Over the past couple of weeks,Apex Legendsplayers have been thoroughly exploring the game’s new map,Olympus. Now the third map in the popular battle royale from Respawn Entertainment, Olympus offers players a unique experience in comparison to the previous two maps, and seems to show how the developer has grown since the game’s initial launch.
Olympus appears to depict an almost utopian urban environment. All around the map, players can see a towering building, lush green grass, and elaborate road systems that are perfect for the Trident Hovercar, the first vehicle introduced to the game as part of the Season 7 update. And while players may be excited to see landmark locations from theApex Legendsnarrative such as the building whereRevenant assassinated Loba’s father, there are significant gameplay differences between Olympus and the game’s original map, King’s Canyon.
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Map Size
When it comes to comparing Olympus to King’s Canyon, it might be difficult to not mention the difference in size between the maps. Olympus is sprawling in size and scope, with many players needing to utilizethe Trident Hovercarin order to traverse from location to location. With such a large map, players will want to plan their rotations ahead of time and will likely want to consider having a character like Bloodhound or Pathfinder in their squad in order to ascertain the location of the next ring in advance.
With King’s Canyon being somewhat smaller, players can afford to take a little more timewhen looting an area for weaponsbefore proceeding to the next ring location. King’s Canyon seems to have more tight, enclosed locations that are perfect for characters like Wattson and Caustic that are designed to lay out traps for their enemies. That’s not to say that these legends aren’t viable on a bigger map like Olympus, but they might struggle with fully utilizing their kit unlike on King’s Canyon.
Verticality
Another key difference between King’s Canyon and Olympus is how the maps handle verticality. Olympus as a city features many tall buildings that are designed for players to scale in order to get the drop on their opponents. This lends itself well tothe latestApex Legendscharacter, Horizon, with her ability to lift friends and foes alike using her Gravity Lift.
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King’s Canyon certainly has some areas that are higher than others, like the massive skeleton nearwhere Skull Town used to be, the map is primarily flat. With little verticality in King’s Canyon, it is seemingly the most neutral map in the game, with likely very few legends that cannot make the most out of their abilities in a match.
Wildlife
Over the course of a few seasons, King’s Canyon seemed to become synonymous with nature and wildlife. From the start, players exploring King’s Canyon found an island that was partly covered in dust and sand, as well as the lush vegetation that seemed to be taking back the land from where the IMC had previously built military bases. Following theEMP detonated at the Repulsor Tower by Crypto, players began seeing Leviathans and Flyers appear on the map as well; breathing life into the world ofApex Legends.
Olympus, on the other hand, handles nature and wildlife in a very different matter. As a city floating in the sky, Olympus harbors almost no living organisms besides the legends battling in the Apex Games. And while there is certainly plenty of plant life throughout the city, the grass itself almost looks too green to be real. This faux grass appears as if it was planted to distract the normal inhabitants of Olympus from the fact they live in a gigantic city in the sky, bereft of naturally occurring life.
WhileOlympus seems like a welcomed addition to theApex Legendsrotation of maps, it seems highly unlikely to be the final location coming to the game. Although nothing is currently known about what future maps could look like, it seems that players will have a lot to look forward to if Respawn Entertainment can continue delivering high-quality areas like Olympus.
Apex Legendsis available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X. Switch and mobile versions are currently in development.
