Apex Legends’ New Control Mode Is A Breath Of Fresh Air

Players want this limited time mode to stay

Apex Legends dropped Season 12: Defiance earlier this month and fans are already keen for the new limited-time mode to become a permanent fixture. February saw the exciting introduction of a brutal new legend, Mad Maggie, as well as Control — a Domination-style three-week-long event. Respawn took the best parts of Battle Royale and Arenas, mixed in some additional perks, and have created an explosive and chaotically fun LTM. The mode is currently set to end on the 1st March, but given the popularity and success achieved already, it seems likely Control will make a return in the future.

In this 9v9 mode, three squads of three work together to claim zones in order to score enough points to win. Currently, Control has two maps to play on. Rather than mode-exclusive maps like Arenas, it uses chosen points-of-interest from larger battle royale maps — Hammond Labs on Olympus and Storm Point’s Barometer. Teams spawn on opposite sides and fight to control the three objectives. Ultimately, the first squad to reach 1250 points — or to lock out the other team by holding all three zones for a certain time — wins.

As usual, you’re restricted on what legend to pick by the trio you’re in, but because you’re in a team of nine altogether, you can — and often do — see duplicates of the same legend working together. Develop new dynamic synergies between unique legends as nine of you run guns-blazing into the thick of it, a situation you’d never have outside of Control. It can be a real Avengers Assemble moment, with players complementing each other’s abilities in a large-scale way. I lost my mind when I saw Ash use her phase breach with half of our team zipping through it behind her, only to look in the other direction and see Octane’s jump pad launch the rest of the team into battle.

Control throws gamers into the chaos and fun of late-game BR fights, but with additional benefits. The mode comes with unlimited respawns, infinite ammo, and shields that regenerate after time away from combat. So, there’s no real need to play it safe. Get stuck into causing mayhem with Mad Maggie (the perfect mode to try out the new legend!), booby-trap a point with Wattson’s fences, or surround the objective with Fuse’s ring-of-fire Motherload. Getting to appreciate Apex Legends at a basic level, without worrying about strategy or your lack of ammo, and instead revelling in the thrilling gunplay and gameplay is so enjoyable. For a seasoned player or a total newbie.

Similar to other modes from Respawn, such as the festive Winter Express, players can choose from a set of rotating gun classes and have total freedom to swap out legends mid-game. You might have instances where you need to play more close-range or snipe enemies from afar, so it’s great to be able to change up your game style depending on how the fights are going.

There are also special timed events that occur every few minutes, giving teams bonus points for claiming a certain zone, or random care package drops, allowing you to snag yourself a mythic or legendary weapon to take into battle. Be warned — unlike the gun classes, care package weapons have limited ammo so make your shots count!

But even if you miss out on these special weapons, you’ll be able to upgrade your own weapons to higher tiers and recharge your abilities through Control’s ratings system. Boost your ratings with kills and claimed zones, helping to avoid too many gamers playing for kills and not the objective. Inevitably, this does happen in games but with the scoreboard based on ratings, it’s a good incentive to get on that unclaimed zone and become the ratings leader.

The fast-paced, high-energy games of Control are a breath of fresh air in comparison to the current permanent modes. With Control, the pressure and consequences are non-existent. Your K/D won’t be punished, your rank is unaffected. You’re free to utilise different styles and skills, try out legends and guns with real-time enemies. Battle Royale and Arenas can be incredibly fun, and feel extremely rewarding to win, but there are times when it can be an exhausting struggle to claim victory. It’s also night-and-day when it comes to time commitment. Control is quick and easy, at most a game lasts around 10 minutes, but a Battle Royale game could see you investing double that time.

System Designer, Mark Yampolsky, said this of the mode: “Control is all about taking the things that make Apex Legends awesome — our characters and their abilities, our gunplay and movement — and recontextualizing them in a mode that puts in the center of fights that would not be possible in our Battle Royale or Arenas modes, all while keeping things fast-paced and low pressure.”

After three years of development, and with 20 legends available to play, it can be daunting and hard for new players to pick up, especially when facing seasoned players in fights. There’s a steep learning curve, complicated mechanics, and abilities to learn. It’s not a straightforward first-person shooter to master. However, Control provides the perfect medium for gamers new to Apex Legends to try out the gunplay and movement for themselves. The mode gives you real game practice, unlike the Firing Range, and I regularly use it to warm up and hone my skills before I get into my ranked grind.

Of course, Control comes with its flaws and areas that need tweaking before it ever makes a permanent return. For instance, if one team is unbalanced and lacks players, it can really throw off the whole game. You’ll be pushed back to your team spawn in no time, fighting tooth and nail to take control of zones again which is difficult when outnumbered. Equally, if the lobby is particularly sweaty and matchmaking hasn’t been kind to you, the enemy team can dominate the map pretty quickly. Thankfully, as I already said, the games are quick and you won’t suffer for long!

The designers of Control made sure to give players plenty of movement options, such as Trident vehicles and skydive launchers, to keep the game flowing and give teams a chance to control points. Don’t forget, with so many legends in one area, their abilities will come into play a lot which can be handy when trying to traverse the 2 maps. I had one game at Barometer that looked like a spider web, with half a dozen Pathfinder zip lines criss-crossing between objectives.

A familiar mode for gamers that love multiplayer shooters, Control is the casual game mode we’ve been after, and exactly what Apex Legends needed. Respawn has injected some chaotic, low-pressure fun into the game and it’s re-energised a lot of players. Even non-ranked Battle Royale games can feel incredibly sweaty and by removing the high-stakes and time commitment of BR, Control is on a winning path. Allowing so much flexibility with legend choice, unlimited respawns, and infinite ammo, new and old players alike are keen to have Control stay.

If issues can be addressed and tweaks are made, I’d say the odds are in Control’s favour to make a permanent comeback. In the meantime, I’ll be using the LTM to warm up for BR games and work on honing my skills. With the 3-year anniversary event in effect, and legends available to unlock for free, now is the perfect time to get back into Apex, or try it out for the first time.