Apex Legends has finally released the highly anticipated Battle Pass for Season 1. Our author and battle royale fan Jürgen has also been eagerly waiting for this. But what he got in the end made him very unhappy.
Do you remember the feeling when you were a little kid and received a gift, and in your imagination, there were all sorts of amazing things in the package? And then you open it, and it’s just a pair of lame socks in a box!
A huge disappointment that really ruins your mood. And that’s exactly how I felt yesterday with the new Battle Pass from Apex Legends.
High Expectations
This is what I expected: Those who know me know that I love gifts. This even includes loot boxes and battle passes. I just love unlocking rewards in a game that I enjoy.
This has also been my big passion in Fortnite, but the new Battle Pass from Season 8 hardly excited me for the first time. Almost only boring skins and items that hardly motivate me to unlock anything.
That’s why my big hope rested on Apex Legends: The new battle royale shooter was already more fun for me than Fortnite, but the skins and rewards were still rather poor.
But what amazing potential was in the Battle Pass? If Respawn put in some effort, they could give Fortnite a real run for its money!
Therefore, I expected all sorts of cool skins, animations, and something totally new and crazy from the first Battle Pass.
Seriously, Respawn?
This is what I got: I was eagerly waiting for the Battle Pass, which kept getting postponed day by day. But that could only mean that the pass would be even cooler and fuller, right?
When the pass finally arrived, I immediately threw 9.50 Euros at it and looked forward to the cool rewards!
But what was that? There were three rather lame skins at the start. Well, surely more will come. But nope! The majority of the pass seems to consist of some stupid stat trackers with numbers.
Hey, what’s up with that? And then there are only a few quotes for the intro, banner graphics, and colorful weapon skins. In the end, there’s one – admittedly very cool – skin for the Havoc.
What’s missing in the pass? But all the things I wanted were not in the pass. Because I wanted:
- cool kill animations
- more quotes (not just for the intro)
- and especially crazy skins for the cool heroes in the game!
Especially the cool skins were always a reason for me to spend money in Fortnite and grind for hours!
Instead, I now have a few boring jungle fighter skins and otherwise only new looks for weapons, half of which I don’t even favor. Great job, Respawn!
Endless Grind for Lame Rewards
But okay, there’s no point in complaining. Now I’ve already bought the thing, and at least a few of the weapon skins, the quotes, and the cool level 100 Havoc are somewhat cool.
So, I started Apex last night and played for a good hour. That should bring me two to three levels in the pass, right?
How bad the grind is: Nope! After a good hour of gameplay with randoms – including a win – I had just over half of level 2 filled!
Wow, with 100 levels total, this will be tough for an average player to complete the pass in 90 days. Moreover, I miss the constant feeling of receiving rewards that I have gotten so used to in Fortnite.
That’s why the buddy bonus is dumb: And yes, I know that you get a big multiplier when playing with buddies, but I usually play Apex very late at night when none of my buddies are still online.
Moreover, Apex is very good to play with randoms, but that is contradicted by the Battle Pass.
Why are there no challenges? The fact that Respawn does not offer challenges and quests to get bonus XP or levels in the pass doesn’t help either.
I get that the tasks in Fortnite and PUBG were sometimes quite silly, but for the developers to say, “We’d rather do nothing and give you an intense grind so you can get to know the pass” seems to me a pretty lame and cheeky excuse.
Instead of bringing dumb challenges, they could have thought about what they could do better. That the developers have already proven their good thoughts on improving the BR genre with all the wonderful gameplay ideas in Apex.
The fact that they come across as so unimaginative and conservative regarding the Battle Pass and the first season really makes me sad. In my opinion, Respawn wasted a big opportunity and fell far short of the possibilities.
But enough whining. Apex is still fun, and I’ll do my best to grind through the pass. But there remains a feeling of deep disappointment.
Do you feel the same way, or do you actually like this Spartan approach in Season 1?
