You and millions of others around the world already know how it goes:
You and millions of others around the world already know how it goes: in PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (AKA PUBG) up to 100 players skydive down to one of three distinct islands, scavenge for gear, and race against an ever-closing circle to kill each other (with no respawns) until there’s just one left standing. PUBG is the game that kicked off the battle royale craze with its great, semi-realistic style of gameplay, and now that the Xbox One version is final and performs well, its excellent balance really shines through. With the 1.0 update that arrived last week, PUBG on Xbox One shakes off its janky reputation from the Xbox Game Preview version and is finally a solid version of the now second-most popular battle royale shooter. Frame rate stutters a bit in the lobby area and during jumps, but other than that it rarely has trouble holding 30 frames per second on a standard Xbox One, and connection problems or disconnects are rare. I’ve been playing on a standard Xbox One the visuals are a noticeable downgrade compared to the PC version, but I haven’t had many issues other than some buildings taking extra time to fully render.
PUBG on Xbox One also now has every feature of the PC version
PUBG on Xbox One also now has every feature of the PC version. When diving into a match you can choose to do so either in first-person only or third-person by default (with first-person as an option) so that you can opt out of people using the unrealistic advantage of peeking around corners in third-person. You can also choose to deploy a solo combatant, with a partner in Duos, or with a full squad of four players. While grouping with random people is technically possible, in my experience most people rarely use a mic, which is extremely frustrating in a game that requires clear communication and teamwork. You’ll really want to find a group of friends to play with in this one.
PUBG is a methodical and tactical experience.
Third-person play simply feels much better, and it seems to be because your player model is physically simulated in much the same way as a character from Grand Theft Auto 5 or Red Dead Redemption 2, with a bit more fluidity in movement — so that you aren’t constantly tripping over yourself, but you still feel fragile. It’s a tough balance to strike, but it’s noticeable that you aren’t playing a game that was particularly intended as a first-person shooter when you switch over to first-person mode. Aiming down sights is also just plain stiff in comparison to any proper first-person shooter, especially Call of Duty or Battlefield. Compared to other battle royale shooters – and specifically Fortnite – PUBG is a methodical and tactical experience, one that’s as much about avoiding combat until you’re sure you have the upper hand as it is about actually scoring kills. That makes the highs that much more exhilarating but also the lows can be painfully boring. Hunkering down behind cover while under fire by an enemy squad, calling out directions on the compass to teammates to try to organize a flank, or hysterically laughing when things go terribly wrong underscores what makes the battle royale genre so fun. But given the size of the three maps and slow pacing, you may have games that stretch for over 20 minutes without ever seeing a single person and then get shot in the head by a mountaintop sniper – those runs are super frustrating.
Third-person play simply feels much better.
Since PUBG has a much more realistic tone, there’s no magically building walls out of thin air, grappling hooks, rocket launchers, or Thanos crossovers to be found here. Instead, each piece of gear you find is placed semi-logically in buildings around the post-apocalyptic landscapes. You start out with no items at all, but everyone has the same two primary weapon slots, sidearm slot, throwable slot, and storage/armor slots. Backpacks, body armor, and helmets are all tiered from Level 1 to Level 3, but each gun is created identically to the other guns of its type.
So there aren’t different color-coded rarity levels between different AKMs or M416 rifles; instead, you find attachments to improve your weapons over the course of the match. The great thing about this system is that it incentivizes you to constantly loot and find better gear, up until you’re near the end – which is when you’re tempted to risk it all by exposing yourself to go for one of the air-dropped loot crates containing high-end gear and weapons. PUBG’s more serious tone isn’t as accessible, but its cohesive attitude and strong core premise tie everything together exceptionally well without feeling obnoxious.