If Philip has been affected, follow the NHS guidelines to the letter,” Pegg responds.
Pegg orders Frost not to go to the Winchester, which is the fictional bar from the movie. “Even if it’s shut?,” Frost asks. “Especially if it’s closed. Remember what happened the last time,” Pegg replies.
Shaun of the Dead was Frost and Pegg’s first movie collaboration and was directed by Edgar Wright. The three of them would reteam on Hot Fuzz and The World’s End. They last acted with each other in the 2018 comedy Slaughterhouse Rulez.
Petey Oneto is a freelance writer for IGN who highly recommends Fighting with My Family starring Florence Pugh and Nick Frost. One of the most underrated movies from the last few years. It’s streaming on Hulu and Amazon Prime in the USA.
GameStop has issued a memo to its stores instructing them to remain open during the coronavirus outbreak, even if that policy defies state orders. According to the note, if authorities attempt to shut down the games retailer by deeming them “non-essential,” managers are to respond that the company views it as “essential retail.” The instructions included a flyer to hand to law enforcement in case the need arises.
Vice reports that the memo was verified by five employees. The retail chain’s reasoning is that it sells products that are helpful during this time when customers are being ordered to maintain social distancing. (Note that GameStop sells more than just video games.) However, continuing to remain open at all runs contrary to social distancing, and employees will need to interface with several customers, posing a potential public health risk.
“Due to the products we carry that enable and enhance our customers’ experience in working from home, we believe GameStop is classified as essential retail and therefore is able to remain open during this time,” the memo states. “We have received reports of local authorities visiting stores in an attempt to enforce closure despite our classification. Store managers are approved to provide the document linked below to law enforcement as needed.”
Though many states have issued guidance for citizens to practice social distancing and avoid large crowds, a few like Nevada, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey have issued orders to shut down non-essential businesses. Some retailers have announced temporary shutdowns voluntarily, but GameStop has planned to remain open. This comes during a big week for the industry with the dual launches of Animal Crossing: New Horizons and Doom Eternal. To mitigate crowds, the retailer canceled midnight launch events and staggered its sale dates for each game, going so far as to begin selling Doom a day early.
Shortly after the internal memo made the rounds online, GameStop published a list of action it’s taken to reduce risks.
We are working diligently during this unprecedented time to provide our customers & associates with the safest environment possible. Please see below for details on new changes we are enacting & click here for our full statement: https://t.co/qP9jDQUmjspic.twitter.com/d99kxviz7Q
Update March 19, 2020: ComiXology has just extended its free trial from 30 to 60 days. Sign up now, and you won’t be charged for two months. The article below has been edited to that effect.
One great way to pass the downtime we’re all experiencing is by catching up on all the comic books you’ve been meaning to read. To do that in the least expensive way possible, you can start a free 60-day trial of ComiXology Unlimited. It’s basically Netflix for comics, offering unlimited access to more comics than you could probably ever read. Even at the regular price of $5.99 per month, it’s one of the best deals around. But with the 60-day trial, there’s no reason not to give it a shot, especially if you’re going to be stuck inside for the foreseeable future.
ComiXology Unlimited offers access to over 20,000 digital comics, graphic novels, and manga from companies like Marvel, DC, Dark Horse, and more. That’s the best thing about it — it’s not limited to one publisher, like some other comic subscription services. It’s also cheaper than most others. If you’re wondering where to start, check out our 25 comics to binge on ComiXology Unlimited.
Amazon owns ComiXology, so you can use your Amazon credentials to sign in, giving you one less password to keep track of. If you don’t want to continue the subscription after the free trial, you can cancel any time, including before you receive the first bill. This deal is about as risk-free as it gets.
In addition to access to over 20,000 comics, subscribing to ComiXology Unlimited also gets you 10 to 15 percent off all books from Marvel, DC, Dark Horse, and more publishers, including new releases. Depending on your buying habits, the subscription can pay for itself each month.
