Have You Played… The Culling?

It's pleasing to see gas traps appearing in Apex Legends, courtesy of token toxic male Caustic. But let us lower our heads and observe a moment of silence for the fallen progenitor of such useful and deadly battle royale flatulence. That's right, The Culling.

Of all the pre-Apelegs battle royales, this one came closest to making me respect and enjoy the bloodsport. In the end, I couldn’t quite keep up with the competition, so I didn’t play much. But I liked that it gave you a chance to be sneaky, to lay spike traps for other players, to poison them with blowdarts, and yes, asphyxiate them with gas traps. Those gas traps weren’t cannisters you could throw or plant, like Walter White analogue Caustic, instead they already existed in certain spots throughout the map and you could puncture them with a bullet or a whack. It was fun to crack one open, like a fetid beer, as a foe passed close. Here is some wonderful use of the gas trap in a confined tunnel.

The sequel might have refined these ideas, but, uh, that went quite badly so I didn't play it. However, the first game has not passed away completely, instead being reborn as a free-to-play murder theatre. It probably won’t tear you away from your happy robot pal in Apelegs. But it is worth remembering for trying to bring a different note to the familiar scent of the battle royale. Even if that was the harsh note of a hundred farts.