Prima Game of the Week | Ring of Elysium

Why You Should Play

• Free to play with no pesky microtransactions.
• Addicting last-man-standing gameplay that drives competition.
• A beautifully detailed map that’s perfect for gunfights.

Battle royale games have been sprouting up over the past couple of years, with every new title trying to claim its place at the top. Lately, many games mimic each other, leading to various copies of PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds and even Fortnite. One of the latest contenders to hit the genre, though, takes a lot of cues from PUBG while at the same time offering a somewhat unique alternative. Ring of Elysium is a battle royale game that offers many of the same things as PUBG, but also puts a new spin on things that keeps the battle royale game feeling fresh despite the hundreds of hours that we’ve already put into the competition.

Gameplay

For many, Ring of Elysium might feel almost like a copy of PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, and the similarities are definitely there. As far as gameplay goes, RoE follows the same basic formula that PUBG and other battle royale games have established. Players fly over an island, where they must drop into the world. From there you must loot, equip yourself, and kill other players in an attempt to be the last person standing.

Unlike PUBG, though, RoE only drops 60 people into each match at the moment. This creates a more confined battle across the map, as the competition becomes much fiercer with each push of the safety zone.

You’ll also find some nice features in RoE that you won’t see in games like Fortnite or PUBG, at least for the time being. Dynamic weather ensures that the battlefield is always changing. Bright sun-filled days can change into thunderstorms in an instant, and the day/night cycle creates an interesting challenge as the sun reaches the end of its daily rotation and hides behind the horizon, blanketing the world in darkness. These might seem like small things, but they change the way that you play the game, giving you new things to worry about as you rush towards the next safety zone.

Make sure to learn more about the differences between Ring of Elysium and PUBG.

Visuals and Performance

When it comes to visuals, Ring of Elysium takes a very stylized approach to everything. Unlike Fortnite and other arcadey battle royale games, RoE offers a more realistic approach to the visuals, similar to what we’ve seen in PUBG. It’s this realistic visual approach that has been blended well with a science-fiction look that makes RoE stand out quite a bit in the current crop of battle royale games. Everything still feels very grounded in reality, though, which is what a lot of users are looking for.

For a game that’s currently in closed beta, Ring of Elysium runs beautifully. The amount of optimization here is staggering, and it’s one of the reasons that RoE has drawn so much attention from the PUBG community. Despite the dynamic weather and day/night cycle, RoE’s performance never drops, giving players a buttery smooth experience throughout the match. It’s a great thing to see, and really shows the devotion that has gone into creating this battle royale experience.

Game of the Week

Despite the fact that it is currently in closed beta, and that you have to jump through a few extra hoops to download Ring of Elysium, it’s entirely worth the effort. The game runs buttery smooth, plays wonderfully, and offers some nice changes that we’ve yet to see from other battle royale games. It’s great to experience a free-to-play game that isn’t focused on microtransactions, and with such a great track record from the start, it’s easy to see why Ring of Elysium is our Prima Game of the Week.