There’s always a certain thrill to fighting against impossible odds. When we’re playing video games and we know we’re fighting against AI, we’re well aware that they’re not as competent as us. So we start to feel more badass and have more control even when we’re fighting against over a hundred of them.
Enter the Battle Royale.
Let’s admit it: a human opponent 9 times out of 10 will be more challenging to play against than a computer. That’s why multiplayer has always been so exciting. There’s a certain feel of competitiveness to it that gives it an unpredictable edge.
Now imagine being dropped off to a map with possibly more than 100 other players. You compete for whatever weapons you can get a hold of, any kind of vantage point, and supplies to keep yourself alive. Battle Royale is basically a free-for-all deathmatch with the player numbers in at least three digits.
However, unlike other multiplayer modes like Free-for-all, if you die you can’t respawn. That one life limit that you have is what keeps that added thrill of the game. You only have one shot. You make the wrong call once and it could be over.
So as you can see there’s a lot about the Battle Royale genre to love. And it’s easy to see why people like it.
When you look at the title of this article you could ask: “Why should we limit the Battle Royale genre simply because there are too many? Should we limit Role Playing Games as well then because there are too many? And on that note, are First Person Shooter Games also becoming too much?”
That’s not what I meant. Rest assured, I’m a big fan of Battle Royale games. And I would love to play more variety of it.
But that’s the thing. Variety. Battle Royale games can be fun, but right now, they’re getting much too stale. Developers out there seem to have this notion that Battle Royale game sells like hot cakes and would generate them a lot of money. They’re not wrong.
But it seems to me that Battle Royale games are getting incredibly copy-and-paste from each other. It’s the almost the same concept but with different mechanics.
The only real different Battle Royale game that stands out that I can remember, would be Fortnite. It at least allows itself to develop its own image with its building mechanics and cartoonish concept.
I wish that more and more Battle Royale games would develop their own image instead of just being taken from another just the basic concept of it with a different engine. Almost most of the popular Battle Royale games involves at least a 100 players on a map killing each other with guns.
There’s more to Battle Royale than that.
A part of me wants a Battle Royale that caters a lot more to strategy than luck, muscle memory, and who can accurately pull the trigger the fastest. Which is kind of why I’m excited for the upcoming Swordsman X, which feels like a refreshing take of the Battle Royale genre with its own spin on things.
Developers and publishers nowadays seem to cater more to what they think will be the easiest way to make money in the least amount of effort. Which for now seems to be Battle Royale. It won’t be too long till they move on to the next fad that people like and exploit that to gain money.
