Respawn Entertainment’s Apex Legends, the free-to-play battle royale shooter, has had an incredibly successful opening month. It came out of the gates swinging and quickly surpassed 50 million downloads, cementing itself as one of the top dogs in the genre.
It’s a polished game in comparison to some of its competition, but it’s not perfect. Apex is still in its early days and there’s a lot of room to improve. One aspect of the game that could use some updating is its inconsistent and disjointed reload animations.
Many games, including Blizzard Entertainment’s Overwatch and Valve’s Counter-Strike, have reload-cancel exploitations. It’s rarely an intended mechanic, but it can sometimes be used as a tool to create small advantages.
In Apex’s case, there’s still a few notable reload animations that can be used to get the upper hand. The exploits may have been implemented into the game by Respawn Entertainment as Easter eggs, but nothing has been confirmed.
A Reddit user posted a clip showing off their skills with the Peacekeeper shotgun. They secured four kills in a matter of moments, showcasing an irregular reload animation. In this case, the player’s reload changed because they were simultaneously performing another action in their other hand. Using Mirage’s Q ability while reloading resulted in the new animation.
It’s not clear if the reload animation has created a distinct advantage, and it could just be a visual effect—but it’s something that could be looked at moving forward.
Another Reddit user presented a different example on Reddit, this time with the G7 Scout. In the comment section, users indicated that the animation was intentionally added to the game, suggesting that the same animation could be performed in Titanfall 2. Nonetheless, the video shows ammunition releasing from the top of the gun, rather than the bottom.
It’s debatable if the various rare reload animations are healthy for the game. It could provide another level of uncertainty, lowering the overall level of competitive value—but, on the other hand, it could be used as a way to create a higher skill ceiling.
