With Apex Legends, Call Of Duty: Warzone, and Fortnite all beginning their summer content seasons, there’s never been a better time to get into the Battle Royale genre. For those unfamiliar, a Battle Royale is a free for all where players compete on a map to be the last man standing. For the curious, here’s a casual guide that won’t make you comp ready, but is sure to make you pick the right title for you.

Fortnite

Out of the three titles, Fortnite is the one title I had played before researching. While the cartoon style and goofy nomenclature makes it popular with younger audiences, Fortnite does have a popular competitive scene. For the casual newcomer, the biggest hurdle of entry will be the eclectic use of building. Someone might pragmatically think to construct a full blown base using the resources on the map, but when it comes down to it, quick reactive building will always trump a well thought out plan. For those willing to invest time (and money) Fortnite’s battle pass is the easiest of the three to complete, though xp gains are low. Overall, once you get over the building, Fortnite’s low skill ceiling will have you winning matches in no time.

Call Of Duty: Warzone

Call Of Duty: Warzone is the sophomore attempt at a Battle Royale from Activision. While the first attempt, Blackout, was bundled with Black Ops 4, Warzone is free to play. Be warned, Warzone does enact a toll upon your hard drive. As of the June 2020, Warzone comes in around 150 gigabytes on PC, and 180 on console. Unlike traditional Call Of Duty experiences, Warzone allows the less used guns from the roster to shine. Unlike Fortnite, death is not the end, and the game size will stay large until later circles. The 1v1 gulag system lets players fight for another life, but you can buy revives at buy stations. An optional battle pass is available, and feels longer to complete than Fortnite. If you’ve played Call of Duty, basic combat will feel similar. While Warzone is realistic, the learning curve is only slightly harder than its counterparts.

Apex Legends

Apex Legends is the latest entry from Titanfall devs Respawn Entertainment. Despite existing alongside Titanfall, Mechs are not part of Apex’s equation. Instead you get around the map using a similar parkour system, albeit slightly more grounded. Unique to Apex is its hero system, similar to Overwatch. Your characters rechargeable abilities make combat not entirely reliant on loot. The futuristic weapons from Titanfall also return, though some have been nerfed to fit a loot based gameplay.

Similarly, while Apex has a battle pass, loot boxes with skins and camos are available upon level up. This ties into Apex’s feeling of speed, after just a few matches I was already level ten. The map felt smaller compared to Warzones, though that could be due to increased mobility. For Fortnite fans, the quick engagements with fast movement will feel similar. For the newcomer, it may require some research, as the tutorial is lacking.

In Conclusion

While I had played Fortnite before, out of the three, I felt like Warzone was the easiest to pick up. After mastering the unique combat of Fortnite, the slow methodical combat of Warzone felt like less of a challenge. However, in terms of rewards vs playtime, I was able to complete most of Fortnite season 2’s battle pass in a few days, and have already made progress on season 3’s. For a future Battle Royale fanatic, I would pick Warzone to tackle first, as a newcomer will benefit from a robust tutorial and emphasis on teamwork.

Call Of Duty: Warzone is available via the Battle.net launcher on PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. Fortnite is available on the Epic games’ launcher, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, iOS and Android. Apex Legends is available via Origin on PC, Xbox One and PlayStation 4, though it’s also coming to Switch and Steam.