Video game developers, like any other creators of products for the masses, are sensitive to the desires of the market and follow one or another popular trend. Right now we can see the birth of a new trend – session action films in the Battle Royale genre. The number of different crafts on the theme “Only One Left” is growing every day, and soon there will be even more of them. Why? The answer can be found by looking at the frighteningly rapid popularity of one of the representatives of this young genre – PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds from Bluehole. A high position in the top sales of Steam for several weeks and a million copies sold in less than a month after the release in Early Access is no joke. While indie development enthusiasts and industry mastodons are preparing to master a new genre, going in pursuit of PUBG, You can learn more about this amazing game.
Natural selection
The very concept of Battle Royale, or “Battle Royale,” comes from sports competitions, in particular wrestling. In fights with this name, not two opponents fight in the ring, as usual, but a whole crowd – until there is only one winner left. But, of course, most people know this phrase thanks to the book of the Japanese writer Koshuna Takami (Koushun Takami), published in 1999. Japanese culture in general and literature in particular is a rather specific thing (and Battle Royale was no exception), but the story of a group of schoolchildren stranded on a small island and forced to kill each other was loved by audiences in many countries. The novel turned out to be a bestseller, an equally popular film was made based on it, and the concept of “Battle Royale” has since become associated with a brutal battle for survival, and not at all with another fun wrestling show.
Of course, Takami was not the only one who exploited the theme “Only One Will Survive”. Similar plots were used both before the publication of the book by the Japanese author (“The Running Man”) and after (“The Hunger Games”). However, in video games, a setting so attractive for online battles somehow did not take root, except for the Last Man Standing mode in some multiplayer shooters (for example, in Unreal Tournament).
As often happens, the way to a new genre was opened by a user modification. Even more than that – a mod created for a mod. At first there was Battle Royale For DayZ (times ArmA 2), then this mode was transferred to the alpha version Arma 3, and in the end a separate part appeared H1Z1 called King of the Kill. Someone had a hand in everything Brendan Green (Brendan Greene), aka PlayerUnknown. If mods for ArmA And DayZ he did it on his own, then in the case of H1Z1 acted only as a consultant when Sony Online Entertainment decided to license his idea to create her own “Battle Royale” in her “survival simulator”.
Apparently, this Green it turned out to be not enough – in the middle of last year he announced the start of development of a separate game dedicated to the Battle Royale mode. I didn’t have to think long about the name of the future hit: PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds – apparently so that no one forgets who came up with all this.
Unfortunately, we still have to choose between performance and a beautiful picture. The choice, as usually happens in online shooters, is not in favor of the latter option.
Island of Bad Luck
The classic rules of the “Royal Battle” are simple and understandable to anyone: everyone starts on equal terms, there are only two ways to leave the battle for survival – either by dying or becoming the only winner. PUBG does not make any fundamental changes to the time-tested formula, but, of course, it has its own nuances.
A deadly competition takes place on an abandoned archipelago of two islands. Apparently, as a tribute to the original source, the buildings and terrain resemble a typical post-Soviet landscape. You can often find inscriptions in Cyrillic, and the names of settlements on the map, such as Pochinki or Sosnovka Island – further confirmation that such a setting is still in fashion abroad. The map is quite large – eight square kilometers, there are several towns and villages on it, a military base on a small island, as well as many other interesting and secluded places.
All players (and there https://carouselcasino.co.uk/bonus/ are usually a little less than a hundred of them in one session) parachute from an airplane flying at high altitude. Where to land – everyone decides for themselves, fortunately the flight can be slightly controlled before and after the canopy opens. Some people decide to land in the forest so as not to run into anyone, while others, on the contrary, jump into the thick of things. As a rule, various settlements serve as attractive starting points – in PUBG Useful "loot" (weapons and equipment) can only be found in or near houses. Each participant in the competition literally leaves the plane empty-handed, but with the right amount of luck, you can be well armed immediately after landing.
There are plenty of murder weapons and various devices, as well as other things useful in such a difficult matter as the struggle for survival. Pistols, machine guns, rifles, shotguns, bladed weapons, body armor and backpacks, grenades of various types, medicines, clothing, which, by the way, is needed not only for decorative purposes – sometimes it helps to camouflage on the ground. Each “barrel” can be modified – attach a sight, an enlarged magazine or an additional handle.
IN PUBG, Unlike the progenitor mod, you can provide yourself with everything you need within a couple of minutes – if you’re lucky, then in the very first house you will have a backpack, without which you won’t be able to carry much, and a decent weapon with enough ammunition. If your luck runs out, it’s okay – there’s enough “loot” on the map for everyone. For those who are especially impatient, there is also transport – motorcycles, buggies, cars and even motor boats.
