Apex Legends’ best chill-out mode is coming back, as Control makes its return in next week’s Warriors Collection Event with a new location on King’s Canyon.
Debuting with a 3-week binge at the start of Season 12, Control was the casual shootout Apex always needed—a more traditional capture point mode that effectively let you play Team Deathmatch with Apex’s sandbox. It absolutely banged, so I’m thrilled to see it return with a new map built around the Caustic Treatment region of King’s Canyon.
Control had a few irritating balance issues, sure. But I absolutely miss it as a way to hang out with less seasoned friends or warm up before a ranked session. I’m wary that many of those issues won’t be resolved, but I’m also hopeful that its speedy return means Respawn knows how popular the mode was, and may bring it back on a more permanent basis.
But Control’s return isn’t the only thing coming next week. Warrior is also introducing a new Arenas map, Drop-Off, a series of dense skyscraper rooftops that I can only describe as having big Halo energy. That’s a good thing—Overflow, the current best Arenas map, also has big Halo energy, with both maps appearing to be designed more like old-school arena shooter maps than condensed battle royale locations.
Being a collection event, Warriors also includes a host of new skins, sporting a pretty clean ’80s Gladiator vibe. Not to be biased, but Horizon’s Jewel of Olympus is the absolute standout, and for the first time in collection event history I am thriving. It’s also Crypto’s turn for an Heirloom, a sword that’s part Wiimote and part segmented knife that’s awarded for purchasing everything in the event.
As a transaction model, Heirlooms still aren’t great, costing around $160 for the lot—and the recent decision to also sell “Mythic” quality skins under the same model has only heated the discourse. But Crypto has been deserving of some love for some time, and I’m happy that all twelve Crypto mains will now be able to cut about with a slick new sword, should they feel like opening their wallets.
Warriors kicks off next Tuesday, March 29th, and runs until April 12th.