Battle Royale was one of those weird films that was so different, unique, and good that it transcended the cult status of films like it to enter the popular culture.
The film is less than 20 years old but it's already been referenced, ripped off, and retold more times than I can count.
It's no surprise that video games have been taking inspiration from this as well. There was that mode in Minecraft, Numerous Arma mods, and The Culling. Of all these PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds has emerged as the definitive example.
PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds, or PUBG because that title is both a mouthful and I can't be bothered to type it more than twice, is a simple game that has now defined the new "battle royale" genre of games. In PUBG you parachute onto an island and strive to be the last one alive on said island. You do this through looting, killings other players, and being really really lucky.
So what exactly does a game of PUBG look like? To start off you spawn into one of the 2 maps in a waiting area with all of the other players. After just long enough to get annoyed with the chat you are placed onto a transport plane with up to 100 other players flying towards the island. Once over the island you can jump out whenever you like. When you do you are immediately in free fall and plummeting towards the ground. You can see other players falling around you as you all move through the air to hone in on whatever bit of real estate looks promising. At a certain height your parachute will deploy (if you haven't pulled it already) and as you touch the ground it's game on.
A counter in the top right of the screen tells you how many other people are still alive on the island while a map shows your location, points of interest, as well as the red zones and safe zones (when they appear).
A map and the clothes on your back is all you start off with, the rest you'll need to scavenge. Fortunately the maps are pretty well thought out. Both in terms of playability and in content. There are multiple villages, towns, farms, sheds, and even military bases. All containing seemingly random weapons and loot that you can use to kill the other players. Some of these are cosmetic but the rest you'll live and die by. Like in the film, you may find your self screwed if the house you parachuted to only had a smoke grenade. By the same token I parachuted onto a roof once and found and AR-15.
Once you got a weapon (if your still alive) you either hide or hunt other players. After a few minutes a safe zone and a timer appear. You have until then to get there. Staying outside the safe zone after the timer will slowly kill you.
This is a good and bad thing. Good because it keeps the matches from going too long. The last two players can't hide on opposite ends of the island waiting for the other to find them. That said, the area can be nearly unreachable if you happened to parachute into the wrong side of the map.
Vehicles around the map can make things easier but it's a double edged sword. You move faster for sure but you become an obvious target.
Sometimes you die quickly from too many people in one place or not getting the only gun in time. Sometimes you die after 20 minutes of scavenging without having seen anyone. Not every game is fun but when it is an intense life or death struggle between you and another person the game is equal parts intense and scary.
That's the game then. It's a battle to be the last one standing. With the playable zone constantly getting smaller you'll eventually come into contact with someone. Kill or be killed.
My mic died recently so I didn't try the cooperative modes. If they're like any other survival game then the key will be playing with people you know, but again I didn't try it so what do I know. It's also becoming an esport. Which I dismissed when I first played but the more I consider it, the more sense it makes. The contest here isn't knowing a character or good reflexes. Rather its tactics, teamwork, survival, and luck.
There are quite a few problems. The bugs for one. Even with this being the full release the game is buggy as hell, though I guess it didn't ever cost me a win. The bigger problem I have with the safe zones is they come too fast. These maps are gorgeous in their decay. I find myself wanting to explore them, but the ever present threat of the game killing me forces the sprint button.
The good:
-survival style creates fun, intense moments
-a brutal, playable recreation of the film it copies
The bad:
-the death zone is created too fast.
-still buggy even since the actual release
Overall I guess I like PUBG, I just never feel like I'm doing it right. The times I do well are the times I hide somewhere or are lucky enough to have parachuted near the safe zone. When I'm actively looking for people to shoot I often have trouble finding them. It's fun at times. Certainly there's no shortage of intense them-or-me moments. It'll at least keep me busy until it's time to try Fortnight.
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