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A futuristic world where players can loot and use their weapons to defeat other competitors

A futuristic world where players can loot and use their weapons to defeat other competitors

Vote: (47 votes)

Program license: Free

Version: 0.9.61.610

Works under: Android

Vote:

Program license

(47 votes)

Free

Version

0.9.61.610

Works under:

Android

Pros

  • Adapts PUBG to mobile quite capably
  • Includes additional multiplayer modes
  • Decent variety of futuristic weapons and vehicles

Cons

  • Built off a game beginning to show its age
  • Imprecise and outdated control scheme

PlayerUnknowns' Battlegrounds established some of the most critical characteristics of the battle royale shooter, and New State offers a timely refresh of this format tailored towards the specific demands and strengths of mobile gaming. The core experience doesn't stray very far from genre expectations. A hundred players jump from planes onto a large map littered with containers of gear. Each player only gets one life, and the boundaries for the map continually close in until there's only one person left standing. Everything should seem comfortably familiar if you've spent any time playing a battle royale before.

But it's going to seem especially familiar to players of PUBG Mobile. PUBG: New Ground is effectively the next iteration of this game, for better or for worse. You might not recognize that at first, even if you're a player of the old PUBG Mobile. The setting thrusts you into the near future of the mid 21st century, and all of the characters and vehicles come with upgraded textures and skins to properly mesh with this new setting and mythology. These graphical upgrades feel like a lot more than a fresh coat of paint, and the result is a level of fidelity that ranks among some of the better mobile games out there.

Developer Krafton does come with a few new tricks up their sleeve though. Two new vehicles offer more options to take control of the map or find yourself crushed beneath some heavy wheels, and the existing roster of weapons has also gotten a serious boost since the time of PUBG Mobile. In practical terms, most of these weapons don't have that much variety between them. Four different weapon classes allow you to pick a style of play that works for you, but the need for balance has clearly necessitated a more modest approach to weapon design.

Environmental destruction plays a cosmetic and strategic role in the game, although the scale is relatively limited in terms of what you can destroy and how you can use it against others. It also includes the option to play in third or first person perspectives and a number of game modes outside of the traditional 100 person battle royale, it also includes a number of other different game modes. The most exciting and fully featured is a class-based multiplayer mode that offers four loadouts and pits two teams of three against each other in team death match play.

Ultimately, the limitations of PUBG: New State reveal themselves through the controls. Without the option for peripheral attachments like controllers, imprecise movement and shooting is the name of the game. It's one that New States has unfortunately adopted from PUBG Mobile, and it falls behind more contemporary mobile shooters as a result. PUBG: New State can be a great choice for someone who just wants a solid battle royale experience on their phone, but it's going to need some serious changes if it wants to stand apart in this crowded market.

Pros

  • Adapts PUBG to mobile quite capably
  • Includes additional multiplayer modes
  • Decent variety of futuristic weapons and vehicles

Cons

  • Built off a game beginning to show its age
  • Imprecise and outdated control scheme