Battlegrounds is a multiplayer first or third person, semi-realistic gun game that takes place in a huge open world.
This 5-mile wide map can have up to 100 players trying to shoot and blow each other up, in an effort to eliminate each other in a battle royal style game where only one player can win.
Battlegrounds has a metric tonne (no kidding) of loot to scavenge and pilfer throughout the map. From M16s and cans of red bull (no they do not give you wings) to cars and bikes to get around the map. There is something for everybody to get their loot hungry hands on in their effort to kill everybody. And you will need that loot for if you die first, that’s it, you’re out of the game. No respawns, no second chances. You’re dead.
Battlegrounds has been, up to this point, a phenomenal success. It has taken the Steam community by the scruff of the neck, screaming play me, PLAY ME! And the nerds have obliged. Playerunknown’s Slaughter fest has sold over 2 million copies so far and it’s not technically even out of beta.
Unfortunately, the game is only available for PC. However, the game is pencilled in for release on Xbox One later in 2017 as a timed console exclusive, then later in 2018 on PS4. It seems like the entire gaming world is desperate to play Battlegrounds. And having played it for many hours myself, I really can’t blame them.
Battlegrounds is a MUST play game for Multiplayer enthusiasts.
Parachute In
Having joined a game, I found myself flying over the huge map that is Playerunknown’s Battlegrounds. It’s a vast land, not unlike the eastern bloc, or Russian styling you would find in Dayz. The lands, both hilly and rolling, are a collection of fields, forests, and ungainly grey blobs that apparently pass for buildings.
After a time, I was given the option to bailout of the massive Hercules, come flying fortress aircraft. With a one, and a two and threeee. I was diving towards the ground headlong toward my encounter with gaming destiny.
Within seconds I bailed out, and hurtled toward the ground at what seemed like the speed of sound, then made the decision to unfurl my parachute. The green bag unfolded and with a jerk of all my limbs, I decelerated and started floating down. I swung my camera around, a lazy arc taking in everything that surrounded me. Everywhere I looked were other little people that dangled beneath their green chute. A deathly quiet filled my speakers, this was the calm before the inevitable storm. Before all hell would run lose unshackled on the crumbled world that expanded beneath my falling feet.
Every player, zipping down from the heavens fell as equals starting with no guns, and no equipment. All except the clothes on ones’ back and the skill in ones’ fingers. Every item that I would acquire would be looted from the battlefield. As soon as every player landed, we would be helpless, but for our fists.
As the green lands fell toward me, I thought it best, considering all these other fellas were vying for my blood, to formulate a plan. I looked around to assess my situation. The island was indeed vast. A mass of green, surrounded by a delicate blue of sky and ocean. Spotted by the grey of humanity’s collected obsession with concrete. It was an island of ripe for killing. And dying.
Having limited control over my chute, I decided to formulate a tactical plan based on the ground directly below me. With the air rushing past my ear and clothes billowing and wafting, I was swiftly descended into what was essentially a field. There was a barn at one end, and a couple of outhouses with derelict roofs, hole riddled by time, to another.
I was naked, afraid and I needed a gun, and as nice thick layer of armour if I wanted to survive more than 2 or 3 minutes. Without the comfort of metal hugging my chest, a single bullet could kill, if placed well.
The two houses would probably have better loot, but parachuting in now was risky. If somebody else got to a gun before me, I’d be dead without ever firing shot. No, the better option would be the barn. So that was where I headed.
With 60 players parachuting in, I needed all the help I could get.
Gun Hunt
In the top right of the screen, a Kill count indicated how many players were still running around the map. 60 in total… then suddenly 59. Somebody must have dropped in early and bitten the bullet.
59 left.
Having landed hard in the field, I turned quickly and sprinted to cover the ground as quickly as possible between me and the building. It would be the perfect time to get sniped. Fortunately, this early on the game the chances of somebody having a gun, in a good firing position would be remote.
I reached the barn wall and hugged up against its white uneven walls near a door. I checked my surrounding then rounded the wall and headed in. Nobody was inside. There was a door exactly opposite me on the other end of the barn and hay flanked me. On the floor was a handgun, a couple of magazines of ammunition, a couple of bandages, an energy drink, and chest armour.
58 left. Another one’s dead.
I picked up the items – they’d come in handy – and equipped the gun and slipped on the armour. I’m going to need something better than this if I wanted any chance of surviving. But I’m glad I had it
Boom. The ticker dropped to 57 then quickly 56.
