PUBG: PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS

Playerunknown’s Battlegrounds or PUBG is a last-man-standing shooter where you’re stranded on an island with up to 250 players. Starting with nothing, you must fight to locate supplies, vehicles, and weapons to be the lone survivor.

This realistic and high tension game is set on a massive 8x8 km map with a level of detail that illustrates Unreal Engine 4's capabilities. Developed by Korean studio Bluehole and the original developer behind ARMA mod Battle Royale, this game is a genre defining title which should appeal to anyone interested in survival style shooters.

Graphics 5/5

When it comes to visuals, PUBG looks spectacular as the character models, the weapons and vehicles are all highly-detailed. The developers also included random storms during some of the matches, making it more difficult to hear your enemies because of the rolling thunder, crackling lighting, and pouring rain sounds.

The map features a range of small towns, military base, and farmland, that might make you wish you could play some no-time limit version of the game to explore it. The mini-map is also excellent as it’s always crystal clear and easy to read.

Gameplay 4,5/5

Once you install the game, you will go through a quick character creation process that offers you to choose a player name, gender, and several hairstyles and hair colors. In the main game mode, you can play either solo or with a partner. Each option brings you to a different queue, so groups of two won’t be pitted against solo players and vice versa.

You will have a brief wait in an open lobby area as the game fills up. Then, you board one of several transport planes that fly over a much larger island. You parachute off at your desired location and start rummaging through abandoned buildings for ammunition, guns, body armor, clothes, energy drinks, and melee weapons like machetes.

Areas with high building density provide more items but are likely to attract more players. So a choice of landing spot is the important strategic decision you have to make in Battlegrounds. It’s common to see half of the players eliminated within first 3 minutes, many within moments of landing. More sparse locations have fewer goodies but are safer landing zones from which you can establish your bearings.

Some gameplay elements make PUBG stand out from other survival games. For example, you can tinker around your inventory and look at your map while on the move, rather than having to stop to do either.

Another great touch is that when you pick up items such as helmets or articles of clothing, you automatically don them instead of placing them into your inventory. It removes an extra step of going into your inventory, locating the item and then clicking on it to put it on. However, when it comes to weapons, you still have to attach them from the inventory management screen.

Almost every game of this style has some sort of shrinking arena feature, but the one in Battlegrounds allows you to explore different parts of the map in every match. A white circle marks the player zone within minutes of a match starting, and players are given 5 minutes to get within its borders. After a pause, a smaller circle appears within the previous zone and once again you must make your way inside. To spice things up, red circles appear on some portions of the map, signifying incoming aerial bombardments. Players within these zones must dash out of them as fast as they can or take cover in nearby buildings.

Controls 5/5

Battlegrounds features a solid hit detection system. Also, the weapons feel weighty and substantial, rather than floaty and airy as they are sometimes in other shooter-focused games.

All of the vehicles in the game respond well to steering controls, though using a gamepad rather than a mouse and keyboard for driving would be more beneficial.

Replay Value 5/5

There are plenty of ways to play and replay PUBG. You can choose solo, 2-person, or a full 4-person squad mode. You will constantly need to decide where you want to land and coordinate ambushes, attacks, and other tactics.

The high level of detail and variety is perhaps the greatest strength of the game. It allows different playstyles so that it never feels repetitive.

In-game purchases

Playerunknown’s Battlegrounds doesn’t have any in-game purchases. You just have to pay a single price of $29,99 to download it.

Conclusion

Playerunknown’s Battlegrounds is one of the most exciting survival shooter games. It features excellent gunplay elements, stunning graphics, and that elusive factor that comes with not knowing how each match will unfold. This game looks set to take over the ever-growing battle royale scene.

Battlegrounds is large enough to avoid feeling repetitive while fast-paced and accessible enough to appeal to a broad audience. It allows for a variety of playstyles and has plenty to explore. However, some features including inventory management and pickup animations still feel off.

• Graphics 5
• Gameplay 4.5
• Controls 5
• Replay Value 5

Pros

Excellent graphics;
Variety of weapons and playstyles;
Ability to use vehicles as deadly weapons;
Solid hit detection system.

Cons

Poor pick up animations.