Review: Codename Savage lives up to its name

Living up to its name, a player truly has to fight like a savage to survive in Codename Savage

I’ll be honest, PUBG is truly one of the most thrilling and intense games I’ve ever played. It is intense during an encounter, it is intense while you are running out in the open in the barren land of Miramar and it keeps you on the edge while navigating through the cities of Erangel. Even when it is quiet, you can not relax. You never know who has their scope lined up right between your eyes or he might just creep up from behind you and riddle you with bullets. Now, take all of the above, and put it into a map the quarter of the size to which we are usually used to playing. Put 100 players on the map who would love some chicken for their dinner. And the only way they get that, is by killing each other and being the last person standing. You will get the recipe for Codename Savage.

The map has a tropical terrain with Asian themes. The terrain is rugged, and highly obstructive. It makes from some really desperate firefights, if you are caught in one. The circles are smaller and get smaller even quicker. But in this map, the circle is marked out before you make the jump (in the latest update), so you can plan some strategy.

There is never a quiet moment in Codename Savage. Hearing gunshots are really common in this map, and there is always someone lurking around you. Especially in the beginning. The map starts off with a very brutal culling fest, only because of how small it is. The firefights in the hotspot are total bloodbaths, which will remind you of the scene when the hunger games begin. Especially the Swamp Temple, which spawns some really high tier loot. Even finding an M416 is really common. In fact, you will find them scattered in the temple. With that, also comes high level armor. Needless to say, the players throng to the temple like Moths to the flame.

The red zones have gained importance. Just because the terrain is so rugged, the circles smaller and their duration shorter, they can cause you to change your strategy or your route all together. But since the size of the map is small, you can reach the safe zone without needing a vehicle. In fact in a recent update, motorbike with the sidecar was entirely removed. Also, I would advise you to ditch the vehicles entirely, unless you want bullets flying at you from all the directions.

But it does have some downsides. For one, as of the time of writing this article, I have not been able to access the experimental server. The design of Savage is also rough around the edges. It seems a little bit bland, but I guess PUBG corp will work that out with the final product. Also, there is a tower on the island, which you cannot enter. Would be nice if that was fixed too. There are some problems with the loot spawning in the shacks, but I hope that will soon be fixed.

All in all, this map is great fun, and really good if you are looking to hone your combat skills. You will always find someone to kill. If they don’t find you first.