Recently battle royale style video games have become immensely popular among novice and experienced gamers alike. Games like "Fortnite: Battle Royale" and "PlayerUnkown’s Battlegrounds" (or "PubG") have quickly risen in popularity paving the way for others to join this community of games, even expanding from PC and console to mobile devices.
Boss Key Productions, known for their game "LawBreakers," is introducing a new battle royale style game titled "Radical Heights." The game follows much closer in style to "Fortnite" in aesthetic rather than "PubG," however, it is much more of an 80s game show.
It holds promise to become a quick contender in popularity with its competitors. While many are excited about this newcomer, there is one apprehension that is causing a major Red Flag for players and critics alike.
Level playing field
A major appeal of games like "Fortnite" and "PubG" is the fact that each game starts the players at zero, giving them an equal chance to all find better weapons and money in the current round played. Regardless of where a player places in-game, that is erased and comes the start of a new game. This element makes a free-to-play game like this even more appealing; there is no chance for an unmatched battle due to better weapons, gear, etc. However, this points us to where "Radical Heights" differs immensely.
In-game cash
Boss Key Productions announced recently that they were leaving their previous game endeavor in the past and focusing on "Radical Heights." A brief statement from them describing the game reads, “...but also CASH that you can bank - win or lose! Whether you spend that cash on righteous customization in your personal prize room or pull it from an ATM to purchase weapons early in the next game”.
This statement is causing a stir of alarm for many gamers. Essentially it appears that in-game cash won by players does not disappear but instead rolls into a players account to save and withdraw at their leisure. Though each round starts players with a balance of zero, once the game begins, they can run to the nearest ATM to withdraw cash and purchase better gear, skins, weapons or whatever they choose.
"Radical Heights" is set as a game show, so essentially having more money would help a player win, as per most game show rules. However, it is also important to note that due to this, new players will have to face a bigger grind when facing more experienced players as they do not have access to the money that others already have. This element has the potential to eventually cause a large rift between new players and experienced ones but only time will tell if this difference will affect players between competitors.
All in all, "Radial Heights" seems to have the potential as a major contender in battle royale games even with this new element in a free-to-play game. It will be interesting to see where this game goes and if it holds its ground well. It currently is available on Steam, just dropped today, April 10.
