While we saw the latest Apex Legends season, Defiance, teased twice last week, we finally have detailed information on the new Control LTM as well as what Mad Maggie’s abilities will be. Control looks to be a very unique game mode that’s 9v9 and has infinite respawns. Mad Maggie is poised to be an interesting addition to the Apex Games as well, with some pretty powerful abilities. Curious to learn more? Head below to find out all the details we have on the upcoming Apex Legends Defiance season.
Mad Maggie’s abilities pack a punch
We’ll start things off with Mad Maggie’s tactical ability, the Riot Drill. Honestly, I think this is the biggest benefit to Mad Maggie’s stack and will make her a force to contend with. The Riot Drill burns enemies through obstacles, which is showcased in the trailer below. You have a team hiding behind crates and the Riot Drill sends a stream of fire through them to burn the enemies on the other side. This could be extremely useful for flushing out opponents who refuse to engage or even to combat a revive happening behind cover.
Warlord’s Ire will temporarily highlight enemies that you’ve damaged and allows you to move faster with a shotgun. This could be paired with the Riot Drill to damage enemies behind cover then see where they flee too – then, you have the Wrecking Ball which releases speed-boosted pads and detonates near enemies. All of this combines to offer a solid kit for Mad Maggie and could make her a go-to in the upcoming Apex Legends Defiance season.
Now let’s turn our eyes to the incoming limited time mode, Control. Control is “all about taking the things that make Apex Legends Awesome… and re-contextualizing them in a mode that puts you in the center of fights that would not be possible in [our] Battle Royale or Arenas modes.” The tagline for Control is “Live. Die. Rinse. Repeat.” as you’ll have unlimited revives in the unique game mode. You will always re-spawn every time you die. It’ll happen “fairly quickly”, and it’ll give you the opportunity to “try different strategies, new weapons, or think of new ways to play.” The developers say that Control is all about experimentation and letting you explore all of the tools that Apex has to offer without having to worry that failure will result in a game over.
Whenever you choose a spawn, you’ll also be able to change legends or loadouts on the fly to give many different aspects of the game various looks. The battlefield will “shift quickly” and you’ll “need to be able to adapt.” Ready to rush? Change to Octane with a SMG. Prefer sniping? Become Bloodhound and pick up a Triple Take. The possibilities are endless here and I’m excited to take a look at the game mode once it launches.
When playing, you’ll be aiming to control zones as that’s the key to winning. This is “where massive fights happen” and you’ll be able to pair up with your team the best. You’ll earn points every second that a Zone is owned and the more you own, the more points you earn. Whoever reaches 1,250 points first wins.
There will also be timed events including capture bonuses, airdrops, and more to help shake the game up in various ways. The airdrops will being in unique weapons like the Kraber to help keep the field balanced depending on who gets there first.
Owning all three zones at once, while difficult, can end the game early. This enters a Lockout mode which starts a timer, and if you can hold all three zones until the timer reaches zero, then the game ends. However, if the other team just takes a single zone, Lockout will abort and you’ll go back to gameplay as normal.
There’s a lot more to Control, and the Apex team takes a deeper dive in this blog post, but to say the least, this will be the most unique LTM that we’ve seen from Apex. It not only introduces unlimited, and near-instant respawns, but also allows you to change the Legend your playing mid-game, which has never been available before in the game.
9to5Toys’ Take
I love what the Respawn team is doing with Apex Legends lately. While the previous season was a bit underwhelming for me, I’m very excited to dive back in on February 8 with the Apex Legends Defiance update. The new map (which we got a peek at in the trailer above) looks interesting, and I love the loadout that Mad Maggie brings to the table. Control also looks like it could be a fun spin on things from a more casual standpoint, allowing you to take your time to learn different aspects of the game without having to dive into multiple 3v3 matches only to die moments later. I’ll be jumping in on the 8th when the update launches. What about you?
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