Apex Legends Season 13 review – Saviors has the quality but lacks quantity

Apex Legends Saviors is an engaging update that shines bright with the addition of Newcastle and Ranked Reloaded but is let down slightly by an underwhelming set of Storm Point map changes.

Breaking its Steam player count record with the release of Season 13, Respawn’s battle royale Apex Legends is more popular than ever and continues to build a passionate community of players.

With its thirteenth season arriving on May 10, ‘Saviors’ aimed to refine Apex’s most competitive mode with Ranked Reloaded, spruce up the Storm Point map with a new POI, and of course, introduce Newcastle to the roster.

While Season 13 certainly delivered with the Heroic Defender Newcastle and heavily requested Ranked Reloaded rework, an underwhelming set of map changes has left the update feeling slightly lackluster.

Apex Legends Saviors Key Details

• Price: Free
• Developer: Respawn Entertainment
• Release Date: May 10, 2022
• Platforms: Windows, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch

Apex Legends Saviors trailer

Newcastle – The protector the Outlands needed

Whenever a character is leaked ahead of an intended update, there’s always a concern that the hype and excitement will die down for their official release. Fortunately, this hasn’t been the case for Newcastle whose selfless and heartwarming personality has immediately established him as a fan-favorite Legend.

Of course, Respawn has also ensured that the Heroic Defender’s abilities are just as intriguing as his backstory. With a kit that’s completely centered around protecting allies from gunfire and dragging them out of danger, Newcastle is a hybrid Defensive Support Legend who thrives when the odds are stacked against his squad.

The most impressive aspects of Newcastle’s abilities are in the details that are easy to miss. These include the tier of Knockdown Shield determining the strength of his Passive and making it possible to redirect his Tactical.

Not only does this encourage players to communicate with their team when playing Newcastle, but it also ensures his kit is dynamic and capable of adjusting to any encounter, making him a true protector in the Outlands.

Perhaps most importantly, Newcastle’s entrance to the Apex Games feels balanced and fair. There’s no x-ray vision or scans hidden away in his kit, he’s a Defensive Legend with a useful set of tools that’s slotted straight into B-tier for the best Legends to use in Season 13.

Ranked Reloaded – More competition than ever before

For countless seasons, Apex pros and competitive players alike had been calling on Respawn to address the issues facing Ranked and introduce a set of heavily-requested features. Well, the devs decided to do exactly that in Saviors, and overall, Ranked Reloaded appears to have been an overwhelming success.

By far, the most impactful feature of the update has been demotion as its added a level of risk once a player reaches a specific tier. Competitors can no longer lock in their desired rank once they’ve hit their goal, instead, players will be demoted if they receive a certain amount of losses in a row.

While some members of the community have complained this system is too grindy, it does ensure that the skill level of players is more equally distributed and makes higher ranks more of a challenge to obtain.

With changes to assists. the Rookie rank for new players, and teamwork-based RP, Ranked feels like a more competitive mode that rewards players who are willing to put in the hours and practice.

Storm Point map changes – A set of underwhelming additions

As always, Respawn delivered another incredible launch trailer ahead of the release of Saviors, showcasing the Apex roster defeating a menacing sea creature that had invaded the island. The Legends made short work of the monster which now makes up the new Downed Beast POI, a visually impressive area that feels slightly underwhelming considering the size of Storm Point.

Although the carcass of the beast is filled with top-tier loot and is incredibly fun to traverse, there have been no fundamental changes to the map that are quickly identifiable. This can make it easy to forget that the POI has even been added, or notice any differences between Season 12 and Season 13 Storm Point.

Unfortunately, this issue carries over to the IMC Armories, a brilliant feature that are too easily missed in the chaos of battle royale matches. With only four of them on the map, they’re more of a mini-game that players run into once every 10 matches, than a feature that squads will go out and seek to complete.

While both of the changes made on Storm Point in Season 13 are positive, they lack punching power and memorability, two important aspects for keeping players invested until next season.

Battle Pass – The best set of rewards yet

After improving the battle pass in Defiance, the devs have taken another step forward in Saviors and introduced what can be considered the best set of rewards yet. While the filler collectibles between tier 1 and 100 are still present, it’s the instant upfront unlocks that really make this reward track shine.

With Gilded Grappler Pathfinder, Lava Queen Mad Maggie, Firewall Newcastle, and the Wyrmborn CAR all immediately unlocked as soon as you buy the battle pass, Respawn has knocked it out of the park with the upfront Epics and arguably one of the best Legendary weapon skins in the game.

As expected, tiers 25 and 50 both provide two impressive Legend skins with Sir Fitzroy Fuse and Feral’s Future Bloodhound. Tier 100 and 110 do not disappoint either, offering the incredible Winter Soul and Molten Soul Spitfire skins that each boast impressive visual effects.

While there’s still room for improvement when it comes to the battle pass, Respawn are heading in the right direction and have upgraded the rewards for two seasons running, let’s hope the trend continues.

Rating 8/10

Season 13 of Apex Legends is a solid update that feels slightly underwhelming in terms of the quantity of content but certainly doesn’t lack quality. Whether it’s the Heroic Defender’s balanced and versatile set of abilities, the Ranked Reloaded update filled with heavily requested features, or the improved battle pass, it’s obvious Respawn put a lot of effort into Saviors.

Unfortunately, the positive but lackluster additions to the Storm Point map let Season 13 down, and may leave the community wishing that Respawn added a new weapon or LTM in Saviors, just to give the update the memorability and replayability it’s missing.