All of the comics on the platform are accessible from the iOS, Android, and Kindle Fire apps. You can download them for offline reading. They look great on phones and tablets. Again, if you’re interested in catching up on tons of comics, there’s no reason not to give ComiXology Unlimited a shot.
As the coronavirus pandemic continues to spread, one risk to emergency service providers is a shortage of supplies like the face masks that keep them safe as they treat patients. The gaming hardware and accessory manufacturer Razer is planning to step in and do its part, by shifting some of its production capacity to make and donate up to one million surgical masks.
In a thread on Twitter (via Kotaku), CEO Min-Liang Tan said that designers and engineers at the company have been working long hours to convert their production lines to make the surgical masks. It’s starting with Singapore where Razer is headquartered, and regional offices will be reaching out to government and health authorities to plan how it will prioritize the distribution of the masks.
“All of us have a part to play and we should be doing whatever we can with the situation getting more serious,” Tan says. “This emergency conversion of some of our lines and donation of masks is the first step of many that will take. We are committed to contributing our extra time, resources, effort and talent toward the fight against COVID-19.”
Over the past few days, our designers and engineers have been working 24-hour shifts to convert some of our existing manufacturing lines to produce surgical masks so that we can donate them to countries around the world.
The rest of our Razer global/regional offices will also be reaching out to their respective governments/health authorities to see how we can prioritize our support and donations of surgical masks in the various countries and regions where we have a presence.
Hospitals have sounded the alarm in recent days that they’re already seeing shortages of some supplies like face masks as the outbreak expands. The Department of Defense is donating 5 million surgical masks, and 2,000 ventilators to hospitals, and Vice President Mike Pence has called on the construction industry to donate even more masks.
“Et in Arcadia Ego” — now that’s a fancy-ass name for an episode of Star Trek. But what does it mean? Et in Arcadia ego is a French Baroque painting by Nicolas Poussin which — to boil it down for you — basically is about the inevitability of death. The title translates to “Even in Arcadia, there am I,” with Arcadia being a utopian land and death being “I.” Essentially, even in paradise, you can’t escape death. (And thanks, Google, for explaining that to me so that I could explain it here!)
So obviously this is a reference to the android utopia that Soji comes from, and that the Picard Squad finally discover in this episode. It’s a land where golden-hued androids hang around in loose-fitting clothes, not unlike the residents of that love-planet in the cringe-worthy Next Generation episode “Justice.” It’s a place where we meet the human “brother” who Data never knew — the son of Dr. Soong — who is also played, of course, by Brent Spiner. And it’s the planet where, finally, there will be a reckoning between the organics and the synthetics. Even death will visit utopia.
But first, how did we get here? Basically via a space battle between La Sirena’s crew and Narek, which is interrupted first by the awesome arrival of the Borg cube — formerly, at this point I guess, known as the Artifact — and then by giant space orchids reaching out from Planet Android below to put an end to the fight and pull all the ships down to the surface. There are plenty of cool moments here, but the space orchids must be commended for their sheer weirdness. They’re reminiscent, in a way, of the living ship from the Next Gen episode “Tin Man” — non-technology-based space vessels of a sort.
Unfortunately, once we’re planet-bound, things get a little wonky. It’s lovely to see Seven of Nine and Elnor again, and Seven’s decision to show up with the newly re-armed Borg ship to help Picard restores some of her hero cred that was lost when she killed that woman in cold blood a few weeks back. But just as quickly as she’s introduced, we leave her behind. As for Elnor, he’s probably gotten the least development out of all of the Picard Squad, being shuffled from place to place and paired with a different new character every couple of weeks. Surely these two will show up in the season finale next week, probably to save the day at a critical moment, but setting that up here only to drop them seems anticlimactic.
