Apex Legends Season 11 review – Storm Point brilliant, Battle Pass not so much

Apex Legends Escape is an impressive update with a strong set of features, but the disappointing Season 11 Battle Pass doesn’t live up to or match the theme of the tropical Storm Point map.

Apex Legends may have launched all the way back in 2019, but Respawn Entertainment’s battle royale is more popular than ever.

Reaching its eleventh season on November 2, Escape was a landmark update that brought the tropical Storm Point map, CAR SMG, and as always a brand new Legend in the form of Ash, the Incisive Instigator.

While Season 11 delivered a strong and fun set of major features, it’s the disappointing Battle Pass that’s once again frustrated players and left them wanting better rewards.

Apex Legends Escape Key Details

• Price: Free
• Developer: Respawn Entertainment
• Release Date: November 2, 2021
• Platforms: Windows, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch

Apex Legends Escape Trailer

Ash – A fan-favorite from day one

It’s no surprise to see Ash holding the top spot for the most popular Legend nearly two weeks after the release of Escape. With a 14.5% pick rate, the iconic Titanfall character was always destined to become a fan-favorite Legend and with an aggressive kit that encourages players to seek out gunfights, it’s likely she’ll remain in the meta for the foreseeable future.

Despite this, while the Incisive Instigator wasn’t overtuned or broken like Seer in Season 10, a lot of the community have voiced their concerns about the power of her Passive. With the ability to track down enemies with ease and force third-party encounters, Ash’s Marked for Death ability may need to be tweaked in a future patch.

Not only that, some pros including Eric ‘Snip3down’ Wrona have complained about Ash’s ability to reposition an entire squad using her Ultimate with almost no audio cues. Of course, this can be fixed with a change similar to Octane’s Jump Pad, making it easier for players to recognize when Ash’s Phase Breach has been used.

However, excluding these minor issues, Ash has been a positive addition to the Apex roster and has left players wanting more Titanfall characters in future updates.

Storm Point – A new tropical landscape to explore

With no new map arriving in Apex since Season 7 with Olympus, Respawn had to make sure they knocked it out of the park with Storm Point and they definitely delivered.

The island’s stunning tropical landscape has more POIs than ever before and is now the largest map in the game. Fit with the new Gravity Cannons to make huge rotations and one large Jump Tower in the center of the map, Storm Point has a level of verticality not present in Kings Canyon, World’s Edge, or Olympus.

Not only that, wildlife plays a huge part in gearing up on Storm Point, giving players the ability to takedown creatures and their nests in exchange for top-tier loot and gear. Although players did discover an unlimited EVO shield bug caused by shooting Flyers shortly after release, the inclusion of dynamic wildlife has been well-received overall by the community.

Of course, this isn’t to say the map isn’t with its faults. Players have already begun to complain about a lack of cover in certain areas leaving squads completely exposed and final ring locations consistently finishing in awkward spots, leading to poor quality gunfights in the late game.

However, the devs have already addressed these issues and thanked players for their feedback, promising that changes are on the way.

CAR SMG – A powerful weapon once mastered

Another weapon drawn from the iconic Titanfall franchise, the CAR is a weapon a lot of fans were concerned about when it was first announced, as there’s already a variety of SMGs to choose from in Apex.

With the R-99, R-301, and Volt all being popular picks in the meta, the CAR has managed to carve out a spot for itself due to its unique ammo feature, as well as its lethal TTK.

Despite this, the gun is incredibly difficult to control, so it requires hours of practice in the range to fully master its heavy recoil pattern. However, to those who are dedicated enough to learn the intricacies of the weapon, it could take the spot of the R-99 as their go-to close-range SMG.

Battle Pass – A disappointing set of rewards

While it’s rare for Respawn not to deliver when it comes to providing an exciting set of major additions for each season, the Battle Pass always seems to be the outlier. Repeatedly labeled as disappointing by the community in the last few seasons, Respawn fails to end this cycle in Escape.

Although Season 10 was a slight step forward when it came to rewards, the Season 11 Battle Pass has regressed backward with a set of cosmetics that don’t make the most of Storm Point’s tropical and visually impressive theme.

With five Epic tier or higher skins to collect for Wraith, Loba, Revenant, Mirage, and Gibraltar, none of them catch your eye or stand out as impressive collectibles.

While the two Legendaries are unique, they fail to capture the bright and tropical aesthetic of the Storm Point landscape. Excluding the Fatal Attraction Prowler, the weapon skins don’t fare much better either and mirror the plain and simple designs of the Legend cosmetics.

As always, the Escape Battle Pass provides enough coins to buy the next season’s reward track, so will likely be worth purchasing for anyone that plays regularly. However, this is definitely an area Respawn needs to improve on in the future if they want to provide players with a satisfying feeling of progression throughout a season.

Rating 8.5/10

Season 11 of Apex Legends delivers on all fronts when it comes to major additions, with Respawn introducing an exciting new map, Legend, and weapon for players to master. Rectifying their mistakes from Emergence with Seer, Ash was added to the roster without an overturned kit and has risen in popularity due to her background as an iconic Titanfall character and aggressive abilities. This success was also mirrored with the CAR SMG, which only rewards players who are willing to learn to manage the gun’s heavy recoil pattern.

Despite this, the star of the update is definitely Storm Point, with its visually impressive tropical landscape and dynamic wildlife. Unfortunately, once again, it’s the lackluster Battle Pass rewards that let down Escape and prevent it from being the perfect tropical update. With cosmetics that miss the mark and fail to capture Storm Point’s theme, players will have to look forward to upcoming collection events to get their fix of top-tier skins.

Ultimately, Season 11 succeeds in providing a set of incredible major additions but once again, the Battle Pass falls short and is continues to be a point of frustration for the community.