Control solidifies Apex Legends as a top-tier shooter

digitaltrends.com:

Apex Legends may have started as a battle royale game, but it’s breaking out of that circle. Last year, we saw the shooter expand with Arenas, a small-team elimination mode that took cues from Counter Strike: Global Offensive. And with the game’s latest season, Defiance, it’s putting its own spin on another traditional shooter staple.

Control is the next limited-time event coming to Apex Legends that will run for three weeks when Defiance begins. If the game mode sounds familiar, that’s because it’s a common objective-based mode in shooters like Destiny 2. Players will capture and hold zones to rack up points rather than try to accumulate the most kills.

I went hands-on with the mode before the new season began. Based on my few rounds with it, developer Respawn is making it clear that Apex Legends is flexible enough to outlive the fad that spawned it, which could help secure its place as one of gaming’s best shooters.

Control pits two teams of nine (comprised of three squads of three) against one another. Players spawn in at their respective bases and then run to the nearest zone. Similar to other games, there are three zones labeled A, B, and C. Teams start accruing points the longer they hold onto zones. If one team has two zones, it’ll get even more points. It’s a traditional game of tug of war where precise kills are secondary to sneaky captures.

Due to Apex Legends’ unique position as a character-based battle royale game, many elements of the core experience have been tweaked to fit the format. For one, players aren’t locked to one character. When they die, they’ll be able to switch to any character. When I wasn’t really getting anywhere with Loba, I quickly flipped to Pathfinder so I could zip around the map.

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