Apex Legends

There’s a lot of fun to be had with the new Team Deathmatch mode in Apex Legends. Well, sometimes. TDM was added to the game as part of Season 16, Revelry. So far, it’s been a mixed bag. Sometimes you’ll get in highly competitive games where everything is pretty evenly matched. Other times, though, it’s a mess, with lop-sided teams, disconnects, and other issues.

Look, Team Deathmatch is a nice addition to Apex Legends — even at the expense of the underappreciated Arenas mode. But there are some glaring flaws that affect play in a negative way. I’ve already discussed some features and updates I’d like to see in Apex Legends TDM previously, but beyond that, there’s a bigger problem:

Apex Legends Team Deathmatch is just sort of unbalanced.

Matchmaking Problems

Apex Legends Team Deathmatch Matchmaking

If you’ve played Team Deathmatch in Apex Legends for an extended period of time, you’ve probably been on all sides of the game’s matchmaking issues. Sometimes everything just sort of clicks. Your team is good. Your opponents are good. There’s about a two-point gap between the two teams. It’s a close race to the end. These matches are exciting affairs, and when you get that victory, it feels great. On the opposite end of that, if you lose, it’s a bummer, but it’s not a crushing defeat.

Other times, though, the matchmaking in TDM is kind of awful. You’re either short players on your team, or the whole thing is just a big, unbalanced mess. You’ll be losing by nine or ten points, and that gap just keeps growing. It’s pretty sad, and it becomes even more disheartening when you play two or three rounds of these types of games in a row. Oh, and being on the winning side of these uneven matches isn’t fun, either, especially when you realize that the enemy team is just hiding from you and being annoying about it.

Here’s hoping Respawn Entertainment implements a solution to this. I played a lot of Titanfall 2 during that game’s first year, and I never encountered this massive level of imbalance. Now, maybe we just need to exercise a bit of patience — perhaps the game will become a bit less punishing over time. As it is right now, though, it can be fun, but it can also be too chaotic.

The Arenas

Apex Legends Team TDM Skulltown Arena

Straight-up, with the exception of Skulltown, the currently available arenas in Apex Legends weren’t meant for Team Deathmatch. Both Habitat 4 and Party Crasher, which were introduced for the ill-fated Arenas mode, just don’t feel right in TDM.

Again, Apex Legends is still in the early stages of Team Deathmatch, so I’m certain we’ll see dedicated arenas introduced later on that specifically fit the mode. Right now, though, two out of the three available options, while fun, just don’t feel tailor-made for TDM. They’re okay, and they work well enough sometimes, but their design is a bit too open-ended in a way that encourages chaos and camping.

Mixtape Mode

While Team Deathmatch is currently the only available limited time mode (LTM) in Apex Legends at this time, the game is going to introduce a new Mixtape option soon. This Mixtape component will then shuffle Team Deathmatch along with other LTMs such as Control and Gun Run. While Arenas hasn’t been confirmed for Mixtape mode, here’s hoping it’s reintroduced into the game at some point in the future, as it was a fun component that offered a TDM-like experience that was still very much its own thing.

Respawn Entertainment is constantly issuing out balance patches and updates to Apex Legends. As such, it’s safe to say that the team is keeping a close eye on its performance as well as its reception. There are plenty of concerns and issues brought up by the community, and there’s also lots of rightful praise. It’s going to be interesting seeing how Team Deathmatch in Apex Legends evolves over time and, more importantly, how it’s enhanced. As it stands, TDM is fun, but there’s definitely room for improvement, especially with regard to its matchmaking and arenas.

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