Playerunknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG) - Game Review

It's almost impossible if you've never heard of Playerunknown's Battlegrounds before, regardless of whether you've tasted it or not. How come? Over the past half year, he has been one of the hottest talks ever. A game that does not actually carry a truly revolutionary concept, is still in the Early-Access stage but continues to gain unstoppable attention and popularity. Many feel that the fact that he is one of the "favorite" games of many gigantic Youtubers contributes significantly to that, though not only that is the reason. Addictive and solid gameplay for an unfinished game is also an effective driving wheel.

So slowly but surely, the game is also often referred to as "PUBG" is also emerging as the new king of Valve's digital distribution portal - Steam. Starting from successfully attracting the attention of tens of millions of gamers to beat the game classmates DOTA 2 and CS: GO as a game with the highest number of concurrent players with a sharp difference. One thing that deserves thumbs up is the commitment of the developer - Bluehole Studio to ensure this momentum does not stop and end failure, like many Early Access games in the past that also had passed the same phase. Working hard by refining the features and injecting new maps to enjoy, PUBG was finally officially out of beta a few days ago. Through a "giant" update of 12 GB, he finally entered the final version.

So what exactly is offered by Playerunknown's Battlegrounds? Why do we call it a game with matching popularity? This review will discuss it more deeply for you.

What is PUBG?
This may be the question that comes to the minds of many gamers who do not feel interested in tasting this South Korean developer concoction game, regardless of its unstoppable popularity. Simply put, PUBG is a competitive multiplayer game that makes "Battle-Royale" the main genre. For those of you who are unfamiliar, Battle-Royale itself is a popular Japanese classic movie in 2000 ago, adapted from a novel output of 1999. He tells the story of a group of young people stationed on a remote island by the government with one primary goal - asking they fight to the death with each other. Each of them gets a random supply box of weapons. And as time went by, the "battle" area was also scaled down to make sure the teenagers met each other and killed each other. Battle-Royale into a classic series that seems to be no stranger to many gamers who grew up in the 2000s.

Of course, this is not the Battle-Royale that Bluehole Studio automatically adapts to. What they are offering here is a new multiplayer competitive game series that carries a similar concept in gameplay, which believes it or not is something that has been adopted in the past, but never worked. PUBG loads 100 people battles simultaneously in a large area, all of which come without any provision. Each of them must strengthen and arm themselves with whatever they find in the existing arena, from a frying pan to a melee weapon, a body armor to withstand a few rounds of bullets, to heavy caliber firearms. Sometimes, you can also find water or land vehicles for extra mobility. Next? Like the movie version that became the basis of inspiration, this game ended straightforward. You "just" need to endure to the end, and be the only survivor in the middle of this fierce battle. There is not much opportunity to hide in one place because the area where you can move will also continue to be reduced as time goes by. What you find is a huge arena that will continue to force you to confront one another.

Straightforward, nothing else offered by PUBG in addition to this one sensation. The complexity factor will of course increase according to the mode you choose. In addition to playing Solo, you can also play in Duo format (2 people) and also Squad (4 people), either randomly or by inviting friends from your Friend List. Playing in a cooperative format like this is more difficult, not only because your opponents will now move in a certain strategy format, but also the fact that you now have to think more about your own safety. Do you have to share resources? Do you have to move together right now? Do you need to surround other teams in sight using certain tactics? In fact, the smallest thing like where you jumped at the beginning was already need its own coordination. Playing this mode along with friends you already know rather than random will indeed make the ending experience more exciting and intense.

After several months of Early Access, the move to version 1.0 does offer new maps and features. One of the essential features of the essential is the ability to jump over the existing hurdles through the simple action, having previously been done manually. On paper, it may sound insignificant, but when fighting in the arena, you will be able to feel how important this new feature is. For starters? With this function, you can now jump over building windows and enter the room for strategic reasons or just for a surprise. This opens up so many alternative options that make the "camper" in the house, for example, can no longer stay silent and sit guard the entrance/exit only. More consistent and faster shifts also allow for more effective movement.

So here's the PUBG, a competitive multiplayer game, which can be played solo or in groups, where you have to fight to survive as long as possible in the arena. Randomness is still something that plays an important role here because you can end up lucky to get a series of weapons and essential equipment when you fall for the first time, or end up unlucky and find nothing, making you a prey waiting to be pounced. But the pure gameplay assignment PUBG offers is one of its main strengths.

Addictive.
The question is of course one, why is this game so popular? PUBG is actually not the first game to apply this battle-royale genre. There are many other popular games that try to get into the same market, like The Culling for example, but end up sinking quickly after reaching a high level of popularity quickly. After diving through several hours of gameplay that still has not led to victory to date, there are some things that we think contribute to this addiction sensation. First? Of course, because he is a multiplayer game that contains 100 people at the same time, in a vast arena. That not only is the concept of an open world that opens up opportunities for so many strategies and movements but because a battle scenario of 100 people will never produce the same experience from one battle to another. What you get, like so many other competitive multiplayer games is a game that never feels the same, however much you try.

Bluehole Studio also makes this game has a reward mechanism that feels more valuable than the punishment you should bear. The only punishment you have to "bear" after death is the shame and regret that you are not careful, that's all. You can go directly to the main Lobby (either solo or Squad) or watch your friend's action and chat (Duo / Squad) after being killed. If you want to proceed directly to the next game that servers now support for different regions to ensure a faster and solid multiplayer experience, you can do so. And during this process, no matter how bad your performance is, you will still be "rewarded" with a number of in-game currencies that can be used to purchase loot boxes that contain a variety of cosmetic items that can be used. The good news? Bluehole is also quite "generous" to distribute the loot box.

The presence of feature 1.0 also adds some extra functions that make this experience more interesting. First? Is Death Cam. No longer have to mess around with a sense of how you ended up dead and who actually took your life, "Death Cam" will show the action clearly. For you who want to record it, for example, this game also provides Replay feature which will automatically record your last moment for you to download.

But above all these facts, is the feeling that you always have room to grow and learn from each of your mistakes that keep you wanting to go back to PUBG. That there is so much room for applying various strategies, learning to control the cartridges you shoot, learn more effectively to collect loot at the beginning, learn to decide timings when to run or wait, or just to test your luck drop in the next battle. With a minimal punishment system and high rewards, there is no reason to continue to jump back, back, and back. And so far, he ended up being an effective strategy.