Apex Legends VS Warzone (Free-to-Play Battle Royales)

Apex Legends vs Warzone might seem like an odd choice but these two games share some seminaries that make them competitors of each other. Both of these games are free-to-play and are battle royales. These two similarities can make them appealing to the same player base. Though there are some profound differences between the two games. Apex Legends is a hero shooter battle royale while Call of Duty Warzone is a battle royale that takes place in a realistic setting. Such a difference can have a major impact on the perception of the two games.

The PVP nature of the two games makes it compelling for the players who are into competitive games. It means that both these games will attract similar players. Apex Legends and Warzone might not be direct competitors but they share the same player base. Depending on players, some might even dislike the other game. The basic concept of the two games is the same but the playstyle of the two games is completely different. The two games are indirect competitors in the situation of Apex Legends vs Warzone.

Call of Duty Warzone

Warzone is a free-to-play battle royale that takes place in a realistic setting. The game heavily relies on the yearly Call of Duty games. These games not only bring major updates but can change the entire shape of Warzone. COD Warzone started with the release of Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2019. It has come a long way since then with some major updates.

There are operatives in Warzone but they won’t have any impact on the gameplay. Operatives in Call of Duty Warzone are nothing more than cosmetics. There have been some amazing addition of cosmetics such as John Rambo and John McClane from Rambo and Die Hard movies respectively. This gives more flexibility to Warzone when it comes to introducing new cosmetics.

As mentioned earlier, Warzone sees major updates with the release of a new Call of Duty game. Black Ops Cold War brought a massive update to the game. Before the release of any COD game, Warzone will host a major in-game event. This event is live shows how the next Call of Duty will game will be included in the game. The Cold War event nuked the map and mixed the two games by teleporting the game to the Cold War era.

Vanguard is the next Call of Duty and events in the game are also mixing the two as well. The release of a new Call of Duty brings new content to the game, changing it to a great degree. Other COD games have a huge impact on Warzone giving it a major advantage when considering Apex Legends vs Warzone.

Apex Legends

Unlike Warzone, Apex Legends takes place in a sci-fi setting, and it is also a free-to-play battle royale. The game takes place in the Titanfall universe which is a series with huge potential. There are a lot of references in Apex legends and some of the characters have a direct relation with the story of the series. So Apex Legends also has an established fan base from a franchise.

Apex Legends is a Hero Shooter with a huge emphasis on Legends (Characters). The game releases short movies of different characters to explain their back story. Its hero shooter nature and release of short movies make it similar to Overwatch. There are different types of cosmetics including weapons and characters. So characters can only take influence from different franchises. Fortnite and Warzone can bring in any character from any franchise as cosmetics which is not the case with Apex.

Each new season introduces one new character and one new weapon along with some other changes. A season ends with an event that paves the way for new updates. Characters are a major part of Apex Legends as they have a direct impact on the gameplay. Different players prefer different characters and some balancing issues can make some characters better than others like other such games.

From time to time, Apex Legends will show its relation with Titanfall through the introduction of different characters and lore. Characters play a major part in the game which makes it different than other battle royales. It is the first battle royale that combines the hero shooter and battle royale genres. Apex Legends has a clear advantage in gameplay diversity when considering Apex Legends vs Warzone.

Apex Legends vs Warzone

Let’s consider what makes the two games different than each other while still sharing the same genre. Both games are battle royales that are part of franchises. Despite being battle royales, they still share a lot of differences that make each of them unique. Warzone has a realistic setting while Apex Legends has a sci-fi setting.

There is no fall damage which makes up for some interesting scenarios. There is fall damage in Warzone but players can open parachutes anytime they want. Such mechanics makes its gameplay a fun experience that can lead to some interesting shootouts. Apex Legend lets the player take control of superhumans to take down other superhumans. Warzone on the other hand, just let the player become part of battle royal where they are simple humans (at least by fiction standard).

Apex Legends is a hero shooter battle royale with an emphasis on using different characters. These characters are known as legends and play a major part in the gameplay. Depending on the talents and abilities of these characters, some of them can be better or worse than others. Warzone does not give any leverage to operatives though, their clothes can help them camouflage better. Operatives are nothing more than cosmetics in the game.

Considering Apex Legends vs Warzone, both games want players to be the last man standing. The last team or player left standing gets to be the winner of a match. Players can revive teammates anytime in both games and both are crossplay. There are killstreaks in Warzone but they are universal to all characters. They are both battle royales yet their gameplay is different. Warzone is actually a direct competitor of PUBG and an indirect competitor of Apex Legends.

Warzone and Apex Legend, the Pay to Win

On the surface, there is no pay to win in the two games but that’s not the case when looking at both games closely. There are purchasable legends in Apex Legends and there are unlockable traits in Warzone. Before anyone starts bashing, please read this entire section to understand what I mean. Apex Legends still gives you a chance which is not the case with Warzone when it comes to pay-to-win. This could be a major factor when considering Apex Legends vs Warzone.

Apex Legends More Forgiving to Pay-to-Win (Apex Legends vs Warzone)

There are different legends in Apex Legends and to purchase these legends players need in-game currencies. There are two ways to buy legends, Apex Coins and Legend Tokens. Apex Coins can only be bought through microtransactions. Legend Tokens, on the other hand, are totally free and cannot be bought through microtransactions.

Players can just buy Legends with real money if they don’t have time to farm for Legend Tokens. So if you are not regularly playing Apex Legends, then you can’t buy all the legends which pave the way to pay-to-win. Though some of the legends are already unlocked others need to be unlocked. Regular players won’t have to worry about buying legends since they will have more than enough Legend Tokens.

Call of Duty Warzone Less Forgiving to Pay-to-Win (Apex Legends vs Warzone)

Warzone also has indirect pay-to-win but getting the same items for free is either extremely hard or not possible. The battle pass of Call of Duty Warzone features some weapons and traits that are exclusive to it. So if a player does not have a battle pass then they will miss out on them.  Some of these weapons and traits can turn the tide of combat since they can become part of a load out. Missing out on a battle pass of a season will entice players to buy them.

To unlock some of the weapons and traits, players need to complete certain challenges. These challenges can be hard if not impossible to complete in a battle royale or plunder. As explained earlier, COD Warzone relies heavily on Call of Duty games. Completing these challenges in the Call of Duty games tied to Warzone is a lot easier. So completing these challenges in COD games is easier and these games are not free-to-play making it an indirect pay-to-win situation.

Verdict

Apex Legends and Warzone both are battle royales that are free-to-play so they attract similar types of players. Both these games have their own pros and cons that make them better or worse than each other. While Apex is a hero shooter battle royale, COD Warzone is a realistic battle royale. There are some pay-to-win concepts involved in both games. Warzone is the winner in regards to Apex legends vs Warzone (cons of Warzone).

The two games might not share a direct audience but since both of them are competitive BRs they share an audience in the broad spectrum. In the end, it all depends on personal choice and what type of games a player is into. It is an opinion after all and you can let me know in the comment section what you think about Apex Legends vs Warzone.