With the launch ofApex Legends’ twelfth season, Defiance, just around the corner, fans of the free-to-play battle royale (BR) can expect a new legend and fresh changes to the current map rotation. However, there’s an extra special surprise this time around: Control, a new limited-time mode (LTM) that will beplayable for the first three weeksof the season.
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Control features 9 v 9 gameplay with unlimited respawns — a huge departure from the live-once nature ofApex’s core BR mode and its round-based Arenas mode. It’s a big change, but one that should stick around for good. Respawn is known to experiment with new features in LTMs: the Evo armor that everyone uses today inApexwas initially tested in an LTM before being added to the base game. If Control is received well by players, it may very well make a comeback in the future — let’s explore why that may be the case.
7It Combines The Best Parts Of Apex
Control isn’t just going to be a random chunk of a map with 18 players. The mode’s designers have built Control up to feature additional cover, jump towers, Trident vehicles, and ziplines to make traversing between control points easier and keep gameplay fluid.
Players will be able to approach familiar maps from a new perspective. While Control takes place in Hammond Labs on Olympus and Barometer onthe game’s newest map Storm Point, these new additions should provide players with ample new strategies and routes into battle. Combine that with 6x the number of legends in a game of Arenas, and things should feel pretty refreshing.
6It Promotes Teamwork
Respawn has drawn the ire of a vocal portion of the community before by choosing not to make the Solos LTM a permanent game mode. But the developers made a good point when they noted thatmany legends’ team-focused abilities become useless in Solos, which had a negative knock-on effect for new player retention.
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Control would do the opposite of that. With a larger squad than ever before, legends will have extra opportunities to work together. Imagine how effective Crypto’s drone could be when capturing a zone, or how Wraith’s portal could transport nine legends across the map instantly.
Everyone wins in this situation: players get a new way to playApex, and new player retention shouldn’t be affected in the same way as it was when Solos appeared.
5It Adds To The Lore
Silva, who has already made several appearances in the in-game comic book, is a notorious billionaire criminal. Friends with Lifeline’s war criminal parents, Silva has been tied to terrorist acts throughout the Outlands and — according to Lifeline — is trying to take over the Syndicate. If Control sticks around into the future, Respawn can drip-feed players more lore in a way that doesn’t feel forced.
4The New Scoreboard
Apex’s BR mode has always told players who the champion or kill leader is, but an actual scoreboard has so far never seen the light of day. WhileRespawn did add damage countersa few seasons ago, players are still unable to directly compare themselves to other players. This could be for a variety of reasons — it could, for example, give away information about which squad is the best, which could promote “teaming” between rival squads.
But Control presents a new opportunity for the scoreboard to shine. Players will improve their Rating in Control by playing the objective and getting kills, which is reflected in the Ratings leaderboard. If players have ever wanted to see how their stats stack up against a large group of opponents, now is the chance.
3Shorter Time Commitment
Even though it’s possible to die almost instantly on a hot drop, players can expect to stay in a match ofApexfor over 20 minutes if they perform well. Not everyone has that kind of time, whether it’s work, school, or other obligations that get in the way. Control would give players a much-needed shorter, more casual game mode to participate in.
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According to Respawn’s dev blog on the new LTM, Control will last until one team reaches the score limit of 1,250. Since each captured objective earns one point per second, a game should only last around 10 minutes if a team owns two of the three objectives. And just in case Respawn doesn’t bring back Control, there aretons of other short PC games to enjoy.
2New Synergy Between Legends
Never before have so many legends been able to work together inApex. While the game was designed around squads of three, game designers are often chasing something called “emergent gameplay." This basically means that players take the building blocks of the game (in this case, the legends’ abilities) and combine them in a way where they create new ways to play the game.Think of the old Gibby shield and caustic trap combo.
Control breaks from the 3-person squad formula in such a big way that players are bound to find new legend combinations that have the potential to shift the meta in some way or another. The discoveries made in Control could very well make their way into the world of BR, too.
1Players Can Warmup For Battle Royale
A major issue that has plaguedApexsince its launch is its lack of a warmup mode. While players can head to the Firing Range to try out weapons or legend abilities, nothing will compare to being in an actual fight against a real player. Many other popular free-to-play shooters likeCounter-Strikehave Deathmatch modes where players infinitely respawn and can improve both their aim and map knowledge. Control isn’t quite that, but its unlimited respawns allow players to dive into the action without worrying about being booted back to the lobby screen.
Apex’s original BR mode is fun to play, but players can often go for long periods of the match without experiencing combat. This puts players just logging on at a significant disadvantage against those who have already been playing that day. Control can help close that gap, allowing everyone to practice their recoil control and aim before hopping into a BR server.
Apex Legendsis currently available on PC, PS4, Xbox One, Switch, and Mobile.
