At this very moment, there are millions of players out there joining in on a Battle Royale via their smartphones in PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds — the game that basically kick-started the whole Battle Royale multi-player fever, that’s been replicated in Fortnite and Call of Duty: Black Ops IIII, as well as appearing in a host of future games like The Division 2.
Now, better late than never, PUBG finally makes its way to the PlayStation 4. Is this the most definitive version of the game?
What’s it about?
A hundred players are dropped into a map, whose walls keep shrinking over time, forcing you to scavenge for weapons and parts to give you a fighting edge. As you and your team face off against other enemies, to emerge victorious as the last man, woman or team standing, greeted by the message ‘Winner Winner Chicken Dinner’. Inspired by movies such as Battle Royale and The Hunger Games , this game mode has caught on like wildfire over the months.
The PlayStation 4 version of the game launches with Erangel, the first playable map, followed by Miramar, and Sanhok. Also available is the new Vikendi snow-based map that’s a lot smaller in size, but is a bit more tactical.
In addition to that, you do get a Nathan Drake outfit to show off your PS status and The Last of Us backpack that Ellie wears in the game. As well as a whole host of other goodies.
How does it play?
While both are based on the Battle Royale game concept, Fortnite and PUBG are two quite different games. For starters, Fortnite adds an element of finding materials and building your own fortifications, while PUBG is more of a slow-burn, tactical action game that has a massive map, where scavenging and planning out your advance is critical to winning.
With PUBG, just having a high-powered weapon is not enough; you need to have your wits about you and learn every inch of the map to form your own tactical play style — to hunt in packs, hide and wait until the herd has been thinned or Rambo your way through to the final face-off. If you haven’t tried Battle Royale as yet, you should jump in. It’s an exhilarating experience like no other, and PUBG has cracked that secret sauce that draws more mature players to its battle-scarred maps.
The game is looking much better than when it launched, and it plays a lot smoother and looks a lot better. Though it still does not look as good as Black Ops IIII or any of the other games out there, it still is a solid game. To make it easier to play with a controller, PUBG PS4 sports a third-person view, with the question of cross-play between all the most popular platforms looming large, almost becoming a dream within grasp. For PUBG, PC and Mobile should be removed out of that equation, with their own separate hardcore and casual universes. Crossplay should happen between Xbox One and PS4 controller users, with Nintendo Switch in that same fold hopefully sometime in the future. After all, Fortnite is on Nintendo’s hot hand-held.
Should you get it?
If you’re a PlayStation-only player, put off by Fortnite’s building shenanigans, and have been waiting to jump on to the PUBG bandwagon, then the PS4 version of the game is worth the admission fee.
Smash Bros Ultimate worth the wait?
What’s it about?
Sporting a staggering roster of 74 characters and over 100 stages, with even more characters coming as downloadable content, Ultimate is massive. Presenting a world where Ryu from Street Fighter can face off against Pikachu from Pokemon, everyone’s favourite plumber Mario, Solid Snake from Metal Gear Solid, Bayonetta, and Cloud from Final Fantasy VII. Characters from popular games of Capcom, Konami, Nintendo, Sega, Pokemon, Platinum Games, Square Enix and Bandai Namco all make it into this game. There’s no normal in this game; you can also play as the potted plant with teeth from the Mario games or as a fitness instructor from Wii Fit, with yoga moves.
Super Smash Bros Ultimate sports a single-player mode, which sees almost all of our fighters annihilated by a mysterious bad guy, spiriting them away. Now, where have we seen that plot device before? You start off the game with a handful of fighters led by the ultra-cute pink cloud Kirby, with which you fight through the World of Light single-player mode or fight wantonly in several modes to unlock characters one by one.
How does it play?
While it may seem like a major bummer that you cannot play as all 74 characters from the get-go, it’s a lot of fun unlocking the characters. Plus, it gives you a chance to get good at a select few and then enjoy learning new characters’ moves and play styles as you go along. Smash Bros is not a traditional fighting game like Mortal Kombat or Street Fighter. The game consists of eight players, whose aim is to drop each other off the edge of the arenas. The premise is simple to learn, but fun and challenging to master. Drop the opponent’s health, and the further they fly. The stages can get crowded in the mayhem. As a party game, Super Smash Bros Ultimate is where things shine. It adds another layer of levelling your characters up, using the spirit system. Making it worthwhile playing in the smorgasbord of play modes, from timed battles to an all-out 5 vs 5 team battle, there’s also tournaments and challenges to fight through. While it has an online play for Nintendo Online subscribers, it’s a bit buggy and laggy. Plus, the voice chat via the smartphone app is just plain weird.
Should you get it?
Super Smash Bros Ultimate will breathe new life into your Nintendo Switch. While it has a few issues in multi-player, it’s got a fantastic single-player mode, with a plethora of fighters to play as. Plus, there’s Joker from Persona 5 incoming as a DLC fighter, along with many more to look forward to.
The writer is a tech and gaming enthusiast who hopes to one day finish his sci-fi novel
