PUBG: Battlegrounds (2017)

God. I love GROUVEE as a platform and logging in after a few weeks of non-activity here, I noticed PUBG was still on my "playing shelf".

I actually removed the game from my PC last month, after a recent update caused it to crash constantly. I'm grateful for PUBG and how it made me grow closer to a bunch of (gaming) friends. We played PUBG every damn evening when it came out and up to this day there is not BR game that can compete with the adrenaline you feel in those last circle moments.

BUT

As others have mentioned it before. It's a guilty pleasure. It's the video game version of a "love & hate relationship" and it is far, far from perfect.

The engine, the gunplay, the movement, the looting, the interacting with the environment, physics, animations, holy shit, everything is so damn JANKY. Not to mention the obnoxious currency/marketplace push that PUBG has evolved towards in these past few years. That's a huge con for me.

Bottomline: For me, PUBG is a pretty mediocre game, one I kinda hate, and kinda love.

As with the previous two battle royale (Fortnite and H1Z1) I've played, I prefer solo mode rather than playing with randoms.

Nothing stands out for me with PUGB, apart from the inventory management. Also it seems to be easier to get kills when there's a lower starting number.

As I'm currently ploughing through my PS Plus backlog, doubt I'll be stuck playing this for more than a couple of days.

I played for 2 days during a free trial; 4 player teams, duos and solo. The best I did was 3rd place during a solo game. While the game is a lot of fun, I prefer my games to be like books and movies; something I can curl up with and enjoy by myself at my leisure. This game (and multiplayer in general) is more like playing sports (which I hate). I cannot justify spending any more than a few dollars on this game, especially considering my huge back log of single player games (not even counting all those with multiplayer components!). Biggest decision would be whether to play on xbox one (with my cousin and his friends) or PC (with my sister and her man). The thing that bothered me the most about this game though is the shrinking playing area. While I agree that it is an important aspect, I do not like the frantic play in trying to stay ahead of the blue death. I think a slower more consistent shrinking would be better.

This is what happened in the game where I got 3rd. I dropped on the south edge of the map and the safe zone was on the north edge of the map. I spent the next 10 minutes sprinting full out not sure if I would even make it there in time. Along the way I got shot at from behind with nothing but open field in front of me. So I zig zagged through the field, got hit once with a sliver of health remaining, and then bombs started falling around me. Eventually, the shots from behind slowed and then stopped and soon after I exited the field and broke line of sight. I took shelter in a rickety wooden building (which was just inside the safe area) to heal up, while a new bomb drop area spawned on top of me again. Then I lost connection. By the time I got back in (with no healing done), the playable area was shrinking again. Heal up quick and then back to sprinting. I made it to the school (around half way to the north edge of the map) with shots going nearby. I did not see anyone though, but I did spy a jeep. Enough of this damn running, I took the jeep and beelined for the north edge. The safe area was around a house, which I approached from the flank, getting shot at. I drove right at the house, dived out, and ran into the nearby shed. Closed the door behind me and waited. Minutes passed, nothing happened. No one noticed where I went. Meanwhile, shots were going and people were dying nearly constantly right outside.

Later, the playable area shrunk again and I had to leave the shed for the house. I got shot by someone in the house and tried to jump out a window, but could not fit. It looked big enough for a person! Never had time to find another route as the blue killed me.

There is some really neat gameplay and strategy here but it definitely needs a bunch of work. There is real promise but it lacks depth. Obviously they can get away with some of this using the early access status. In addition to some expected bugs, there is a need for there to be much more. More modes, more in-game events, more equipment, or something else to make you feel like you can accomplish something without just killing the other players.

At least the times I played it I didn't actually fire my gun much, which adds a level of tension because you aren't as familiar with the weapons you pick up. You don't want to test them because it attracts undue attention, and it wastes precious ammo.

Right now it feels like there is a lot of luck involved. Too much. There is a lot of chance to turn around a corner and happen to run into someone, or exit a building at the wrong time. Items are also random and there is a fair good chance you will find weapons and equipment, but maybe not what you want or need.

There needs to be something more besides killing players and obtaining items. I would love if vehicles required more work to get functional. It would be more of an accomplishment to find and get one started if you had to find gas and fix the engine or something. It would also draw people out in the open. I also think it could benefit from a zombie mode, as overdone as that is. The zombies shouldn't be incredibly dangerous but just enough to be an obstacle to get more items and to cause you to take risks in killing them.

Lastly, it sucks that you can't spectate once you are dead. I understand in team matches that would potentially impact the outcome, but it is lame in the free-for-all that you can't watch the final showdown.