As for the episode Picard has on the bridge of La Sirena, it’s apparently a symptom of his illness, though it’s hard to get why the Squad would be so upset about it (aside from Raffi) since most of them hardly know him anyway. But still, it gives us a great line from Picard, and words to live by: “Anyone who treats me like a dying man will run the risk of pissing me off.”
When we finally find the android colony, it does come dangerously close to veering into “Justice” or first-act Logan’s Run territory, a depiction of a paradise where no one would ever really want to live because it looks so saccharine and boring. And the reveal of Spiner’s new character feels like it could be an interesting turn of events, but he’s quickly put on the backburner with little explanation of how or why he got involved with Maddox. We’re still not even clear, for that matter, on how all these androids were created.
The other dramatic character reveal here is of the other Soji/Dahj-type android, Sutra. For some reason this scene is shot in such a manner that Picard is off by himself while the rest of the Squad are having a meet-and-greet with Soong. This way, a mysterious figure can dramatically approach Picard from behind… before we find out it’s another version of Soji/Dahj. But why wouldn’t Picard be with everyone else, debriefing Soong? It’s just weirdly shot and staged and doesn’t work or make any sense. (Another odd moment comes earlier when Picard and Seven are discussing Hugh’s death and then Picard abruptly changes the subject so they can discuss a control station or some nonsense on the cube. Bye Hugh, nice knowing ya!)
Anyway, Sutra breaks out the Vulcan mind meld and determines that the Admonition that has the Romulans all worked up is actually an offer from some ancient artificial intelligence out there to protect synthetics against the threat of the organics. If you build it, they will come, apparently.
Soji, meanwhile, continues to be a difficult character to get a handle on. She just seems to go from life-altering revelation to life-altering revelation with little character growth. At times she feels like little more than a plot device — a MacGuffin with dialogue. This isn’t the fault of Isa Briones, who gives it her all week after week, reacting best she can to Soji’s changing status quo, but rather a failing of the writing.
Interestingly, by episode’s end we’ve reached the point where Sutra is now essentially taking the same stance as Commodore Oh — it’s us or them. And that includes not just the Romulans but also the Federation…
Questions and Notes from the Q Continuum:
Picard says curse words now.
Why do they keep giving away in the opening credits when someone is making a surprise appearance, like with Brent Spiner here?
An android using a Vulcan trick is not new; Data broke out the nerve pinch back on Next Generation.
Is this Dr. Soong also dying? And what was that body he was building in his lab?
Raffi’s “I love you” moment with Picard is nice, as is Picard’s back-at-you reply. I wouldn’t have bought the Picard of 25 years ago saying that, but here I do.
Narek is working at optimal sniveling liar mode this week.
Spot #2! I don’t understand, Counselor. I am happy to see Spot… and yet I am crying.
Those new Romulan warbirds Oh is commanding are pretty hot.
Epic has been giving away free PC games on a weekly basis since December 2018, but the distraction feels needed more than ever these days. The latest pair of free games—The Stanley Parable and Watch Dogs–are available to claim now, but Epic has also revealed the two games we can look forward to snagging next week. Figment and Tormenter x Punisher will be free starting March 26 at 8 AM PT / 11 AM ET until April 2. To claim any Epic free games, you just need a free account, and afterward, they’ll be yours to keep.
Figment is a gorgeous action-adventure game with hand-drawn environments and a fantastic soundtrack. It takes you on a trip through the human mind, which is illustrated with trippy, colorful visuals reminiscent of M.C. Escher and Dalí. You’ll take control of a mopey drunk named Dusty, who must navigate this strange world fighting nightmarish enemies who aim to spread fear and overcome mental obstacles, growing into a heroic guardian by the end. The game earned a 7/10 in GameSpot’s Figment review.
“Figment is at once lighthearted and deep. It reminds us that dark things may lurk underneath otherwise pleasant surfaces, that grumpy egos may populate the shuttered houses of an otherwise beautiful mind,” wrote critic Leif Johnson. “Sometimes Figment seems a little too silly for its ambitions, but that frivolity never manages to fully drown out its overarching message–that if we persevere and have a little faith in our abilities, things will likely turn out well in the long run. Or, at least, we’ll learn how to live with the pain.”
