PlayStation gamers don’t communicate as much as they used to during matchmaking in multiplayer games, yet in team-based games its crucial for survival. However, in Apex Legends developer Respawn Entertainment has come up with the perfect solution with controls that put communication at its heart.
Battle Royale games require players to keep in contact with each other, to stay close together and to tip each other off about enemy positions or items of interest. If you’re dropping into matchmaking – unless everyone has their headsets plugged in – this can be extremely difficult.
The solution Apex Legends has is Smart Comms, and it’s an absolute game changer.
Apex Legends Controls – Ping Wheel
First up, there’s the ability to Ping. By pressing R1 you can ping objects to call dibs on them, or to flag them up to team-mates. It works incredibly well, allowing you to help your team-mates find equipment they need, point out objects of interest like loot crates, and flag up enemies.
Hold down R1 and you bring up a ping wheel which allows you to issue the following commands:
Someone’s been here
- Go
- Enemy
- Looting this area
- Attacking here
- Going Here
- Defending this area
- Watching here
This gives your team-mates and audio and visual cue, showing you the exact location you’ve highlighted, while calling out the command.
Requesting Ammo
Click on the options button on your controller, and you highlight ammo that you need to your Apex Legends squad so they can be on the lookout too and ping that item if they see it.
When matchmaking in online multiplayer games, it’s not unusual to find yourself in multiple games where player’s don’t talk. What Respawn has done is find the perfect solution to the problem with a Smart Comms control system that makes teamwork easier than most games. It’s good to talk, but in Apex Legends you don’t have to and can still communicate effectively as a team.