Be careful of the purely negative reviews telling you not to buy the game. The "microtransactions" they are talking about are going to charity and the winner of a tournament as well as the production of said tournament.

So this uproar is over a voluntary situation, where people can choose to spend their money on in-game cosmetic items with the proceeds going to charity and a tournament. There are legitimate concerns, to be sure, but that should not warn people from getting into what is clearly the MP Game of the Year for 2017. Cosmetic microtransactions have zero impact on gameplay. They should also have no impact on your decision to purchase this game right now. $30 for a game I have gotten more out of than any AAA title in years, including the Battlefield series.

BTW, most people playing at one time, over 600,000! That was this week. Do not listen to these detractors, buy the game and get in here!

edit: I want to thank all of you who have taken the time out your day to read my post and judge it based on the merit that it is attempting to reveal what has and is actually going on with this recent surge of negativity. I will do my best to give an accurate review of this product below based on my experience in the community, both as a player & streamer of this amazing game.


skip to the end for TL:DR.

Like most of you I was hesitant to purchase this game. Another Early Access title with some janky looking animations as well as some mixed criticism in the ether of Steam's review system. I watched a few streams and bided my time until I felt confident that I was not wasting my money on the chance that it was a good game. I have been head long in the dive ever since and don't expect to hit bottom any time soon.

The numerous paths to enjoying this game range from simply learning how everything works and dying a lot in that process, and I do mean a LOT, to being so overcome with adrenaline, emotion and exhilaration when you win that you can't control your body. The adrenaline dump post win is real and I legitimately wish you feel it every game. This game is a rush!

There are low points to be sure, but they should only be when you find a bug or encounter poor behavior of another player who might be cheating or teaming. These behaviors have not been part of my experience at all in over 400 hours of play. I can not be certain of the cheating to be sure. But because of my perspective, they have not impacted my judgement on the game one bit. This is just something we as gamers on the PCMR have to deal with, so we accept it and move on. Be aware, PUBG has banned 25k cheaters in the past 3 months. It is out there and they are doing their best to fight it.

Let's get into it:

Life & Death in the PUBG:

You will die, a lot, to things you can not see or hope to control. This is not the extent of the game but the stick hitting you to keep moving so you can grab that carrot. You will have that carrot. Obtaining it is solely based on your actions. You decided where to jump from the plane, what buildings to loot, which items to loot, how much you paid attention to the actions of those around you & the circle. It was your decision that put you on the exterior of the map when the circle fell on the other side of it. You choose to move ahead of the next circle so now you only have to cross part of it in the remaining time you have before it closes again. You are the one that did not "slice the pie" in your field of vision to spot the guy sitting by the 3rd tree to your right. You are the only one to move you in front of someone else's gun sights. Understand this simple principle so you will have a far better time while enjoying the hell out of this game.

Consider it in the terms of playing Poker. You can learn the game easily enough, but it will take you a lifetime to master. The only thing you can do is learn from your mistakes. Each death is a lesson you can take something away from. Don't repeat your mistakes and you can only get better. Leave the assumption that your death is based on RNG to the uninformed. You are the master of your fate in this game, take control of it.

Gunplay:

Fast, hard hitting bullet physics with a semi-random pattern of recoil on all weapons makes trigger control & skill a strong factor in determining who wins in the end. I suggest you watch MagnumDopus on youtube for a clearer understanding of how weapons & their attachments operate. Currently, there is no practice range in game other than the starting island with it's selection of weapons on the picnic tables & buildings. This may change in the future of course. It's easy to fly away from the plane after the drop in order to find a piece of the island to loot & practice recoil control.

They will be adding a new weapon each month. Yes, they have kept this promise so far.

Vehicles:

Spawn randomly at predetermined locations across the map[pubgmap.io] with more promised on the way. You can use them to extend your drop range from the plane at the start of a game, allowing you the freedom to loot in peace in the early game while everyone is fighting & dying. Leaving you, hopefully, well prepared for the mid to late game. Or it can be your last gasp at getting in the circle before it slowly kills you.

You can fly, 150+ KPH, on the 2 seat bike, do tricks like an X-Games star if you want or ignore them at all costs as they are a loud siren alerting people where to shoot.

Fuel isn't an issue if managed well. Reasonable durability, so they can be destroyed if focus fired by a squad or a m249. Having said all that, they are death traps against a good shooter & should be avoided when possible IMO.

Sound:

Make sure you are using your basic stereo profile when playing this game. 7.1 surround will distort the location of bullet whizzing & the weapon's report making it almost impossible for you to track & locate the shooter.

The ambient audio can be incredibly deceiving at times, especially to newer players that may not be used to it. 99% of your actions will create an audible que for those around you to take advantage of. example One & Two. I suggest you pay attention to everything you hear, your mind will filter the noise eventually. This will allow you to pick up on the changes in your environment & keep you alive at the end of the day.

Performance:

Settings: FOV: 103, SScale:100, AA: High, PP: VL, Shadow: VL, Texture: High, Effects: Med, Foliage: VL, View Dist.: Ultra
100+fps @1080p; 80+fps @1440p while streaming @900p, 60fps, 6k bitrate
i7 5930k@4.3
GTX 1080
16gig DDR4 2400
Samsung EVO SSD - you need a SSD

The game is constantly being optimized & improved, but you will want a reasonably strong system. You can use Reshade to adjust how the game looks at a much lower performance hit than in game settings will give.



Pros:

• Amazing fun, even in death.
  
• Great game with friends.
  
• Intense single player challenge.
  
• The effort of the devs improving the game is clear.
  
• The price.

Cons:

• It's Early Access, there are going to be bugs & issues. Bluehole has shown good performance in fixing issues consistently with weekly & monthly patches, but this is the nature of EA.
  
• No Microtransactions during EA was stated, but they did introduce them as cosmetic items. They are going to charity & tournament participants, but they did go against what was stated previously.

Final Statement:
You should buy the game.
You should drop into populated areas & learn how to fight.[pubgmap.io]
You will enjoy that Chicken Dinner.

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