Apex Legends' New Update To Storm Point Will Change It Forever
EA's "Apex Legends" continues to be a perennial frontrunner in the battle royale genre. Developed by Respawn Entertainment of "Titanfall" and "Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order" fame, the free-to-play "Apex Legends" has consistently delivered when it comes to innovation within the highly competitive battle royale genre, even going beyond it with the gradual addition of other non-BR elements. Outside of its beloved gameplay and characters, "Apex Legends" also boasts some of the best multiplayer maps in the industry. One such map is Storm Point.
Released in November 2021 as part of Season 11, Storm Point is a deserted tropical island on the fictional planet of Gaea. The largest map in "Apex Legends," Storm Point is going through some serious changes as part of the new update, "Season 13: Saviors." These changes add huge points of interest and new strategic areas, all while the Respawn team works to improve the map's gameplay for dedicated players. This massive Storm Point update will undoubtedly change the map forever, but what exactly are these changes and how will they effect gameplay?
There's now a dead creature on the beach
Probably the most notable change to Storm Point is the new Point of Interest (POI), "Downed Beast." According to the in-game lore, Storm Point was the location of a recent attack from an unidentified prehistoric creature. Though many of the game's Legends have a tense relationship with one another, they teamed up to take out this monstrous threat. Ecological Cleanup and Hazard Outreach (ECHO) has since arrived to Storm Point in an effort to clean up the island, but removing a huge monster from the area might take a while. As a result, a huge piece of once-empty shoreline is where this crustacean-like beast will rest for the forseeable future.
According to the update's patch notes, this POI will contain high-tier loot and will surely be a highly contested area when it comes to dropping into matches. The creature's hard shell is also advertised as being ideal for cover from enemy gunfire. According to Respawn, "Teams are encouraged to land on one of the platforms and gather loot at one of the many ECHO tents, then make their way through the interior of the beast."
Storm Point now includes IMC Armories
When the monstrous beast first invaded Storm Point, the seismic activity set off an alert that subsequently brought about the rise of once-dormant IMC Armories. These armories are decades-old underground installations built by the Interstellar Manufacturing Corporation as combat support facilities. But in the aftermath of the monster attack, they are now permanent fixtures at select locations on Storm Point and could very well be of much use to players from this moment forward.
Like the "Downed Beast" POI, these IMC Armories are home to some very valuable goodies that players can use to their advantage. However, gaining access to these structures won't be as simple as just walking in. Upon entering an IMC Armory, players will multiple waves of enemy Spectres. Should the player and their team survive this onslaught for 60 seconds, they will be treated to the spoils of the armory, as well as smart loot specifically catered to their loadout. Teams stand to gain even more loot by killing as many Spectres as they can.
Storm Point has received global tuning
While Respawn Entertainment has made significant changes to Storm Point that are immediately visible to players, the developer has also made some not-so-obvious quality of life changes to ensure the "Apex Legends" fanbase an optimal experience. Using player feedback collected since the map's debut in Season 11, Respawn has now given Storm Point a "global tuning pass" to improve the overall player experience when traversing the map.
Such improvements include a new prowler camp added near the Cenote, terrain changes to another camp southwest of The Mill, and further geographical alterations to a spider nest near the Command Center, which should eliminate a good bit of player backtracking and hunting. The patch notes also make note of smaller quality of life changes that remain unlisted. Hopefully, these little changes all ad up and to make the player experience on Storm Point better than ever before.