I started slanting toward the other doorway, when a man, garbed in green fatigues walked through. He just stood there for a moment, possibly in shock that somebody was standing there pointing a gun in his general direction. I must admit, I to was in shock too. This early in the game, with over 25 square miles to lose oneself in, the chances of finding another player was low. Yet here was somebody. It was kill or be killed.
Without warning, the man did the only thing that he deemed rational. With a roar down his mic, he rushed forward like a madman to cover the ground between us. His arms swung wildly as they attempted to bludgeon me to an early death. Unfortunately for him, my bullets covered the ground way faster. Pop, pop, pop. And the man folded to the ground. ‘Die you F*%K”r!’ I screamed back. And with a couple more bullets to the chest, he heeded my call.
55 player left
Need. More. Loot.
A quick flurry. 7 more dead. 48 players left to go.
I desperately needed a better gun if I was to have a chance to win.
My current pea shooter was a waste of time, it couldn’t hit sheep from 3 yards. Never mind kill the fluffy beast. I was lucky with that chap I just killed. He had no armour yet it took 3 shots to put him down. If I came up against somebody who had already kitted themselves out, I’d be burnt toast.
I slowly wormed my way out of the barn, crouched low to avoid any unsuspected bullets slapping me in the temple. I skirted the perimeter of the field until I reached the houses that I saw early on. Checked the corners. All seemed clear. Famous last words in game like Battlegrounds. I slinked around the red brick corner then slid in through the door.
Another one departs the game. 47 souls left.
It looked like a typical house. Stairs going up kitchen come dining room. If it wasn’t for the infinite war going on, I could have set up nest. I moved into the kitchen to look around and…
Shit! I’ve been shot!
Glass splintered and plaster ignited into plumes of dust as gunfire rained through the rear kitchen window. I emptied a mag through the window in retaliation then crouched down.
For god sake Nick, keep your head down! ‘Thank you armour, thank you armour.’ I repeated to myself as sweat beaded down my temples.
I squatted back toward the front door, then slid up the stairs, trying to keep as quiet as possible.
I walked into what appeared to be the main bedroom to be greeted by the most beautiful sight ever: An M16A4 sleeping on a double bed, along with a red dot site, 3 mags of ammo, some more bandages, and a helmet.
I skipped into the inventory and equipped everything. Now I have a machine GUN! Ho Ho Ho. Then I bandaged my bullet holes and readied myself for a fight.
The player counter in the corner dropped again 46, 45, then 44. Everybody’s dropping like flies. 44 players left.
I sneaked over to the bedroom window and looked out toward the direction where the random gunfire originated. There was nobody out there except a wooden create on the floor: a sign that somebody has died and left behind their goodies. Hopefully, my assailant drew too much attention to himself and bought a bullet.
I walked down the stairs convinced of my new-found power, and out the door.
8 more numbers continued to get chiselled off the counter. 36 player left.
Run For Your Lives!
Having left the relative safety of the house, I had to figure out which way to go. And fast. For there were other dangers outside of other players.
You see in battlegrounds, all the players play in an area called the play circle: A white circular area that is shown on a mini map on the Hud.
When the game starts you can play anywhere but very quickly the circle starts to shrink down to random spots. When this happens, a giant blue wall rushes into the new circle’s edge. Anybody who finds themselves outside the play area, or behind this blue wall, will take damage over time and eventually die.
It’s a work of developer genius. The map is a huge 8km across when you start. And slowly, as player numbers are whittled down from, in this case, 60 to, say, 30. The map shrinks to concentrate all the players in a small area, increasing the chances of an encounter.
Eventually, the area can shrink so small it might only contain a single house for two players to duke it out for the win.
Unfortunate for me, I’m on foot and the shrinkage is happening now. And I’m 5 hundred meters away from the edge of the new play area. Crap.
I started sprinting in the direction of the new play area knowing I would be left behind the wall. I swung my camera around and there it was, looming over the land, an iridescent silent killer. Players low on health caught in its wake would stand no chance. And so it proved.
3 players found the blue wall too much. 33 players left.
I kept on sprinting, as the crow flies, as hard as I could for the edge of the new play area. But the blue wall was too much, I looked back and it closed the distance, 100 yards, 50 yards. Then it overtook me. My screen drenched in blue, my health starting slipping away, I needed to keep on moving.
Another few number slid off the counter. 5 more dead. 28 left to go.
I kept on running, I didn’t want to be another victim of this shiny wall of shite. I knew I could make it to the edge.