You’ll also be able to snag Tormenter x Punisher, which is great if you like to let out stress by playing a chaotic, fast-paced video game. Tormenter x Punisher is a top-down action game where all enemies can be killed in one hit–including bosses and yourself. You’ll have to survive the onslaught of enemies, which adapt to your play style, and get new upgrades by killing demons in creative ways. We haven’t reviewed this one, but it currently has a Very Positive 9/10 rating on Steam, so it’s worth grabbing while it’s free next week.
Following the reveal of Overwatch‘s newest Damage hero Echo, game director Jeff Kaplan said Blizzard has “multiple tanks and supports in development,” addressing concerns relating to role availability.
Kaplan made the comment in a recent developer livestream, where he noted the number of Damage characters Overwatch has when compared to other roles. As it stands, there are 17 Damage heroes, eight Tanks, and seven Supports in total. Overwatch’s roster, with the inclusion of Echo, is 53% damage-focused.
“I know a lot of people are going to be like, ‘Oh my gosh, she should have been a support,'” Kaplan said. “We have multiple tanks and supports in development. So we know that more Tanks and supports are needed, and we want to deliver on those too.”
Lead designer Geoff Goodman added: “The original idea was to keep her support, and then you’d be able to do this full clone ability that she has now. But then, pretty quickly, we realized that ultimate is really cool, but it’s not really going to work as a support, because I don’t think you really want your healer to suddenly become a tank or DPS, and now you don’t have a healer. Whereas somebody in the DPS role is much more flexible. Now you have a tank, now you have a healer. So it feels like, if we’re going to do that kind of thing with swapping roles, you probably should start in the damage category. So that’s when we started going down to the damage route and developed the rest of her kit to support that.”
With Overwatch now using a role queue system in its main multiplayer modes, those seeking to play Damage face much longer wait times than those playing Support or Tank as the game searches for roles to fill out. Blizzard is testing out an experimental card with modifiers that “might be awesome or might not ever make it past the ‘Experimental’ stage,” according to community manager Josh Nash. This could be used to alleviate issues with team and role composition. The first experiment being tested, which went live on February 25 on all platforms, is a “Triple Damage” mode that sees the current 2-2-2 hero queue system replaced with one Tank, three Damage, and two Support.
Blizzard had been teasing Echo for a while now, using the name “Liao” as a means to set up Overwatch’s 32nd hero. Since her announcement, we’ve learned that Mina Liao is an artificial intelligence researcher who programmed Echo to help the world and battle alongside the Overwatch team. We went hands-on with her during an Overwatch preview event, where we discovered that even though Echo is a Damage hero, she can fit just about any situation with devastating effect.
It’s unclear when these new Tank and Support characters will make it into the game, particularly as Blizzard continues development on Overwatch 2. Around the time the sequel was announced, Kaplan confirmed another hero that is in development: Sojourn. With Overwatch 2 development underway, Blizzard said the two games will share DNA, meaning most of everything will carry over between Overwatch and Overwatch 2. Further, Overwatch will continue to receive new content alongside Overwatch 2.
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The latest Call of Duty from Infinity Ward shipped without an answer to Black Ops 4’s Blackout, but it has since been supplemented by Warzone–a completely standalone battle royale built off of the backbone of Modern Warfare. Not only is it a smarter way to ensure it’s not tied to each annual release in the series, but Warzone gives the series its own identity within the competitive genre.
It might not be apparent at first, though, especially when you take into consideration how much Warzone borrows from other popular battle royale games. It incorporates a ping system similar to the one in Apex Legends, letting you tag enemy positions, points of interest, and loot for teammates at the press of a button (albeit mapped to a button that’s harder to reach quickly, mitigating some of its convenience). It plays out on a massive map akin to PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, where large swathes of open land are ripe for snipers while dense suburbs make for exhilarating and chaotic close-quarters skirmishes. And like the ones in Fortnite, color-coded chests overflowing with loot are easy to hunt down when you are within earshot of their signature emanating jingle.
