by David RodriguezSo, I’ve been playing Apex Legends since the day it launched, and, in the spirit of honesty, I’ve logged over 5,000 hours in it since that day. I’ve played every update extensively, I’m at least proficient with all the Legends, have tons of cosmetics, all without spending much of any money on it, thanks to the battle passes’ generosity, which allows you to recoup your purchase and then some, so you can buy the next one easily. You could say I’ve seen it all – the good, the bad, and the weird. With all that in mind, and continuing my honesty streak, I will say the new Overclocked update for season 29(!) is probably the most excited I’ve been for more Apex in over a year or two.
This is my bias showing though. The new Skirmisher class Legend Axle looks great as a fan of mobile speedsters like my dude Octane. Existing Legends Vantage and Conduit get some extra sauce, both of whom I love playing as. I also love the biggest foundational change-up to the Battle Royale mode in quite some time: respawning your squadmates from their Deathboxes. HUH?! Let’s get into it all.
First, Axle. Ever play Kinetica? Axle, real name Isa Wegner, could have been a prototype design for that long-forgotten PS2 future racer. She’s sleekly designed, has a wheel for a knee, and likes to go fast as hell. She’s like if a Heelys shoe fusion danced with a fierce German woman. Her introduction was explosive and enticing, framing her as an speed freak with a penchant for danger as much as winning, but also someone that capitalizes on displacement. Her playstyle reflects that pretty well.
Whether it’s Axle herself, her squadmates, or enemies, she excels in making things move. Her tactical ability is the Nitro Gate, a little throwable node that, when touched, will send you into a high-speed slide with enough power to scale some inclines. Careful though, even the slightest bump on an object or elevated terrain nukes the momentum. Ever wanted Mario Kart-esque boost pads in Apex? Well, here you go. Her ultimate ability is Kickstart, a homing drone that seeks enemies, explodes for minor damage when near, and sends them flying into the air to turn them into a clay pigeon for some skeet shooting. Her passive ability enables greater lateral and turning control when sliding. Think Sam Gideon’s movement in Vanquish and you’re close.
Axle is just plain fun to play around with. Even during a Battle Royale match’s lull to find some action, it’s great to slide around, use Nitro Gates to catapult you forward, and maneuver yourself and your squad in ways that haven’t been done before in this game. In battle, if you have the coordination, sliding and shooting is a given, but using Axle’s gates to throw off enemy aim and reposition to heal or surprise attack is a delight with some practice. There were times I had the awareness to know there was a gate behind me in a fight so I backed into it and curved my slide to the side to avoid gunfire while dispensing my own. Since the gates launch you in the direction that your momentum is in, not one your view is facing, there’s potential for all types of shenanigans and I can’t wait to see how the ranked monsters, stream lords, and pro players use these things.
One thing I couldn’t find great utility for yet was her ultimate. I was able to use it a few times on enemies, but my lack of good aim while they were popped up in the air meant I missed opportunities for big damage. For me, I found it better to launch the drone to give chase to fleeing enemies and keep the pressure on them while I closed distance to finish the job. This is perhaps the most complementary way to play Axle that I’ve found, using every ability to wipe squads that couldn’t outrun or keep up with you and yours.
I get there was some criticism with her being a little too close in tone, design, and personality to Mad Maggie, but that’s not a bad thing for me. I love Mad Maggie, she’s one of my favorite characters lore-wise, and I enjoy her very abrasive, no-nonsense, anarchic ways. No pun intended, but Axle is the Mad Max version of that, leaving enemies in the dust or as a skid mark in the Salvonian desert roads – as long as she clinches the win, that’s all that matters.
For other big Legend changes, Vantage got a big boost and kit buff. Her ultimate sniper rifle now has a canted 2x-zoom sight to make closer-range engagements a lot easier. If you’ve mained Vantage like I have, then I’m sure you’ve found it hard to fully utilize her ultimate weapon in close quarters. With the canted sight, you have all the power of her ultimate with the versatility of the standard 2x HCOG “Bruiser” sight you can attach to any other gun. Vantage also had the velocity, jump range, and cooldown improved for her tactical ability that repositions her to her cute bat Echo.
Conduit’s big changes are more subtle, but important. By default, she now has two charges of her tactical ability that can charge her and a squadmate’s shields quickly instead of having to select it as an upgrade after you earn enough EVO points. The cooldown for each charge is longer than before, but hey, for two of them it’s a fair trade.
The biggest map change in recent seasons (not including Wildcard maps of course) is here: no more Trident vehicles on Olympus or Storm Point. I was never a fan of the Trident – while it allowed for turbo fast rotations and escapes from trouble, it does ultimately draw more attention than it’s worth. I’ve lost track of the times my random squadmates wanted to board one to get inside a ring or to a new point of interest when a more under-the-radar approach would suit the situation much better. For me, this change is totally fine, but I imagine others will be missing them more.
As far as universal weapon tweaks, the marquee one is nerfs to the Hemlok Breach AR which took last season by storm. I love the way this weapon feels and season 29 is reining it in a bit with more recoil and severely upping the cooldown of the breach charge from 15 to 25 seconds. Fair enough, I thought it was wild how fast that charge would reload for another shot so this makes sense. Now you must be a little more deliberate and selective when you use it.
One quality of life update that’s pretty dang cool is the ability to chain multiple healing items to fast track you getting back to shooting form. By default, the new “Single” setting will let you queue a second healing item with a visual confirmation when using one instead of hammering on the button to make it happen. You can adjust the setting so it’s off entirely to give you total manual control like before, or set it to “Auto” so you just press the button once to heal and it’ll use all the items needed to get you to 100% or you run out of them.
One thing that I did find a little disappointing are the offerings in the new battle pass for this season’s split. Outside of two new skins for Conduit at level 10 and the ultimate reward for completing the pass at level 60 in the form of a cool reactive skin for the RE-45 burst pistol, there’s not a ton to froth about. If you play Seer or Crypto though, you’ll see your boys get some love this season, and of course some smaller Axle-themed rewards litter the pass as the devs integrate her onto the team as the 28th Legend. It’s fine! The stuff on offer in the Overclocked seasonal collection in the shop is much cooler, but also much more expensive.
Finally, while I haven’t had much opportunity to use it, Deathbox respawning is a hell of a new idea. It’s a very risky move, but enables you to respawn your squad right at their Deathbox with a 7-second action. No airdrop, no finding and deploying a respawn beacon, less overall visibility, but it is noisy and only respawns you with a paltry amount of health and shields. You’ll have to re-up in order to be of much use to your pals, but you do automatically get all your unlooted inventory back on spawn so it’s easier. I love this idea and can’t wait to use and see it used during tense plays.
So far, I’m back all in on Apex. I mean, it wouldn’t have taken much to be honest, but it’s instilled a new excitement for me I haven’t had in a while and shows the devs still have a lot of ideas to try and implement. When I first launched the game, I was greeted by a touching tribute to late Respawn Entertainment founder Vince Zampella who tragically died in an accident last December. As far as company leads go, he seemed like an extraordinary man, respected for his vision and leadership acumen, not to mention his key roles in creating and developing the Call of Duty and Titanfall franchises. Through the love and care Respawn continues to show through Apex Legends, his work continues on in a big way and I think that’s great.
Overclocked is available right now as a free seasonal update on all Apex Legends clients for PC, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and 5, and Nintendo Switch and Switch 2. You can even play as Axle for free until May 18, so jump in now, and I’ll talk to y’all when the next update hits!
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