For the first time Player Unknown Battlegrounds (PUBG) came in sight back in 2017. And this First-Person Shooter game genre rapidly moved to the mobile.
In the PUBG game, you steer a hero who lands on one of the 99 islands to look for weapons, armament, and other equipment needed for the fight. Gradually, the game map breaks down into smaller circles, and you have to group with other players to win (there are other 99 players). In a nutshell, find the weapon and stay in your group. Simple as it is. But let’s find out if it is worth to play in this PUBG Mobile version.
PUBG mobile version has most of the features of its PC counterpart, but, unfortunately, not all.
You will recognize the PC version of the map there, the deserted military base, and the burnt nuclear plant. Also, the weapons, armament, and machinery were transferred to the mobile version. But since the map ‘Miramar’, this weaponry disappears. That is a definite disappointment.
Worth to mention, it is a free game, and you can log in as a guest or play with your Facebook account. By logging in every day, you get additional points that you can use to upgrade your hero’s clothing. It is a nice bonus as you start without any available clothing.
The matchmaking works fine, but the mobile version lacks some convenient options as the creation of a private custom match. It has a menu option to create a “room,” but it seems to work as a simple chat room.
I also experienced that it was fast and easy to join a team, but I noticed the problems concerning very common connections. Every time I played, at least one player of the team was disconnected at the beginning.
PUBG Mobile has a built-in voice chat room, which works well. But as most gamers use a phone’s speakers as a microphone, it can create some extra irritating noise whenever a player rubs a phone with a palm.
Gameplay
Controls in PUBG Mobile differ from the PC version. There is a virtual joystick to control the character’s actions, shootings, and camera. At first, it is not very convenient, but you get used to it after a few games.
There are a few new options to improve your experience. The floating shoot button makes it easier to play as it always goes to your thumb’s last touch — no need to grasp the gun every time you need it. Rebuild the hand, and anything will be automatically gathered, arranged, and adjusted into the game. This option gets rid of annoying menu control. Also, there are few gyroscopic control options which many people enjoy to use. But still, the experience of using the game feels awkward, and it affects the overall gameplay.
In the PC version with its wide-open map, mouse, and keyboard, it is easier to find a place for a sniper to precisely shoot the enemies. It got more difficult to permanently target people at a distance in the PUBG Mobile, because of mid- and close-range game engagements. But automatic weapons, as well as machinery, are notably more powerful here.
Performance
The PUBG Mobile is not as beautiful visually as on the PC counterpart. It lacks light and particle effects of the game, and perhaps it happened for a purpose. These elements of the game can be pretty challenging for some hardware. I was playing on my LG G6, but I wouldn’t advise playing on anything older than that. I tried to boot the game on the iPhone 5s, which crashed before even opening the main menu. I am sure the same will happen to the Android phones of similar age.
The maps, heroes, and weapons all look pretty similar to the PC version, but in a very moving, low-resolution format.
Regular gameplay mostly runs fine, but the audio could be better. It is almost impossible to get this information in the mobile version despite the importance of listening to guns and footsteps of the enemy in the PC version. No matter if it was 10 or 25 feet of me, the steps of an enemy were all the same.
What the PUBG Mobile misses is the tension of not knowing where your next enemy will be when you rich the middle of the map. It happens because of the inclusion of the bots at the elementary level. That makes a different shooter experience than most games.
Summary
PUBG Mobile is entertaining but not too tense as its PC counterpart. Essentially, it feels a bit hollow. Since its launch, PUBG mobile has been updated and improved numerous times, and it gets better and better every time.
So if you’re looking for a new easy mobile shooting game, you can try this out. It is not that bad, it works fine, and it is free. But if you search for something tense with a lot of strategic elements, you might be disappointed by this PUBG Mobile Review.