None of these competitors are defined solely by the elements Warzone borrows from them, and Warzone isn’t defined by the sum of their parts. Instead, Warzone uses them to establish a solid foundation for its own distinct elements. It starts with a larger player count than the aforementioned battle royale games, with Warzone currently supporting up to 150 players per match, with modes for three-person squads or solo play. Having so many players active at once keeps you constantly on alert, but also increases the odds that you’ll at least have some action (and likely a handful of kills) each match. This makes even some of the least successful drops feel worthwhile–even if your entire match lasts only a handful of minutes, you’ll likely get some valuable time in with some weapons, better preparing you for another fight in the next match.
You’re likely to feel right at home with many areas of Warzone’s map, too, if you’ve already been playing Modern Warfare. Many of its named areas use identical layouts as those in Modern Warfare proper as well as previous installments, so you can navigate them using muscle memory–and they’re intuitive enough to learn from scratch, too. Breaking up large swathes of dangerously open fields are dense and cramped suburbs filled with tall high-rises or mazes of storage rooms. It’s easy to lose pursuers in the twisting streets of Downtown or hide in the large industrial factories of the Lumberyard, rewarding your memory of their respective layouts as you turn an ambush into an opportunity to attack. Large buildings can get frustrating with their long stairwells as loot is only hidden on the ground and top floors, but even these force you to think about what advantages you might reap with the extra elevation against the disadvantages of trapping yourself in a narrow hallway to get there first.
Warzone minimizes downtime, encouraging you to get into a fight with an aggressively fast closing circle and streamlined mechanics governing your loot. Unlike most other games in the genre, Warzone doesn’t task you with micro-managing items in a limited-space backpack. Instead, you have pre-defined slots of ammunition types, armour-plating, and cash. The rest of your loadout works identically to a standard Modern Warfare multiplayer match–you have two weapon slots, one lethal grenade and one utility grenade slot each, and one slot for field equipment (perks like FMJ ammunition, recon drones, and more).
Weapons drop with attachments already equipped based on their overall rarity (this ranges from the stock white drops to fully kitted-out orange ones), and there’s no option to customize them outside of what they already feature. This makes early looting extremely quick. It’s easy to find two suitable primary weapons and stockpile some ammunition early on, which lets you focus more on hunting other players than staying out of sight in pursuit of attachments to your gear. It also feeds into Warzone’s changes to both an in-game economy and its principles around respawning, both of which benefit from allowing you to go from your starting pistol to battle-ready in a few minutes flat.
Cash is central to Warzone’s spin on the genre. You earn cash by looting it, killing other players, or completing small optional objectives (such as hunting down another player or securing an area for a short time). Buy stations are littered around the map, and if you have the cash, you can spend it on useful killsteaks like UAVs, airstrikes, and shield turrets–but also on useful gear like additional armour-plating and self-revive kits. The most expensive purchase is a full loadout drop, letting you airdrop in a crate and equip your squad with their own handcrafted loadouts and perks from their own inventories.
This is the largest twist in Warzone in terms of its effect on the overall focus of the mode. Other battle royales force you to make do with what you can scavenge, but Warzone shifts that focus on collecting as much cash as you can and getting the loadout of your choice. Despite being the most expensive purchase right now, it’s incredibly easy for a team of three players to collectively gather enough money within the opening moments of a match to secure their premade loadouts. It’s already common to find players using thermal scopes and the Cold-Blooded perk to combat it, but generally, the inclusion of a loadout drop dilutes the dynamism of matches by making loot count for a lot less. It’s no longer a scrappy rush to try and equip yourself with what you can find, but a brief interlude before hunting other players with weapons you’ve specifically chosen for Warzone and its structure.
