The struggling battle royale game H1Z1 has finally released. Additionally, there is a new game mode called “Auto Royale.” In this mode, you fight exclusively with vehicles.
The battle royale game H1Z1, formerly known as “King of the Kill,” has had a tough time lately. The game has been in Early Access for 3 years, plagued by bugs and lost over 90 percent of its player base to competitors Fortnite: Battle Royale and PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds.
But on February 28th, it’s finally happening, and H1Z1 is leaving Early Access as a full release.
“What can H1Z1 do better than the competition?”
At developer Daybreak Games, they are aware of the strong competition. So the developers asked themselves, “What makes our game better than Fortnite and others?”.
The answer: Vehicles! The result of this reasoning is a new game mode called “Auto Royale.” So, a battle royale fight with cars!
Mario Kart meets Battle Royale
In a video presentation, Anthony Castoro, the General Manager of H1Z1, showed us what the new game mode looks like and what to expect from “Auto Royale”. Here, all players can be a maximum of four in a car.
There are a total of 30 such teams. One drives while the other three lean out of the windows and shoot. Among other things, with the new light machine gun, which is only available in this game mode.
The car cannot be exited. The goal, as is customary in battle royale, is to eliminate all other players. Hits either damage the vehicle or the passengers. By collecting power-ups scattered around, you can heal, repair, pick up weapons and ammunition, or equip gadgets and upgrades for the car.
A crazy crash derby
With the upgrades and power-ups, you can:
- Perform spectacular double jumps
- Activate turbo boosters
- Lay mines
- Leave oil trails
- Obscure the vision of pursuers with smoke
- Withstand more damage from gunfire
- Experience less speed loss in water
The power-ups are scattered around like in Mario Kart and are easily collected and equipped by driving over them. Especially significant upgrades are in remote locations that can only be reached through daring driving maneuvers and jumps.
Additionally, there are boxes from air drops that are regularly dropped over the battlefield. However, to open them, you must first shoot them to pieces. This takes quite a while, especially with the particularly lucrative purple and gold boxes. Therefore, these boxes will be highly contested.
Sedan or ARV?
Before each match, you choose a vehicle. Currently, there are only two models:
- The nimble but not very robust Sedan. It accelerates quickly and can jump well.
- The bulkier but somewhat slower military Jeep ARV. The turbo engine works less effectively here.
So far, all vehicles of a type look identical; only the occupants can dress up with their unlocked costumes. However, the developers have plans to introduce cosmetic options for the cars soon. So you should be able to max out your vehicle in a “Mad Max” style.
Later, there are plans to include mounted weapons in the vehicle. At least the Jeep already has the right suspension for it.
From Battle Royale to Auto Royale
With your vehicle and your team, you head into wild battles. Cars speed around everywhere, jumping over generously distributed ramps and firing at each other like crazy. Vehicles explode in spectacular fireballs. The map, by the way, is the same as in the regular H1Z1 Battle Royale.
As is typical in the genre, the map shrinks over time as combat continues. But unlike the regular H1Z1, the battles are much more mobile and faster. Instead of camping and hiding, you ride around openly and let the guns do the talking.
If you prefer wild action and less camping and strategizing, you should definitely check out Auto Royale. The new mode has been in open beta since February 28th and is still being developed.
“Old” H1Z1 is also getting updates
With the release of H1Z1, not only is the new game mode coming. The regular Battle Royale of H1Z1 will also continue to evolve. Among other things, the following adjustments and innovations are being implemented:
- Tactical Deployment: You can now choose a zone to drop into at the start of the game. Based on color codes, you can see how many players plan to do the same. During the drop, you can still slightly vary your landing spot.
- Airdrops are set to become more meaningful. Certain weapons will be removed from regular loot and placed into airdrops to make them more worthwhile.
- The HUD will be overhauled.
- The Pre-Season Matches will be revised, and not only kills will count, but the overall combat performance. Players who perform poorly can drop in rank.
- There is now a mini-map.
- Founders from Early Access receive a special T-shirt in the game.
After Fortnite’s fun action gameplay with building, H1Z1 has now discovered the battle royale race. So what is so great about battle royale games?