I rushed into a forest, dodged trees, left then right. Ignoring the fact that anybody could just shoot me.
The Blue wall had stopped and was insight. Then, at a full speed, I fell through it with a shard of health left. I ducked down, hand shaking from my near-death experience, and did my best to heal up.
Another 7 as dead as the Dodo. Only 21 players left.
Car Crue Gun Down
Having survived the encounter with the blue wall of death, my heart settled and my health at full, I pressed forward out of the forest. As I approached the edge. I noticed a dust-caked road snaking along out in the open. Whether it was stupidity or dumb luck, I decided to run out and follow it. Off I toddled and for a while, I even started whistling a song. Then in the distance, I heard something. Something distinctly car-like. I slide off to the side of the road in a little gully and went prone.
Within a few seconds a car, which looked like some box out of the 1950s, rolled into view.
I pulled up my gun and peered down the red dot sight. Two passengers accompanied the driver. One in the front, one in the back.
And then I did the only thing I could do. I started hosing them down with Lead! My gun flashed and buzzed to life as tracer fire slung into the bonnet of the car. Sparks exploded like detonated fireworks as the driver veered from side to side in surprise.
The front passenger keeled over from the onslaught of bullets. The number of players reduced to 20.
However, the driver recomposed himself and figured out where I was. The rear passenger leant out, gun raised in my direction. Bullets plopped into the dirt next to and sprayed junks into my eyes and all over my jacket. I just had this cleaned!
Though the bullets flew inches from my ears I kept firing. The car now on a collision course with me.
A couple of bullets ripped into my armour and bled me of health. But I would not be denied my kill.
Smoke and flame started guzzling forth from the bonnet of the car. But still it drove forward, I couldn’t get a bead on the driver!
I spewed another 15 bullets into the car and…
BOOM!!
The car detonated. A ball of flame erupted from the bonnet sending out a bellowing rumble across the land.
The blackened husk lunged skywards by the eruptive power of the engine exploding. It Ached into the sky, over my head leaving a perfect half circle of debris, fire and smoke, overhead.
The car clattered down behind me. It skidded, churned up some mud, then rolling over before rocking to a stop. The players inside were dead.
The counter now read 18.
Run Away… Again!
After the car exploded in such noisy style I thought it best to move, as the sound would draw attention and I could be easily attacked from the forest on either side of the road.
I walked off heading deeper into the play area. The…
FUD! A silenced shot landed a yard from my feet.
FUD!
Another bullet cratered close to me, mud spat in my face, as I instinctively zig-zagged away from where I thought the fire was coming from. I moved into a full sprint and managed to get to the tree line. I thought for a moment should I turn and fight back. But sometimes in Battlegrounds, you must run away to live to slay another day. As you’ll find, unseen foes shoot at you a lot.
I headed through the forest, my wood be assassin still at large, and out the other side of the wall of trees, I emerged. I found myself just outside a house courtyard. Time to sneak in, stay hidden, and acquire some supplies.
I checked out the rest of the house, picked up a couple of grenades, and headed out the front door. Being pot shot at by that sniper made me paranoid and acutely aware that a single bullet could put an end to my match. The tension was thick and cloying.
I raised my M16 and brought the red dot sight up. With my hand shaking the mouse from all the adrenaline, I scanned the horizon looking for movement. Nothing.
But something was approaching in the distance…
Death Drop
As I stood there outside the house. A mass of grey-green metal blotted out the blue of the sky. Every sound from the environment was overpowered by the drone of engine noise.
I giant cargo plane flew overhead.
A bay door opened like the maw of a great beast, and a boxed weapon cache dropped from the back. As it fell toward the ground a parachute shot out a thin line then unfurled like a flower. The package lazily dangled in the air to a soft landing in field no more than 300 meters away from where I stood.
The counter dropped by another 2. 16 players left.
Weapon cashes drew players like bears to honey. They were dangerous. And I was going to head straight in.
Ding Ding Ding! 2 more dead! 14 players left.
I starting creeping my way over to the cache, then thought better of it. I was probably the closest player to the cache when it landed. I could run over, get in and get out before any other player has a chance to ruin my day.
I scouted my surrounding quickly then sprinted. I pressed the sprint button so hard I thought I’d force my finger through to the desk.
I got half way to the box, then all hell started breaking loose. From the side of field, gunfire started raining out. Muzzle flashes lit up dark recesses in houses and near trees as 2 groups, formed amid the chaos, laid siege to one another.
