If you might be one of many three individuals I gassed to loss of life final night time in a large plyboard stunt area, I’m sorry. I used to be overly enthusiastic concerning the new gauntlet that appeared on the map of Apex Legends, the game we have been enjoying. That enthusiasm acquired to my head. I misjudged your pleasant rifle potshots as an invite to fill your lungs with poisonous miasma, and within the warmth of the second I threw a canister of toxic fumes at your ft, and murdered you. I apologise for any hurt you interpreted from this unlucky vapour supply. I’m working to change into a greater particular person. Mostly by whooshing down this slide and leaping by means of a flaming hoop. Weeeeeeee!
That new stunt zone from the recent Apex Legends update is neat. But, oh boy, the pop-up loot store that accompanies it must be locked in a swamp hut and gassed.
First, the gauntlet. It’s fairly primary however a fun addition nonetheless. A congregation of viewers stands, miniramps, and two huge slides converging on a fiery ring, which has a elaborate go well with of purple armour within the center for gamers to battle over. One of the brand new ‘challenges’ is to nab this piece of equipment, so Respawn positively desires me to fill you with bullet holes for it. The current replace additionally introduced a short lived solo queue to the game, which suggests I do know you don’t have any backup. Eat lead, fu– oh, you killed me, by no means thoughts.
But this gauntlet isn’t the one further characteristic the Apex Devends have launched to their battle royale. There’s additionally a brand new limited-time store, with its personal forex and a brand new kind of loot pack. It’s branded the Iron Crown Collection. And it has all of the attraction of a stingy carnival stand that gained’t provide the huge pink rabbit though you knocked down all of the cans. PC Gamer have already pointed out that to get a fancy axe for Bloodhound, it is advisable to pay a minimal of $170 whereas navigating the game’s characteristically arcane economic system (buying and selling your actual cash for Apex cash, then Apex cash for ‘Iron Crown packs’).
The posh axe has a price ticket of 3500 Apex Coins (about $35) however the button to purchase it solely prompts should you’ve already purchased the opposite 24 particular gadgets included within the occasion, for lots more cash. That feels grubby. Imagine a claw machine that has a golden bear on a shelf inside, however the shelf solely collapses should you first gather all of the smaller, silver bears on the machine’s backside flooring. (Actually, god, that most likely exists, don’t give it some thought).
This is commonplace free-to-play shenanigans, however it’s nonetheless value spitting on the bottom each now and again when confronted with this, as some Apeleggers appear to be doing. A quick look at the game’s subreddit reveals how irked many gamers are on the stinginess of the occasion. All the highest posts at time of writing are complaints. One of these complaints is that free-loaders can solely get two of those particular Iron Crown beauty gadgets by finishing the brand new challenges. You have to purchase the remaining, there’s no method to grind some out. One participant has translated the Iron Crown store from Ape Monies to dollars for ease of studying. It’s value mentioning that the luxury axe will probably be shuffled into commonplace Apex packs after the occasion ends, however, uh, good luck on that scratchcard.
It’s a disgrace, but additionally not a lot of a shock. Loot containers gonna loot field. Free-to-play gonna free-to-play. The base rewards for levelling up in Apelegs are already fairly stingy in my e-book (‘Brendan’s Big Book Of Bargain Bypassing Bastards’, self-published on Amazon). But extraneous currencies and elaborate store fronts are at all times an additional disappointment.
Oh properly, again to bumsliding across the gauntlet.
