All aboard the Apex Legends Christmas train fight
Festive murder
The Apex Legends Christmas event kicked off over the weekend, and nothing says Christmas like a train full of blood sports. Mirage is hosting an Xmas bash, only instead of trading gifts they don't need, guests are invited to shoot each other while vying for control of a festive train. It's round-based, with the train routinely making stops so teams can ambush each other. It's decent. I like that the train plays songs.
There are also a heap of unprecedentedly absurd Christmas skins that let you dress Octane as a reindeer (Dasher), Caustic as Santa (Claustic), and Gibraltar as a massive bear.
I've only played one round of Winter Express, the train death mode. Three teams of three have to capture the train three times, or alternatively just thrice wipe out the other squads.
You pick between Legends with specific loadouts that change each day, which is a neat idea. One day Pathfinder might have a naff Devotion, then the next he'll get a snazzy sniper rifle. That's handy because not all the fighting is done in the train's corridors - I found people would respawn, then drop down onto a building and lie in wait. You can swap characters when you respawn, too, so you can shift strategy depending on what your opponents are up to.
It's not as good as the Halloween mode I tragically never got a chance to write about, which transformed Apelegs into a hunt 'n' be hunted zombie apocalypse, but it's still an interesting twist. It's also a good chance to practice, unlike the main mode where you spend most of your time looking for guns or people to shoot them with.
You can find more details about all the Chirstmas cosmetic jazz on the event page, but basically the Apex Packs now have two normal items and one event item. Most of the holiday cosmetics are garish enough to make me think they'll genuinely decrease your chances of survival.
The Holo-Day Bash runs until January 12th.