I dropped to the floor prone and prayed they hadn’t seen me. I laid still and watched the mini battle unfurl.
I could see them as they edged. They wanted to get a better angle on the action. Then I acted.
One had overstretched himself and edged out too far from a tree in the two-some on the right. I got a bead on him and took my shot.
Bang, he fell down, a heap of meat on the floor.
13 players remaining.
The two players on the left thought they made the kill and pressed out from their hideyholes. One standing in the middle of some tufts of grass offered a juicy target.
Pap, pap, pap. With 3 extra holes in his chest, he curled backwards, dead. 12 players left.
With bullets zipping across the field, over the top of cache, the left player got a final decisive blow with a clean head-shot.
11 players left.
He ran out. Big mistake. I aimed and fired.
10 players left.
This was my chance to get some epic loot! I started shambling over to the cache Eager to pick my winnings. I should have really thought about it first. There were 10 players left. Did I really need a slightly better gun? Unfortunately, I did not think about that at the time.
Another one bites the dust, and another one bites the dust yeah! 9 players left!
Sniper Fodder
I reached the cache and loomed over it ready to sift through all the goodies.
PINGGG!!
A bullet rattled one of the crates in front of me punching a hole through the totally inadequate wood. If this wasn’t a game, I’m sure the munitions would have detonated in my face and it would’ve been good night sweetheart.
Sniper!
I ducked into cover but had no idea where the bullet came from.
Thump! A bullet hit the ground a few yards away sending a shaft debris into the air. I was a sitting duck out here. There was no way I could spot where the sniper was without putting my head literally on the line.
Ping! Another bullet rattled out a high-pitched whine, followed by the distinctive boom of a sniper rifle.
There was only one thing for it, I raised up and I ran.
I sprint through the grass toward one of the houses I spotted early on the edge of the field.
Every couple of seconds, almost with metronome accuracy, a thud followed by a powder puff of brown dust kicked up 4 yards from my feet to the left. Followed by an ear-splitting gunshot sound that reverberated unsettlingly off the surrounding environment.
Boom. Gunshot, 1 more dead on the ticker.
8 players left.
It was the same sound but no bullets past by me. He had to be engaged with somebody else.
Boom Gunshot again, 1 more dead.
7 players left.
There was a short silence followed by a clatter of automatic fire. Boom, gun shot. The same sniper rifle, but nobody died this time. More high pitch machine gun fire.
1 dead. The land fell eerily silent. 6 Players left
Grateful to be alive and seemingly nobody else on my tail, I set on my way to the centre of the play area which would be the destination for the final showdown.
Another Player died. 5 players left.
City Slaughter
Down to the last 4 players, the tension couldn’t be higher. The sweat was running down my arms, making my fingers slippery, my palm wet. I calmed myself down then aimed for the dead centre of the gameplay area. From the look of the map, it seemed to be a small city. Cities are deadly, as nearly every building can be entered, and has multiple levels, I could be shot from any angle at any time.
As I hit the back of an office building, I noticed the play area had shrunk to accommodate just the street and buildings that lay before me. There was no escape. Either the remaining players would die. Or I would.
I pushed up against the concrete wall and slid along the side until I hit a window. I turned my camera and peered inside. Nothing. I ducked under the window, slid along a little more and found a rear emergency door. With a single movement, gun raised, I went inside.
Gunfire reverberated around the empty building. I couldn’t get a direction what with the sound bouncing off the walls. So I inched my way forward checking corners. I rounded into a large room looking out onto the main street, and there was a player, unloading a mag onto what looked like the opposite building.
He had no idea I was there.
With my gun already raised I drew a red bead on his unprotected head and pulled the trigger. A single bullet echoed through the room. A puff of blood. And a corpse fell to the ground.
3 Players left.
I walked slowly over to where the kill fell to check out of the window. From behind cover, I popped out as little of my head out as possible to scan the street, then popped back into cover. There was nobody there. Or, if they were, they were well hidden.
Ping!!
Blood filled my screen.
I instinctively moved sideways in hope of escaping a surprise line of fire.
More bullets fell my way and chipped my health down to a minuscule amount.
With blood gushing from veins, crimson pooling on the floor, I spun around, mouse and arm in full motion, to see a guy pop into the room through a door at the other end of the room. I ducked in behind a wall near where I came in the building, primed a grenade, and bounced it off a wall around the corner toward my assailant. Then made my way back out the building the way I came in.
A deafening boom and a flash of light were followed by the sound of shattered glass. And molten debris bounced along the floor.
But no kill.
