Players won't have to wait long for the next season of Respawn's Battle Royal shooter, Apex Legends, as we've been able to get a look at the new content that will drop on November 4.
The biggest addition in Season 7 is that all players will experience the brand new map, Olympus, that champions will do battle on. This floating city sits high above the clouds and offers a much brighter and more colorful arena than previously seen. Majestic waterfalls cascade down mountains, ritzy skyrise buildings sparkle in the sun, and grasses and trees of bright greens, pinks, and purples are all around. To say it's a spectacle would be doing Olympus a bit of a disservice, and its wide-open areas make the cover a premium resource as the ring closes in.
From a size standpoint, Respawn says it sits in the middle of the other two maps, but there is more to this sky city than just run through the lavish estates and shopping centers. Giant objects known as Phase Runners are spread throughout the city and allow teams to run through and wind up on other ends of the map in no time. It's a really cool gimmick, but one that can also land you in danger if you phase over to an area outside of the ring (something I did during one of my demo games). Luckily, it's easy to jump right back through and get back to safety.
Vehicles make their Apex debut on Olympus with the troop transport vehicle, the Trident Hoverccar. These speedy little three-seaters are placed around the map and allow those on the further outskirts to gain ground and maneuver around quickly. In an interesting decision, Respawn decided to make the Trident itself indestructible. Still, any damage it takes will instead be divided between the riders and the Trident can be stopped in its tracks with a well placed Arc Star. Respawn also made it clear that this is not a vehicle used to kill, and as such, players will be unable to run over enemies with it. That doesn't mean though that the Trident will be defenseless. Items like Caustic's gas trap, Gebralter's dome shield, or Rampart's Minigun can all be placed on the Trident, turning it into a mobile killing machine. If you are desperate to get rid of a Trident, though, your only sure way to do so is to drive it off the map and get out in time.
Next to Olympus, the most exciting addition in Season 7 is the brand new champion, Mary Summers, aka Horizon. She is an astrophysicist who, after being betrayed and left stranded at the edge of a black hole, has made it to Olympus and is searching for a way to get back home. She comes with some assistance in the form of a robot named Newt that lets her manipulate gravity and even create miniature black holes.
Starting with her Passive ability, her advanced spacesuit allows her greater control in the air and allows her to keep her momentum as she lands from the initial drop, allowing her to take off running right away. Horizon's Tactical ability, the Gravity Lift, behaves much in the same way as Octane's jump pad for her allies. Still, the wider area of effect makes the lift a great deterrent against following you for enemies. I can see the benefit of throwing it down as you run through a door, blocking the way from enemies to chase you. Lastly, Blackhole is Horizon's ultimate and acts a lot like the gravity star item in Titanfall 2, pulling enemies in and leaving them floating there for a few seconds. This ability can be devastating when paired with other characters' skills like Caustic's gas or Bangalor's Rolling Thunder. Pulling enemies out of cover and chucking in grenades or pumping rounds into the area also feels fun.
One addition that is focused on improving the social experience for players is the brand new Clubs feature. These Clubs will allow friends and like-minded players to meet and talk to one another, regardless of the platform they are playing Apex Legends on. When you create a Club, you can do the usual things like choosing a name, a club tag, and make a banner, but what I find to be the best feature Respawn is including are the tags you can associate with your club specifically. Examples of these include whether you are looking for only people who use mics, those who are willing to play any game mode, or any who are LGBTQIA+ friendly. This feature will help clubs find like-minded people, but then players can really tailor and search out clubs that specifically are for what they want.
Clubs will each have a wall that will update with recent events and accomplishments from its members. If you win a ranked game, if someone new has joined the club, or if someone has left, the club's timeline will let you know. If you are looking for friends to join a match with you, club members can also do a club-wide invite that will allow anyone that isn't currently in a game to join up with you. These handy features really help push along Respawn's goal for the clubs and help players build out these smaller social circles. One aspect that is a bit of a bummer is that these clubs are limited to no more than 30 members. You can only be a part of a single club at a time, so if you want to be in a club with only personal friends, you won't be able to search out new groups and will have to pick one or the other, unfortunately.
Season 7 looks to be a breath of fresh air for Apex Legends, and its players. The new map really is a sight to behold and quickly became my favorite of the three. The varied landscape of the glitzy upper-class districts contrasting with the seedier underbelly areas of Olympus made exploring the floating city just as much fun as the game proper. Horizon is a fun new champion, and while not really my style, I'm still interested to see how she does in professional play. Season 7 begins next week on Wednesday, November 4 so be sure to finish up your big final push for those season 6 rewards and get ready for all the new goodies waiting for you!
Apex Legends is currently available on PC (it releases for Steam on November 4), PS4, Xbox One, and will be playable on day 1 for the next-gen systems in Xbox Series X and PS5. Recently though, the Switch port was delayed to 2021.