Battle royale shooters are the hottest genres right now and two titles holding the lion share are Fortnite and PlayerUnkown's Battleground. When the creators of Fortnite set off a firestorm announcing that they were porting their game to IOS, PUBG Corporations surprised everyone by dropping PUBG on both IOS and Android. This was something I had to see so I had originally locked in an hour but for some crazy reason, it turned into two.
Suprise Was My First Reaction
There have been a lot of classic titles like Baldur's gate and Final Fantasy being ported to mobile since phones are able to handle them but the last thing I thought I would see is one of the leading titles out right now join the platform. I have not bought into PUBG on PC yet, more of a Fortnite guy, so I really wasn't sure what to expect. My original thoughts were that the game could not possibly run on my Samsung S8+ without terrible lag or looking god awful. I was wrong.
The Game runs surprisingly well and plays a lot smoother than I thought it would. The graphics aren't top notch but they are some of the best I have seen on mobile. In my time I was able to play 2 solo rounds and 2 squad rounds and besides for me not being able to find a comfortable position with my phone and the charger cord, I was enjoying it. The battery drain wasn't more the 6% per game which was a straight half an hour of play. Plugged in I would still drop 1% but there is something wrong with my charger.
For those that have not played this game or are not sure what it is, you play a 3rd person perspective of someone dropped on an island with no weapons and the goal to kill the other players. Like the movies Battle Royale or The Hunger Games, you will have to find resources scattered around to keep yourself alive and kill your opponents. With PUBG you can do this Solo, in a Duo, or in a Squad. There is voice chat but I am not sure if it works because nobody said anything. There is a map that will have points where your allies are and some quick chat options that you can throw out to coordinate with them. Right now it seems the player base is not very high so the first time I am not sure that I wasn't in a team of bots. My second round they were definitely human players and near the end of the game, I am sure we were fighting other people. The game can be pretty long. Rounds can go quickly if you are killed right away or travel up to a half hour if you survive. There is a bit of downtime but the combat really can bring tension to the game.
Now for Some Negatives
There is no mistake you are playing this game on a phone. PUBG is notorious for being killed by two pixels in the distance and this is no different. It's hard to see where people are coming from and headphones are a must. At the same time, the sound is very deceptive. While you will hear crunching feet they can be anywhere from just outside the door to two hundred yards away. It is a little bit disorienting and I imagine the advantage goes to those playing on larger devices like tablets.
The controls surprisingly weren't a problem after the first round. This is because there is a screen that lets you fully customize your interface. You can move the buttons where you like and you will see in my screenshot I moved the right-hand shoot way up. I did this because I use that area to aim and would be constantly hitting it and firing off shots, giving away my position. After the adjustment, I didn't have this problem. I still am working on an effective way to move and shoot but its a bit difficult.
Vehicles were a little clunky but not bad. They were easy enough to control and once again there was no slow down when in one.
It's in an early release state so no microtransactions yet. There are loot boxes you can buy with in-game currency but it looks to be all aesthetic. There are daily quests that will give you some currency and I am sure you will be able to buy it later.
So In Summary...
All in all its a pretty great package for a mobile game. I was seriously impressed by how well it played and in my fourth game the controls were not feeling too restrictive. The UI is just so well made. My only concern is when I will be playing it. It's a long game so it won't be work friendly for me and when I am home I will have my PC. Maybe on a long plane ride or laying down right before bed. Although I can honestly see myself just picking it up from time to time to put in a round.
TL;DR:
For a mobile game, PUBG runs surprisingly well. This is a working mobile battle royale. It has to be ranked on the top end of mobile game and definitely worth trying out for fans or newcomers alike.
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