I fell into the inventory and started healing myself up with bandages. Then I…
Bang… A single shot rang out across the street.
The ticker fell by 1. 2 players left.
One shall stand, One Shall Fall.
As soon as the 3rd player died, the blue wall of death started to collapse in on itself like an aged star and focused on a building at the end of the street.
With a little more immediacy, I made my way through the building, jumped through the broken window and out into the street. There was a large concrete building 100 meters away at the end of the street. It would be the venue for the final battle.
I started sprinting down the road, trying to stay ahead of the blue wall as best I could.
Then out of the corner of my eye, I saw blurred movement. It was the other player. He fled out onto the street ahead of me and didn’t know I was there. While both of us were running, I fired off a few shots from the hip. One seemed to hit home, the others peppered the ground and walls, spraying up mushrooms of dust.
He turned to get a few shots off with a handgun while furiously back peddling.
Bang, bang. Both shots missed, embedding themselves in loose concrete yards away from me.
The blue wall closed in fast as the first player entered the building at one end. Then moments later, I entered at the other end.
The building looked like some kind of supermarket with rows of head height food aisles running from front to back. Perfect for cover, and flanking.
I reloaded my gun, topped up my health, then raised the red dot to my eye for the final battle. I had a couple of grenades left, so readied the first and tossed it to the other end of the room in hope of catching the other player out. It popped like a supernova, turned shadow into light, then the room was once again bathed in gloom.
No kill.
I tried again with the second grenade, threw the green egg into the air, it bounced, then blossomed like an orange flower with a deafening roar.
Still no kill.
I started sweating, shaking with fear, in the knowledge that the other player must have already moved.
I turned around to slink my way up the aisle, then I froze.
It was the other player.
While I thought I was being super tactical with my grenades, he had flanked me and stood there, shotgun trained upon me.
Shit.
He pulled the trigger. Thump! I took one in the chest…
But I didn’t die!
The first shot ripped away only 3 quarters of my health, giving me time to start pouring bullets from my M16. I drew an ark of gunfire toward him. A line of impacts traced sideways along the food shelves, puffs of food and sparks of metal filled the air. Then an impact hit his chest.
Then a second.
Then a th…
He pulled the trigger, my body went limp, my health read zero.
The player count dropped by one.
I was dead. The game was over. 1 Player left.
And it wasn’t me.
Final Thoughts
Battlegrounds is game like no other. It offers up some of the most intense and emergent gameplay of any game, multiplayer or otherwise, I have played. After playing more than 15 games, Not one ended the same way. Every single round proved to be a completely unique experience. Which was so refreshing in this era of pattern matching Call of Duty maps.
The map size and the massive amount of loot give rise to a huge amount of tactical and strategic options. Whether you want to be stealth or go in all guns blazing, the option is open to you. Sometimes I found myself, hanging back with a sniper rifle. Other times I stayed in close confines armed with a shotgun. Whatever your tactic, if you pick the right gun and the right surroundings, it can work.
And in addition to the Lone Wolf gameplay that I opt for, you can play co-operatively with other players by forming a squad of between 2 and 4 players. This gives rise to a completely new dynamic for the game. When there are squads of 4 roaming around the map, encounters are far more tactical, and far more dangerous.
And this is only the beginning of Battlegrounds with a mass of future updates promised by the developer. We have Maps vehicles and even more loot in the pipeline so if you buy now, you know you’re getting a game that is going to be supported for a long time.,
As far as I’m concerned, this is a must buy game. If you’re a multiplayer fan this is currently the best shooter to be found on any platform anywhere. It’s overtaken Battlefield and Call of Duty as my go-to shooter. And I don’t think will ever be able to go back to them. Battle Royal gameplay and Playerunknown has taken the online shooter world by storm. I implore you to get your mouse out and jump on this gaming train. You will not be disappointed.
Pros/Cons
Pros
-Epic multiplayer action
Onward going improvements
-Continued optimization
-Loads of guns
-Loads of vehicles
-Tonnes of player online
-Great loot system
-Usable stealth system
-Tonnes of workable tactics and strategies.
-Bouncy fun physics
-Loads of servers to get quickly into a game.
-One life then you’re out gameplay adds intensity to encounters
-Squad play
Cons
-Currently poor server optimisation
-Performance not optimised, need a GTX1080 to get solid 60fps
-Currently multiplayer only
-You can be eliminated quickly
Recommendation
I recommend Battlegrounds as a MUST BUY for all fans of gun, or multiplayer games.
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