Apex’s new Broken Moon map’s zip rail system will help shake up the flow of matches

Apex Legends’ Broken Moon map will boast plenty of surface area. Respawn Entertainment will give players a way to traverse quickly throughout its vast landscape when it launches on Nov. 1. Broken Moon’s zip rail system is a roller-coaster-like web of high-speed zip lines that will allow players to move quickly—and can even shake up how they rotate throughout the map.

Broken Moon is slightly larger than World’s Edge and will have a few larger-scale POIs. One of the map’s goals with its zip rail system was to “shake up the traditional flow or feeling of a match,” lead level designer Jeff Shaw said in a press conference last week—and the zip rail system plays an integral part in that.

Squads will generally land on outer POIs and move toward the center of the map (or toward the ring) as the match goes on. But the new zip rail system aims to change that logic or add some stops along the way.

“[The zip rail system] allows you and your squad to rotate really large distances quickly and even hit up multiple edge POIs early, in the beginning of the game,” Shaw said. “This system’s interconnectedness really helps change your squad’s trajectory from your starting POI, so it doesn’t always feel the same match to match.” Add to that the larger-scale POIs that aim to water down what Shaw called “hot-drop dogpiles” and the dynamic in Broken Moon could shape up to be fairly different than what players encounter on its peers.

Although Shaw said zip rails “live in the same family as ziplines,” they’re closer to a thrill ride than to Pathfinder’s ultimate. Zip rails have increased momentum and inertia compared to zip lines and can bend and curve around corners, according to Shaw, making them “kind of like a roller coaster.” It’s a high-risk, high-reward tool and one that adds plenty of depth and strategy when it comes to playing on Broken Moon.

Though traversal is their main purpose, players can also use them to make a quick getaway or even to make a valiant push against an enemy after a squad has obtained an advantage such as a pick or a shield break, Shaw said. Of course, players can also choose to play defensively and ambush any unsuspecting legends that pass through or even chase another squad in the zip rails. But keep in mind that you’ll lose some accuracy when firing on one of them, and the breakneck speed may help you hit the area around your target far more than your actual target.

Players can dive into Broken Moon and experience the zip rail system when Apex’s 15th season, Eclipse, releases on Nov. 1.