With its 100 million players, Battle Royale, which originated in Singapore, has become an unmissable phenomenon on mobile. In our Garena Free Fire review, we are going to take a closer look at the game’s numerous advances and improvements, taking advantage of the latest update that introduces another trendy collaboration, this time with Paper House. This article is inspired by material we found here.
After welcoming you with the sounds of “Bella ciao”, we’ll return to the game’s traditional lobby, where we’ll already admire the technical tweaks, and then parachute over the huge map that will be the backdrop for the battle. The allusions to PUBG are unmistakable; after all, it’s a real clone, but one that has been able to take advantage of the genre’s popularity to renew itself and consolidate its position in the App Store and Google Play.
Gameplay
The winning formula of Garena Free Fire has not changed: The game follows what the other Battle Royale games have done before it, but offers very fast matches that end within ten minutes and therefore have a much more frenetic approach than the standards. Therefore, the inevitable barrier around the scenario quickly gets tighter, pushing us to reach the safe area in a few minutes and thus get in front of some opponents involved in the same speed race.
The touch controls and the interface have been considerably optimized and the commands are very clear from the start: it only takes a few minutes to get familiar with the gameplay, also and especially thanks to a fairly aggressive aiming aid that compensates for the fact that you can not select automatic fire to move and aim with agility.
This aspect of Garena Free Fire ultimately makes it very easy to win fights and get some victories, besides it’s enough to avoid areas that are too open and thus have a shelter available to deal damage to our enemies without suffering it right away, and possibly resort to a medkit to quickly recover lost life energy before the next shooting. Of course, the feedback of the shots is not the best ever seen, and in this situation the various Fortnite and PUBG Mobile remain a step ahead.
However, this approach necessarily limits the thickness of the experience, which always remains dedicated to the strictest arcade and does not have too many problems, even if it has a very approximate management of the vehicles, which is still practically incidental to all the rest. However, it’s enough that this option is present, so you can move quickly when you need to.
Structure
Another aspect that has traditionally been improved over time is the structure, which in the case of Garena Free Fire can currently count on two different maps (Bermuda and Kalahari) and three modes: In addition to the classic Battle Royale, we’ll be able to try our hand at a fast four-on-four (Clash Squad) and with a traditional Kill Secured. In all cases, the rules apply to both friendly and classified matches.
Then, of course, there’s the game’s whole freemium system, which has been extensively tested and aims to monetize the esthetic elements and the many collaborations (the last one, as already mentioned, with the TV series La Casa di Carta), but without affecting our chances of winning a match. In this regard, we appreciated the speed and stability of matchmaking, as well as the presence of anti-cheat systems to ensure strict compliance with the rules. The only pity is that there are obviously numerous bots.
Technical implementation
The feeling that Garena Free Fire is still tied to a messy and ramshackle artistic direction is still very present, just look at the loading screen with the Onimusha-style warrior, which then leaves room in the game for a much more traditional aesthetic, similar to PUBG . The impurities over time have been numerous, and unfortunately still today the title does not boast its own personality.
That said, on the iPad Pro the game runs surprisingly well, holding 60 frames per second in all situations, and that does not create problems with touch controls, despite more fluid and accurate animations than average, as far as the characters are concerned. However, the scenarios are quite boring and the sound effects are frankly inaudible: there is still a lot of work to be done here.
