bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

paywallTypes

createdDate

publishedDate

moreOnThisArticles

urlAlias

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

sponsorType

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

socialHeadline

headline

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

additionalInfoBoxes

quizIds

images

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

Josh Ye

This article originally appeared on ABACUS
Tired of hiding behind bushes, crouching under rocks, scampering across wheat fields for what seems like eternity in PUBG?
You might want to try NetEase’s smarpthone battle royale game Knives Out, which just added a new map that is a condensed version of Tokyo. The game has even just renamed itself Knives Out Tokyo Royale (though in fairness, it’s probably not permanent).
Meet NetEase, China’s second-largest game publisher    
Knives Out’s rendition of the city includes many Tokyo’s famous districts such as Shinjuku and Ginza as well as landmarks such as Tokyo Tower. You can even see Mount Fuji if you are on the edge of the map.

One of the first PUBG clones on smartphones, Knives Out has found success in Japan. It had a crossover with the anime hit Attack on Titans and there’s a PlayStation 4 version in the works.
So maybe a map of Tokyo makes sense given the game’s Japanese fans. And what better way to pay homage to the battle royale genre than to take the fighting back to Japan, the setting of the classic film Battle Royale?
How Fortnite and PUBG made battle royale the hottest trend in gaming    
Unfortunately, Tokyo in Knives Out is not like Manhattan in the PS4 game Spider-Man. In fact, the graphics in this game are so bad that I was hardly convinced that it was Tokyo at all, if it wasn’t for the landmarks.

It’s perhaps the most boring, grim-looking Tokyo in history. To be fair, this is supposed to be a deserted Tokyo. But unlike the deserted New York in I Am Legend which has an apocalyptic charm to it, Tokyo in Knives Out is extremely… nondescript. At times, it even feels like it could have been any third-tier city in China.
The 3D models in the map are very raw and unpolished. Even the 3D models in Google Earth feel more detailed than this.

In terms of gameplay, the map of Tokyo didn’t exactly enable us to do more in the game. Items and weapons remain pretty standard, and there are no extra interactive elements. I wanted to have a gunfight in a Japanese department store with pillow feathers swirling, but none of my Asian gangster movie fantasies were fulfilled in the game.
If anything, the map actually feels a bit too big. As we ran from building to building, we struggled more than usual to find enemies. There are way too many 4 or 5-storey-tall buildings in the map. We ended up just climbing a lot of stairs.

It’s not like tall buildings have never worked in battle royale games. In Fortnite, Tilted Towers draws more players than any other section of the map. But where Tilted Towers feature unique and distinguishable buildings, it’s also just one area of Fortnite’s map. Tokyo in Knives Out is a sea of nondescript high-rises, which doesn’t add much to the game.
But that’s not to say there aren’t some moments of joy. For instance, the game has a number of urban vehicles, ranging from Toyota Highlander-style SUVs to Lambo-esque sports cars. It feels like a breath of fresh air: In most other battle royale games, you get rusty cars, buggies or jeeps.

All that being said, as bad as Knives Out still feels to us (which is unlikely to change in the near future), NetEase deserves some credit for trying to bring something different to the table.
So maybe every so often if you become sick of the green Eastern European setting so common in PUBG clones, just remember that Knives Out has prepared a bleak, depressing-looking Tokyo for you to cleanse your palate.
If you want to check out more on Knives Out, watch our entire stream here!

Mobile PUBG clone Knives Out heads to PlayStation 4

For more insights into China tech, sign up for our tech newsletters, subscribe to our Inside China Tech podcast, and download the comprehensive 2019 China Internet Report. Also roam China Tech City, an award-winning interactive digital map at our sister site Abacus.



China’s video gaming firms bet on overseas revenue growth amid weak home market

Tencent sharpens focus on ‘evergreen’ video games in mainland China as domestic industry matures

Tencent to develop mobile version of hit anime game Blue Protocol in deal with Bandai Namco

Woman who fled Pakistan for India to marry PUBG buddy vows to soldier on: ‘I’d rather die than return’

PUBG

Battle royale in Tokyo with Knives Out’s new map

It’s a shame that we don’t get to go to the top of Tokyo Tower. (Picture: NetEase)


Battle royale in Tokyo with Knives Out’s new map

It sounds exciting, but Knives Out’s version of Tokyo is poor

Meet NetEase, China’s second-largest game publisher

How Fortnite and PUBG made battle royale the hottest trend in gaming