And while we're on the topic, you can absolutely interrupt an enemy's execution. Like I said, performing executions are very slow and they leave the player wide open for attack, so you might as well take advantage of the opportunity. But beware, attacking an enemy snaps them out of their attack animation, allowing them to defend themselves and/or perform counter attack against you. So you better make it count - a nice shotgun blast or two should do the tr

It's not a bad weapon after you've obtained a few upgrades for it, but getting there is going to be a slog. The locked burst fire really drags it down in terms of DPS, limiting its ability to maintain pressure and remain useful inside of mid-range. There are definitely better ways to make use of the heavy ammo it consu

The Hemlok fulfills the role of the standard, three round burst firing assault rifle that you're probably familiar with from every other FPS game. While it manages to succeed in playing the role, it doesn't tend to do it overly well at any po

On top of being initially perceived as a somewhat desperate attempt on EA's part to chase market trends, Apex Legends launched on February 4 with almost no fanfare leading up to its surprise arrival. Nevertheless, Apex Legends has ballooned into nothing short of an enigmatic triumph for EA and developer Respawn, shattering player count milestones at speeds that would have made Fortnite wince. On its surface, it would seem that Apex Legends does little to nothing that this week's major releases don't, lacking the graphical spectacle of Metro Exodus and Anthem , the open-ended sandboxes of Far Cry New Dawn and Crackdown 3 , and the pop culture mélange that Jump Force provides. But it stands out from the throng, largely thanks to its simple-yet-enthralling gameplay loop, well-refined Titanfall gunplay and movement systems, and refreshing additions and improvements to the battle royale form

But while it's decent at mid-range, it shines at long range, and you'll find that a lot more fights are truly decided in closer quarters. If you absolutely need to have a sniper rifle in your hands, this is a great pick. The ammo's common and you could do a lot worse for DPS. But I'd still suggest something a little more pressure intens

Slide (A Lot!) - One of the best ways to quickly traverse an area is to slide (using crouch) down hills - as sliding on a descent is limitless... and super fast - or across an area. It can be key to winning a firefight and the match its

This strange, triple-barreled shotgun-pistol hybrid handles poorly, and necessitates frequent, sluggish reload animations. The only upside is that if you come face to face with another poorly equipped looter in the early SLG game Updates, you'll be able to kick out surprising amounts of dam

Opening a door is boring. Violently kicking it open is where it's at! There may come a time when you are unable to open a door - someone is on the other side, or there's a dangerous gas trap waiting to be tripped. Luckily, you can knock down doors by running at it and holding the melee button. Your character will burst down the door, which in turn will knock over an enemy or disable a gas trap! Respawn really did think of everyth

The Hot Zone is the initial area on the map with incredible loot. Naturally, teams flock to it in the hopes of obtaining high tier armor and weapons. And there's nothing worse than a new player going to it and getting downed in the first thirty seconds while their teammates are on the other side of the map. We understand that dropping there makes for a good learning experience, but if you want to train, play with friends and not with rand

That leaves only Anthem , whose global February 22 launch will mark the only proper live-service competitor to Apex Legends . Though Anthem is unquestionably beautiful and has thrilling combat and movement that Crackdown developers ought to take note of, there is the unavoidable fact that it is EA's answer to Destiny , and the online loot-shooter genre Anthem 's obvious source material spawned is marred by a series of hard-to-avoid caveats. It does more to ensure that players won't be locked out of certain time-limited content by providing matchmaking in areas that the Destiny franchise neglects, but (as EA has clearly done its homework) it's difficult to not fear that launch content will prove much more sparse than initially expected, much as it was in both Destiny entr

Players love to execute each other. It's a nice way to rub your victory in their faces, and it looks cool to boot. But there's a time and a place for executions, and the middle of a gunfight is not one of them. You're better off shooting a downed enemy, because performing an execution leaves you wide open for attack. Plus, the animation is slow, so you're only wasting precious time by showing off. Save the execution for the last pla

Why was Apex Legends able to rest on its laurels this week while Respawn works on future content? The simplest answer can actually be found in what was likely perceived by EA to be its greatest weakness: it's near-total lack of pre-release marketing. Leaked only a day prior to launch, Apex Legends set the internet abuzz with the immediate promise of an all-new and well-polished experience that players could get their hands on for the tantalizing price of "free." Meanwhile, Crackdown 3 has suffered from a grueling, years-long embarrassment for Xbox Games Studios that began when it was revealed all the way back at E3 2014, greatly reducing the impact of the exclusive's largely overlooked February 15 release d