I found more fun in matches where I was playing on the edge, forced to make do with average-rated weapons with poor scopes that forced me to pick my battles wisely. There’s opportunity for this not only at the start of a Warzone match, but throughout one, too, thanks to a liberal respawn system that frequently feeds you back into the game. When you’re killed for the first time, you’re transported to the Gulag and forced to face off against one other player to secure your freedom and respawn into the match. Set in a cramped shower room in a derelict prison, these bouts are quick and messy, rewarding fast reflexes and pinpoint aim. It feels great to earn your place back in a match after a disappointing death, but it also places you immediately on the backfoot as you’re spawned back in without any of your loot. This is especially challenging to overcome when playing solo, where you can’t rely on your teammates to secure your landing or help you find new weapons with some security.
If you fail in the Gulag, or subsequently die after having respawned, you can still be revived indefinitely by teammates at buy stations (if you’re playing with a squad, of course). There’s a hefty fee attributed to each respawn, but it’s low enough to encourage your squad to seek out your revival without giving up on it entirely once you’ve gone down. It also redefines what a death means in battle royale. Warzone doesn’t let you linger after a successful skirmish, forcing you to hurry through your opponents’ dropped loot and prepare for the possibility of retaliation. It keeps you looking over your shoulder at all times, scanning the horizon for a vengeful scope taking aim at your head. It’s equally exhilarating to lose to a squad and deliver retribution after a quick visit to the Gulag. Fighting back from nothing to overcome your rivals is incredibly rewarding whether you’re playing with a team or solo, though in squads you have more opportunities to do so.
In addition to Warzone’s standard battle royale mode is Plunder, which is far less noteworthy than the main attraction despite being a new game mode entirely. Set on the same map and with the same 150 players split into teams of three, Plunder shifts the objective from survival to looting. The overall goal is to hoard as much cash as you can, depositing your personal stashes at helicopter drop points similar to those in The Division’s Dark Zone. Squads currently leading the standings are marked on the map, giving you a clear view of your competitors and attracting players to common areas for largely chaotic fights. Respawns are unlimited in Plunder too; dying only penalizes you by resetting your carried cash and forcing you to sit through a lengthy respawn timer.
Plunder is sound mechanically, but it’s simply unexciting. The matches take far too long, limited to either 30 minutes or until a squad has collectively banked $1 million. For the most part the majority of players are centralized on one part of the map, all fighting over the same pool of money in firefights where bullets are coming from every direction. Even though rattle royale lacks a strict structure, its closing circle does move players in a common direction, which forces dynamic skirmishes that can lead to exciting and unexpected gameplay stories. Plunder’s static nature lacks the same excitement.
Warzone is a great sophomore attempt at a battle royale from Call of Duty, which finally manages to carve out its own identity with interesting spins on the existing formula. Its subversion of death and the nail-biting Gulag duels give you more ways to stay in a match, while also forcing you to be aware of your surroundings even after wiping a rival squad. Its looting is streamlined enough to make early moments feel fast, but Warzone also loses some of the messy magic from hobbled together loadouts by letting you drop in prebuilt ones far too easily and frequently. Still, if you’re comfortable with Call of Duty’s latest iteration of multiplayer antics and thrive in the stressful setting of battle royales, Warzone is a strong contender for your attention.
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All hail the King(s Canyon) 👑 Squad up and drop in on Season 2 Kings Canyon starting tomorrow, March 20, through March 23. See you Legends there. pic.twitter.com/BTvsKunl5h
Since the move to World’s Edge at the start of Season 3: Meltdown, Apex Legends has seen the return of Kings Canyon several times for limited-time events or weekends. Given Respawn’s desire to present more options to players when playing Apex Legends (like adding Solos or Duos as permanent modes) in the future, it’s possible the developer could be using these temporary returns to the battle royale game’s original map to test how to best implement two maps at the same time.
