PUBG Mobile - Who Wants Chicken Dinner

You know what, I haven’t written something fun in a while. The self-improvement stuff is all well and good, but let’s not take life too seriously, huh? Because life is serious enough as it is without us helping it along. Take that, life. In your face.

Today let’s talk about video games!

So I’m purely a mobile gamer now. The PS4 has languished, untouched for months. Poor baby. I’ll get back to it eventually; I’m looking at you, Kingdom Hearts III. But for all of this year, I’ve been portable.

Mobile games are often disparaged as ‘casual’, mindless brain candy beside the more in-depth entries on console and PC. Yet the mobile gaming market has grown exponentially over the last few years, with more and more quality titles standing out from the digital unwashed masses. And now a juggernaut has arisen, taking on smartphone gaming with frying pans and bolt-action sniper rifles.

Today I’m talking about PUBG Mobile. 

The original PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds exploded onto computers last year, and was so popular it spawned an entirely new genre: the battle royale. The premise is simple. A hundred players parachute onto a sprawling map where you must run, hide, and kill each other off. Jungle, desert and European landscapes are realistically rendered, eerily silent except for footsteps, gunshots and moving vehicles. Playing with headphones is recommended. You’ll want to hear them coming. An encircling electrical storm forces you into increasingly small plots of land. If the other players don’t kill you, the storm will. The last one standing wins the coveted Chicken Dinner.

Think the Hunger Games with military-grade weapons, where you have to worry about different ammo types, bullet drop and people sniping you from 100 meters away.

It’s awesome.

A breath of fresh air.

PUBG’s addictiveness comes from two factors. First, you’ll be playing with friends and fighting real enemies. You can play solo, in pairs, or in a squad of four. Voice chat is built in, and communication and teamwork are essential. It’s entirely possible to carry on a conversation while roaming around looking for people to kill. The convenience and social aspects cannot be overstated. Once a group of friends had to go a cybercafé to get this kind of action. Now they just pull out their phones – even if they’re a thousand miles away. 

Bonding time.

Second is the emergent gameplay. Bounded by design and technical constraints, most video games funnel you from one level to the next. There is nothing wrong with this. In recent years, however, wide-open sandboxes have become the norm, in which you have the freedom to play however you want. The gameplay emerges from your actions, and those of others. In one match, you might drop into Pochinki for some frantic house-to-house gun battles. In the next, you might wander the hillsides and only meet five people. You’re constantly writing your own story. Every choice you make matters; any mistake could get you killed. That’s pretty intense, and makes victory all the more thrilling. 

The night is dark and full of snipers.

And it is entirely, one-hundred percent free.

Oh, there’s plenty of monetization. Cosmetic upgrades like new outfits and weapon skins are always purchasable. The controversial loot crates are here in plenty, in which you buy the chance to get a cool new serial killer mask or hot pink submachine gun. There’s a season pass system called the Royale Pass, in which you pay to unlock a higher tier of achievable rewards for the current three-month season. The game also doles out crates and costumes for improving your rank or hitting various achievements. Just a taste to keep you coming back for more. 

Aren't we stylish.

But none of this has any effect on the gameplay. The guy in the stylized helmet is still screwed if he can’t aim, or doesn’t use cover effectively. The game is free to play, and you win by playing well. It’s that simple.

This is the future of gaming, right now. If you’d told me this kind of massive, precision-based experience was possible on a phone, I’m not sure I would have believed you. But through well-thought-out design, it does work. It works incredibly well.

PUBG is unflinchingly difficult. You will get shot in the head by some dude hiding in the grass across the river. You will get into firefights and lose; you’ll be winning, only to get taken out by a well-thrown grenade. And you will also survive, thrive and fight your way to victory.

So what are you waiting for? 

See you on the battlegrounds.