saying goodbye to Apex Legends Mobile (forever) in a couple of months, thanks to EA and Respawn’s decision to shut down the much-anticipated battle royale-hero shooter game barely a year after its release. It’s a sad piece of news to digest, but as we say at Tribe – gamers don’t die; they respawn!
The battle royale, first-person hero shooter world must move on. To fill up the blank spot Apex will be leaving, here are Town Crier’s five best alternatives to Apex Legends Mobile, guaranteed to leave your thumbs aching and your heart racing.
Call OF Duty Mobile
It’s unlikely that you aren’t already a fan of Call of Duty: Mobile. But if you aren’t, you should stop slacking and get on that train as soon as possible.
Released in 2019 by Activision, CoDM has successfully made a mark in the overly-competitive mobile gaming industry, even establishing itself as a competitor for more extravagant titles like PUBG and Fortnite. But what makes Call of Duty Mobile stand out is its near perfection, combining elements from the PC/ console versions and smartphone compatibility.
In summary, it’s not just a transition from bigger screens to handheld ones but a blend of adaptability such that even though we have Call of Duty’s classic maps, weapons, and game modes, it’s an entirely new mobile gaming world. Its multiplayer modes are fantastic; with epic 5-on-5 team-based combat, it excels in the BR mode, where solo, duo, or four-player teams battle to the death.
All of these are brought to you in high-quality graphics, controls that rival consoles, and a host of other in-game features like skins, weapons, and of course, characters. COD Mobile also ranks high with its accessibility support, meaning you can connect your controllers and choose not to make any in-game purchases, with no serious effect on your gameplay or winning ability.
PUBG Mobile
No way, we’re starting this list with Call of Duty Mobile and not following with PUBG Mobile. After all, the game’s developers, LightSpeed & Quantum Studio, call it “the best battle royale mobile game”. While many will debate that, and you can chuck it all up to the game developers patting themselves on the back, you can’t deny that PUBG Mobile definitely packs a punch.
PUBG Mobile is the mobile offering for the critically-acclaimed PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds game, and holds the title for being the first entry in the battle royale genre for mobile. And where most pioneers often find themselves outdone by games that come after them, PUBG Mobile has managed to hold its own and remains the go-to for many battle royale lovers worldwide.
PUBG is played in solo mode against 99 other players, all scrambling around for supplies to help them become the last man standing. How the game delivers this experience is the kicker. From realistic simulation to its immense zones and the random nature of its gameplay, PUBG Mobile is pulsating and gets the blood pumping. In a good way, of course.
And although its first-person-shooter mode is clunky and destined to frustrate those who prefer playing that way or the fact that hackers keep ruining the experience for actual gamers (really, no game is without its flaws), PUBG is still a worthy option to play. Any day, any time.
Free Fire Max
We’ve geeked over the extensive maps and zones offered by the first two entries on our list, but what about the little gamers that prefer short BR matches with the same explosive energy? That’s where Free Fire Max comes in.
Free Fire Max is developed by Garena and is a reimagined version of the original Free Fire mobile game. This version offers much better gameplay and graphics than its predecessor, and the quality doesn’t drop even if you are on a low-end smartphone. That’s a selling point that trumps Call of Duty and PUBG, as the experience with mobile versions depends greatly on the type of device you use.
BR mode on Free Fire Max involves 50 players slugging it out against each other for about 15 minutes. Players can choose solo, duo, or team matches, and compete against others with similar skill sets, thanks to a dedicated ranking system. This way, matches are more even, more competitive, and the fun is guaranteed.
It does get monotonous after a while, so if seeing the same kind of stuff over and over doesn’t appeal to you, you should probably take Free Fire Max in short doses. The game also has a pay-to-win model, which unfortunately means that players with in-game purchases tend to be stronger than those who don’t. All other entries on this list have avoided this, but there’s got to be that black sheep in the family, right?
Fortnite for Mobile
If we labeled Free Fire Max as the black sheep of our list, then Fortnite for Mobile would be the prodigal son. Why?
The game’s been through a lot. First, it had an explosive entry into gaming, with over 350 million accounts registered worldwide. Then it transitioned to mobile platforms in 2017, which would eventually be met with its blocker.
When its developer; Epic Games, decided to introduce its payment gateway for in-game purchases and offered a permanent 20% discount to encourage its use; it pretty much pissed off Google Playstore and Apple App Store because the offer would mean less revenue for the app platforms. They wasted no time removing Fortnite Mobile from their listings as revenge. There was also a bit of some shade in Epic’s announcement against Apple and Google, but we’re not going to bore you with that.
That was all in 2020. Android users can download the game on the Epic Games website, while iOS gamers have had little or no access to the battle royale masterpiece. That is until 2022 when Microsoft announced that users could play Fortnite on their mobile browsers through the Xbox cloud gaming service, where you can stream games straight to your devices.
But enough about the history lesson, what makes Fortnite Mobile worth all the fuss? Not only is Fortnite mobile a visual masterpiece, with game physics, graphics, and animation to die for (only in-game, please), it comes with a community of players that are ardent fans of the lore, which is always a great addition to any gaming experience.
The only snag with Fortnite Mobile is that it requires high-end capabilities for devices to play. You’d typically need a 64-bit Android running on an ARM64 processor, with Android OS 8.0 or higher, a minimum RAM of 4GB, and an Adreno 530 (or higher), Mali-G71 MP20, or Mali-G72 MP12 (or higher) GPU.
ScarFall: The Royal Combat
Offline and online modes. Versatility. A dedicated fanbase among low-end and mid-range device owners. An extensive roster of weapons, vehicles, and skins. ScarFall: The Royale Combat has it all.
In the way Free Fire Max is designed for the short-form BR match, ScarFall caters to the dedicated battle royale experience. This means if it’s a battle royale match you’re itching for, it’s a proper battle royale match you’ll get.
Besides the Battle Royale mode, ScarFall also offers the Server Mode, which lets you create a private server where you and your friends can have a private BR match; with your own rules and terms. It’s perfect for a particular time with friends, and you don’t have to worry about strangers gate-crashing your party.
ScarFall has the same shortcomings as Free Fire Max: it gets tiring quickly. It’s also got just two maps and limited customizations. Classic BR matches only last 10 minutes, while Survival Mode gives 15 minutes, which can be annoying, seeing it is a really short time for 100 players to battle themselves. We take what we can, right?
So, which of these will you be playing? Remember, gaming is more fun when you’ve got people to play with. Luckily for you, we’ve got a strong community for you to become a part of. Join our dedicated forums on Discord for new friends, exclusive events, news, tricks, and tips.
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