“Full stuffing” package. But it’s too early to rejoice – even such a set of equipment does not at all guarantee victory.
However, just a few seconds after the first of the parachutists reaches the ground, the survivor counter begins to rapidly decrease. In the first minutes, players who find themselves in densely populated areas kill each other cheerfully and cheerfully – sometimes even hand-to-hand. After some time, active shooting subsides. The losers are dead – the fun begins.
The fight for valuable equipment is not the only thing PUBG provokes the murder of his neighbor. In the end, you can always find a secluded place and sit there with some killer shotgun at the ready, guarding the next unlucky prey seeker. Or hide in a corner, waiting until everyone has dispersed, and then consider yourself relatively safe. But in this case, you can fight for victory for hours and days – the location, let me remind you, is not small at all.
No such luck – the fact is that a so-called safe zone in the form of a circle randomly appears on the island map. From the outside, a second circle begins to move towards it, beyond the boundaries of which it is better not to be – damage to the health of each “violator” will be caused slowly but surely. When the larger circle merges with the inner one, a short break is given, and a new safety zone appears in a random place inside the previous one. This happens until the circle “collapses” completely, and the speed of convergence of the outer zone and the damage outside it increases with each wave. In addition, from time to time small red zones appear and disappear, inside of which shelling occurs – if there is no roof over your head, then it is better to run away from such an area to hell.
All this forces all players to go to the same area and limits the maximum time of one session. The narrower the circle, the more often fierce firefights break out – now they kill not for the sake of “loot”, but to eliminate a dangerous competitor. However, nothing prevents you from leaving this thankless job to others, trying to catch the eye of others as little as possible. In the third or fourth round, only the most fortunate, cunning and skillful remain. Finally, a bright finale – the battle of the last survivors in a small area with a radius of several meters. A short fight, the outcome of which is impossible to predict, and only one, the best of the best, the winner of the “Royal Rumble” remains alive.
Golden mean
So what is the phenomenon of success? PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds? There is no doubt that this success is a fact that has taken place. The game, despite Early Access, is very popular and continues to receive flattering reviews, and according to statistical indicators it is rapidly catching up with the same H1Z1: King of the Kill. And it’s not just about the attractiveness of the genre as such, because PUBG far from the first in it.
It’s all in the little things, as is usually the case. No matter what you look at – at least a little, but work Brendan Greene ahead of competitors everywhere. There are bugs and shortcomings here, but in general everything is done conscientiously, and convenience is at the forefront: after starting, you press one single button, and after a minute or two you are already landing on the island, choosing a landing site. The interface is laconic, but looks quite nice, and most importantly, it doesn’t interfere at all. The graphics are good, but optimization does not allow you to fully enjoy it – the weakest point of the game at the moment. To feel comfortable and not suffer from low frame rates and load times, you have to turn the settings to minimum.
Nevertheless PUBG manages to give players concentrated gameplay, eliminating all that is unnecessary. A balance has been maintained between realism and arcade style: this is not ArmA, where the course of events is sometimes too leisurely, but not H1Z1 with all its simplifications.
There is a place for everything: tactical planning of your actions depending on the landing site, rapid battles for the right to own the very first supplies found, stealth and the search for a hidden enemy, the need to both think and skillfully handle weapons. Situations full of drama often arise (however, various funny scenes are no less rare), and each battle forces you to give your all – and the closer to the end, the more complex and tense the events become. Not in vain PUBG so popular among streamers and their viewers: each game is a small story full of unique events.
Something similar could be found in DayZ, but here all this is compressed into those few tens of minutes that last one round, so you won’t be able to get bored or relax – there’s simply no time.
Reaching first place is not at all easy, and each such victory is remembered for a long time, and defeat, although sometimes capable of causing quite unambiguous sensations in the lower back, is still not such a disaster as it seems. Don’t forget that the player’s convenience comes first: after a few seconds you can try your luck again – there are enough people who want it, so the new server fills up almost instantly.
An attempt to deceive an enemy spotted nearby – if he is too lazy to check the UAZ, then I can easily shoot him in the back or simply avoid an unnecessary meeting.
Bluehole is not going to stay in Early Access for long. The release is promised within six months, but for now development is in full swing. Much is already in the game, such as team battles, and much remains to be added, including new maps, even more weapons and equipment, highly customizable servers (say, only with a first-person view), protection against cheats and, finally, the very optimization that is so lacking now.
In general, we have before us a very good example of “Early Access”, which is already worthy of paying attention to it, despite all the controversial issues. But be careful—the hunt for first place in the Battle Royale can be a long time coming.
