Beware, what you are about to read contains a series of thoughts, induced by rage, mild fascination, and pure disappointment. Battle Royale (BR) games, am I right? For those who are still living happily and oblivious to what that means, it is a pretty simple concept in which your player is placed in a massive battleground with about a hundred players from all over the world. It is based on the simple art of looting, hiding, and killing….in-game. Manage to do that and you get yourselves a warm “chicken dinner”. (Or its vegan equivalent)
But jokes aside, what makes Battle Royale such an imposing genre and why are developers just releasing these games for free? To attract a wider player base, of course. Consider this, you try PUBG (now free-to-play) based on the hype that it once had. You drop in with a parachute, loot some poor guy’s belongings and kill a few tyrants. And before you know it, you start liking homicide, IN-GAME. The appeal of having the entire map to explore mixed with elements of good old competitive shooting makes Battle Royale worth playing. Slap a price tag of 0 bucks and it starts to feel like a dream.
One of the many reasons why free games work is because the people go “Doesn’t hurt to try, right?” It’s true until it’s not. Micro-transactions yay! I have nothing against the premise of buying skins, as long as the prices are tame and I have money to spare. In most if not all BR games, skins or any other in-game purchase does not provide you with an unfair advantage over the regular pleb. However, it can only be used as a source to level up quickly and unlock items that may take a little grinding to get. Next time you get killed by a strange-looking, fire-breathing weapon, don’t feel too down. It took a person to spend real bucks to gain enough confidence to kill you.
Based on the variety of games to try, here’s a list of some BRs which may tickle your fancies:-
The Good-
Starting, we have the upper echelon, full of sweaty gamers and the most famous titles to date. Based on a plethora of different features and gameplay mechanics, these games are the ultimate fuel for streamers, content creators, etc. We thank them for the unexpected, funny, or skillful moments, while the developers can rest easy knowing these people have their back.
If you’re a fan of competitive games online, then be sure to take a gander over some of these:-
Apex Legends (2019)
Firestorm (2018)
Call of Duty: Warzone (2020)
Fortnite (2017)
Fall Guys (2020)
CRSED: F.O.A.D. (2019)
The Bad-
Please read “Bad” as mediocre or average. I didn’t want to deviate from the famous catchphrase, that’s all.
This list is for the BRs which had a slow and sluggish start to their reign. They may be good; albeit not able to scratch the itch you hoped to have. You will probably find them aimed towards people with a specific niche or maybe for casual play only. But for the bold, this is also a quagmire to find some underrated titles hiding beneath. A “hit or miss”, if you must.
Try not to ruin the flow, while you take a look below:-
Hyper Scape (2020)
Danger Zone (part of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive) (2018)
Naraka: Bladepoint (2021)
Ring of Elysium (2020)
Red Death (part of Civilization 6) (2019)
Totally Accurate Battlegrounds (2018)
The Ugly-
This time, the heading is almost apt. Taking place in this list are the BR games that failed to make an impact on their target audience by a mile. With dwindling numbers when it comes to active players count and irregular updates, it’s a shame when you consider the amount of work the development team had to put behind, making them. If they did, they wouldn’t have this problem now, would they? (ooh!)
Whatever the case is, I wouldn’t go as far as to advise you to turn your back as soon as see the option to play them. Who knows, maybe you will like what you see. It is 2022; don’t let a random guy writing a blog restrain you from trying something out.
To name a few-
The Culling (2017)
H1Z1 (2018)
Realm Royale (2018)
Darwin Project (2020)
Fractured Lands (2018)
Fear the Wolves (2018)
I believe this genre has still so much to achieve with a big future ahead. Sure single-player RPGs are the dominant choice, but queuing up with your friends or even random people is fun and has its fair share of surprises.
So, which of these Battle Royale games do you see yourself playing?
The Paper Byte 
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