In Apex Legends is currently annoying players with one thing: the excessive muzzle flash visible on some weapons that obscures everything. This seems to be intentional.
What is the problem with weapons in Apex? Many weapons in Apex Legends have a very pronounced muzzle flash. It is so bad that you can’t see anything except colorful lights. Many players completely lose track of the game and either let enemies escape or get taken out themselves.
Famous streamers are upset
How serious is the problem: The internet is filled with complaints about the muzzle flash. Various well-known streamers have also expressed their frustration:
- The former Overwatch pro Seagull was taken out along with his buddy because he lost sight of the enemies in the battle due to all the light effects. The enemy killed him and his teammate. “I can’t see him, I can’t see him, this is so stupid!” were his last words in the game.
- Dr. Disrespect was so confused by all the effects, which also occur with hits, that he got shot and then loudly complained about what he saw as stupid hit feedback: “It shouldn’t feel like my screen is going to explode!”
- A player named Cassiopeia93 could no longer see where his opponent was after he was firing continuously from an elevated position. Thus, the opponent was able to escape and foil a safe kill. “This is just borderline disgusting!” was the feedback from a Reddit thread on this.
Muzzle flash chaos is probably intentional
Why is the muzzle flash suddenly a topic? Curiously, the muzzle flash was not an issue in Apex Legends until Patch 1.2. Because until then, you had the option to simply turn off the annoying light show.
But with the update, this option disappeared and now you have to live with it. Worse still, it seems that this was not a bug or oversight.
That’s why the strong muzzle flash is intentional: Rather, the developers have added the muzzle flash as an additional difficulty since there are rare weapon upgrades for the barrel that specifically reduce the muzzle flash.
It seems that Respawn wants to give players a clear advantage who manage to obtain such a valuable barrel upgrade. Of course, most players find this rather annoying, as it means that everyone else has little fun shooting.
So it remains to be seen whether Respawn will have a change of heart and either reintroduce the option to turn it off or reduce the “muzzle flash disco” to a bearable level.
