Back in 2019, Respawn Entertainment and Electronic Arts took the world by storm by introducing Apex Legends – a free multiplayer Battle Royale computer game available on PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S.
If you haven’t even heard of Apex Legends, you can introduce yourself to this amazing game with many videos on YouTube or live streaming on Twitch. Remember, it’s free to download and play.
Why is it called Apex Legends?
The Legends are the game characters you choose to play. When the game was first introduced, there were eight Legends. Then with each season, an additional Legend is introduced.
Seasons
Apex is now in its 14th season called Hunted. A season lasts for three months and brings with it a new Legend – this season, `Vantage,’ a new map or map changes, new weapons, cosmetic updates, and treats. Here’s an official Apex Legends: Hunted Gameplay Trailer:
Gameplay
The default way of playing Apex is with 20 teams of three players each (Trios). For each game, you can choose any legend, but there can only be one of any legend in a team. (In some seasons, there are special events where you can have up to three of the same legend in a team.) There are more ways to enjoy Apex, though, which brings us to game modes.
Game modes
The image below shows the game mode screen. Here, you can switch to playing Duos (2 players per team) or Arenas, where a team of three plays against one other team of three in a limited-size map called an arena.
Ranked games
For players who really want to compete on a higher level and rank up, you can choose to play Ranked Leagues (a ranked version of the default Trios), or Ranked Arenas.
Ranking
When you first start playing Apex, you start as Bronze rank. There are seven ranks: Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum, Diamond, Master, and Predator. Within each rank are four tiers. You have to score RP (rank points) to be able to climb the ranks. Each rank requires more RP and skill to ascend to the next rank. On top of that, the ranks reset again for each season.
Can I be an Apex Predator?
I’m not really qualified to answer this, but speaking for other people, if you put in the work, I believe you could rank up to Predator. For a guy of my age, it’s unlikely I could be an Apex Predator, considering there are only slots for 750 Apex Predators for each platform, including PC, Xbox, and Playstation, and I’m now 53. It is kind of a dream, though, and I’d love to join a team of players who can hold their own and allow you the chance to do the same. (You sometimes find yourself playing with players who need a little carrying, which detracts you from playing how you need to play.)
How popular is Apex Legends?
Apex Legends has over 100 Million players!
To say that this game has been well-received would be an understatement! Back in April 2021, developer Respawn Entertainment announced on Twitter that Apex had reached 100 million players:
100 million strong, and we’re just getting started. Thank you, Legends! ❤️ pic.twitter.com/FlINru0lx5
— Apex Legends (@PlayApex) April 14, 2021
How is the game free?
Although without any advantage to actual player scoring performance, Apex offers many cosmetic upgrades that you can purchase in-game with real currency or game currency that you automatically acquire over time. Some of these cosmetics include legend skins or costumes, weapon skins and colors, and my personal favorite – animations unique to each legend. If you really get into this game, it can be fun to spend a little on customizing your in-game experience.
At the beginning of each new season, you can use real or gaming currency to get the newest legend if you wish, too. You can wait until you have enough automatic in-game currency, though, so you needn’t spend any money unless you are in a hurry.
(My opinion on in-game monetization)
With Apex being such a good game and having so many players in the world, this business model of offering something for free with no actual game limitations for anyone is very cool. Offering in-game cosmetics at a small cost is reasonable for anyone who’d like to enhance their time playing these types of games. The game is free. If you don’t want to spend any real money, you don’t need to. There’s no gaming performance advantage for anyone who does.
System Requirments
Like any game you play on the PC, the better the computer hardware you have the better the gaming performance you should expect. So, before we get excited about any PC games out there, it’s good to see if our computer can handle them.
Here are the PC requirements shown at ea.com for Apex Legends:
APEX LEGENDS MINIMUM SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
- OS: 64-bit Windows 7
- CPU: Intel Core i3-6300 3.8GHz / AMD FX-4350 4.2 GHz Quad-Core Processor
- RAM: 6GB
- GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GT 640 / Radeon HD 7730
- GPU RAM: 1 GB
- HARD DRIVE: Minimum 22 GB of free space
APEX LEGENDS RECOMMENDED SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
- OS: 64-bit Windows 7
- CPU: Intel i5 3570K or equivalent
- RAM: 8GB
- GPU: Nvidia GeForce GTX 970 / AMD Radeon R9 290
- GPU RAM: 8GB
- HARD DRIVE: Minimum 22 GB of free space
My thoughts on System Requirements
I played Apex for almost 3 years with an aging Nvidia GeForce GTX 970 video card (GPU) and an old Dell U2410 60Hz monitor, and it was a good enough experience. Apex inspired me to up my game by building a new PC, changing my mouse, and even getting a gaming monitor, and I did see performance improvements, especially from the newer GPU and higher refresh-rate monitor.
One quick personal tip to help with aiming in Apex Legends
If you’ve gotten this far through this post (I thank you), I have a very simple tip that helped me improve my aiming a little bit in Apex. Remember, I’m 53, so I need all the help I can get! To get the tip, simply contact me through this site and ask me for it. I won’t put you on an email list (unless you want me to). As I mention on our About page too, I like to reward regular supporters of the site.
I hope you enjoy playing Apex Legends
Apex is available on PlayStation® 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and PC via Origin and Steam. People I’ve introduced to Apex Legends are now regular players. If you’ve got some time to fill, look no further.
See you in the arena!
Download Apex Legends (Official Link)
https://www.ea.com/games/apex-legends
If you’ve got money to burn and would like professionals to help you rank up in Apex Legends, see below:
Grant is the webmaster here and a longtime PC enthusiast. He likes talking about computers and seeing other people enjoy theirs. When he’s not working or tinkering with this site, he enjoys playing Apex Legends. Grant lives in Japan as an English teacher and vegetable farmer.
