Five Ideas to ‘Improve’ PLAYERUNKNOWN’S BATTLEGROUNDS
PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, better known as PUBG, is a battle royale game that was released in December 2017. Prior to this it had been available through the Steam early access programme for around six months. Despite being the fifth best-selling game of all time and receiving generally favourable reviews, it has been criticised for performance issues, a high prevalence cheaters, and for lacking clear direction of its future development.
The developers are currently working through a three-month programme of gameplay improvements; but whilst they concentrate on fixing bugs, removing the cheaters and stabilising in-game performance — I’ve been coming up with a wish-list of my own.
From the serious to the surreal, here are five sure-fire ‘improvements’.
Explosives
PUBG already offers the usual array of grenades including a high-explosive option; and the ever-relocating red-zone offers an incendiary exit for unwary players. But I think they could take things to the next level with a range of mines and traps.
I imagine it would be wildly unpopular. But, given the vast size of a PUBG map, and the possibility of making mines and traps suitably rare, they could become an important and exciting element of tactical gameplay.
Using a trap to protect the back door of a building that you have taken refuge in could give you the edge in a siege; and laying a landmine next to a vehicle or powerful weapon could be a smart way of thinning the herd.
Removable Parachutes
We’ve all got that one friend who, during the aerial insertion that begins each game, exclaims “Oh! I can’t remove my parachute?!”
Please make this a thing. Give them their wish, and have the Darwin Awards ready to hand out when they hit the ground.
Piracy
Whilst the recently-released Sanhok map offers a smaller-scale jungle warfare experience, there’s no ship on the horizon for those who would rather find their thrills at sea.
I’ve long imagined a predominantly oceanic map with a large number of small islands and a lot of boats. Watercraft are currently chronically underused in PUBG and yet, if Sea of Thieves has taught us one thing, it is that nothing compares to the larks and hi jinks that piracy has to offer. This might even be an opportunity to introduce vehicle mounted heavy weapons. Or a pirate themed outfit.
Alternative Win Conditions
If you’re more of a lover than a fighter, PUBG currently has little to offer — I’d fix this by adding new win conditions. To achieve a peaceful victory, rather than being the last player standing, you instead have to convince the remaining 99 players to link hands and form a friendship circle in the final zone. Even the chicken lives — winner winner, seitan dinner!
The Hungry Games
The seed of this absurd idea comes from the team at Polygon behind the discontinued Cool Games Inc. podcast. The premise is a mash-up of PUBG and Overcooked, where half your team are tasked with locating and securing a functional kitchen whilst the remaining players set out in search for essential ingredients (and, of course, a frying pan!).
Having acquired all the components of a Sunday roast and survived any hostile encounters, it’s time to work together to create a top-notch meal — just watch out for enemies laying siege to your kitchen. The winning team is the first to create a passable Sunday roast — winner winner, literal chicken dinner!
