Paul’s an expert in Videogames, Star Trek, flannel shirts – in that order.
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There is absolutely no feeling like being in the last circle in PUBG – scanning the environment, looking for the slightest hint of movement, my heart beating out of my chest – it’s something that, it turns out, hasn’t changed a jot since the day it launched. PUBG is a time capsule of a game, and despite its best attempts to transform into something more, it’s still the same old shooter it always was. I’m very happy with this.
Go back almost ten years, and the PC gaming landscape looks a lot different from today: live service games aren’t everywhere, nobody knows what a battle royale is beyond the movie of the same name, and I don’t make a noise whenever I stand up. The last one isn’t PC related, but still worth mentioning.
Then, PUBG comes along; creator Brendan Greene cut his teeth creating battle royale mods for Arma, pitting groups of players against each other in an ever-shrinking circle. This grew into the standalone title we now know as PUBG – PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds – and within a few months of its release, it was breaking records that still stand today.
Launching in March 2017 to a very respectable 65k players, it took less than five months for the battle royale game to hit over a million concurrents, and then in January of the following year set a Steam record of 3.2 million. This hasn’t been touched since then, with the next two titles on the list, Black Myth Wukong and Palworld, hitting 2.4 million and 2.1 million, respectively.
The battle royale format was so fresh and yet so natural; it felt like the inevitable evolution of multiplayer shooters, with PUBG’s methodical pace and lethal firearms forming perhaps the ultimate test of tactics and pinpoint accuracy. Dropping from a plane gave my team and me time to strategize – where would we drop, what kinds of kit were we looking for, what did everyone have for dinner? It was a perfect mix of action and downtime, a proper social action experience.
Looting up after landing became a game in itself; we would brag about the Kar98k we found, the suppressor we just picked up, and that 8x scope in a corner of a barn nobody bothered to check. Gearing up for a fight was the calm before the storm, and it paid off massively if things went well. Long-range engagements were always our preferred method of winning, and I’m convinced there still isn’t a better feeling than an outrageous headshot from an absurd distance.
As these things go, though, the circle gets ever smaller, and teams are forced into engagements with regularity. My team and I weren’t the best at PUBG, but we did okay, picking up a few wins here and there. Screaming down the mic at acts of heroism and blunders in equal measure. These stories still come up from time to time.
While the squad may have moved on, PUBG hasn’t – not really. There are battle passes and cynical tie-in events, and even a horrendous AI teammate, but the core is still intact. I drop in with a few pals from time to time, and it surprises me just how little has changed. PUBG is a time capsule in the best way. The formula is so pure that it still feels like a battle royale unicorn.
Distil what battle royale is down to its core, and that’s PUBG – there’s an importance to the fundamentals of the genre here that have allowed it to stand the test of time. Position and map awareness are nearly as important as how accurate you are with any given weapon. Knowing where to be and, most importantly, when to be there can win you a game. Yes, being able to aim and shoot is important, but having the tactical advantage wins more fights in this game than any other I can think of, and that’s pretty special.
There is no breaking of ankles here, no slide-cancelling, no broken movement mechanics; it’s the fundamentals done right. PUBG is slower than most other games out there, but that doesn’t make it less exciting for a second. The stakes are always high, and the victories taste sweeter than anything else out there. It’s aged incredibly well by maintaining its in-game purity.
If you got rid of the visual fluff and the garbled mess that is the main menu, players hopping in today would live the same PUBG that I did all those years ago. It’s a beautiful thing, really – a crystallized version of something that has been aped countless times in the interim. Sure, Apex Legends might have style, and Warzone might be slick, but none of them exist without PUBG, so respect your elders and drop on School – I’ll see you there.