WHILE ISOLATION MAY BE HAMPERING CONVENTIONAL SOCIALISING, ONLINE

GAMING IS PROVING TO BE A GOOD WAY TO ENGAGE WITH FAMILY AND FRIENDS.

EDWARD CHESTER EXPLORES SOME OF THE OPTIONS

REMOTE

W

e may already be several weeks

into lockdown, and many of us will

have already found umpteen

ways to fill that social gap in our lives.

However, if your resources are running dry,

we’ve come up with a few fun ways to fill

your time over the coming pages. Whether

you’re after that competitive gaming thrill or

just somewhere to hang out with friends,

there’s something for everyone.

FPS / competitive

First-person shooters have long been a

stalwart of ways to play online with your

friends, but if ever there was a time to sync

up with a few buddies and dive into the latest

team-based options, it’s now. Of course, it’s

likely that you’re already well ensconced

if you’re into those sorts of games, and if

you’re not, it’s probably because they’re just

not for you, but regardless, there’s no better

time to reignite your enthusiasm or give

them another go.

The two newest big-hitter battle royale

games, Apex Legends and Call of Duty

Warzone, are particularly good places to start.

Both games have excellent collaborative

communication and play elements that make

it easy to team up with other random players

as well as friends. You can use keyboard

and mouse clicks to ping locations and

track enemies, making it easy to keep each

other informed.

So, even if you can only muster one extra

buddy – or even none – and you don’t have a

microphone (or you just prefer to keep quiet),

you can still join in a team game. What’s more,

if you happen to be matched with some

random players with whom you get along,

it’s easy to add them to your party and play

together again, without the full commitment

of becoming friends on Battle.net or Origin.

FEATURE / ANALYSIS