Apex Legends' newest map, Broken Moon, is a return to basics in many ways, and it differentiates itself from the past few maps quite significantly. The map was introduced to the public in early November as a part of Apex Legends' Season 15 update, which added not only a new map but also a new defensive Legend, Catalyst.
Broken Moon is the fourth map change in Apex Legends history, which started out with Kings Canyon in 2019. Every few Seasons, Respawn Entertainment has introduced a new core map to the rotation. Preceding Apex Legends' Season 15 and Broken Moon, Apex Legends included Storm Point in Season 11, and before that Olympus, which was introduced in Season 7. Both of the earlier maps have unique map features not found on Broken Moon, but the new map has also a trick up its sleeve: a new travel mechanic called Zip Rails.
Broken Moon's Layout is Simpler
Both Olympus and Storm Point have unique map layouts that require a little more in-depth knowledge of the map, especially for good rotations. The layout on Broken Moon is very standard and nearly mirrored. This means that new players will find it easier to choose a drop location and rotate as necessary. Even hard shifts in circles are not going to be a problem, since the map offers very standard pathing in and out of POIs. Teams are likely not going to get stuck in too much lateral movement as there is nothing maze-like in the layout.
The standard layout also means that drop zones and initial looting are separated a bit more into sections than in other Apex Legends maps. Broken Moon has 16 separate high-tier POIs, two of which are massive double-sized POIs: Terraformer and Perpetual Core. All the high-tier loot locations are separated from each other. This means that by avoiding the two largest POIs, the team can have a fairly calm start to the game. Early battles between two high-tier POIs are likely not going to happen with the same regularity as on the previous two maps.
While Broken Moon is a large map -- the second-largest to date -- it is slightly smaller than Storm Point. This makes it less spread out, which improves especially the likelihood of finding important mid-game confrontations. Teams can therefore be eliminated organically, and more often avoids chaotic and often somewhat random later circle battles. Height differences are less pronounced on Broken Moon, which can make combat between teams more even and fair.
Zip Rails Instead of Tridents and Gravity Cannons
Broken Moon has only one unique map feature, the Zip Rail, and there aren't a lot of quirky features that are present on other maps. However, Broken Moon's Zip Rail makes a massive difference in gameplay, unlike Prowlers and Spiders on Storm Point. Zip Rail is essentially an amalgamation of zip lines and trains. The Zip Rail network covers the entire map with access points on each POI and between POIs.
Like Storm Point, Broken Moon has only one Jump Tower, but it also has no Gravity Cannons to speed up rotations. As Gravity Cannons or Tridents from Olympus are not available on Broken Moon, the teams have to rely more on Zip Rails and movement-enhancing Legends, like Pathfinder or Apex Legends' flying recon soldier Valkyrie. Broken Moon also focuses more on standard looting methods, since Loot MRVNs from Olympus or IMC Armories from Storm Point are not available.
While third partying is still a valid tactic, especially around the Perpetual Core or Terraformer, newcomers to the game can avoid the most egregious forms of it by choosing edge locations on Broken Moon. Thanks to the simple layout, and no extremely fast travel with Jump Towers, early fights are usually fairer and looting is permitted more. Teams choosing to join as a third party with Zip Rails leave themselves very vulnerable to incoming fire.
Apex Legends is available now for Mobile, PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
