Customizing weapons in first-person shooters has become a staple thanks to the Gunsmith feature in games like Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War and Ghost Recon: Breakpoint. There is a veritable cottage industry of professional players and streamers figuring out which custom weapon loadouts can min/max the best stats in various Call of Duty titles, and one fan of Apex Legends seems to think something similar could be successful in Respawn Entertainment's battle royale.
Reddit user GhostAlireza uploaded a video to the r/apexlegends subreddit Sunday showing off their concept for an Apex Legends Gunsmith feature utilizing the Alternator SMG. In the mock-up; created with Blender, Substance Painter, LegionReleasev, and the Adobe suite according to their YouTube video description; players can customize various parts of their weapons alongside choosing a skin - including the use of pieces based on Titanfall 2 concept art.
The components that can be customized for the Alternator include its barrel, muzzle, underbarrel, magazine, and stock. Much like loadouts for weapons such as Call of Duty: Warzone's MAC-10, each customization option comes with buffs and debuffs, meaning players could choose to use something focused on benefitting damage or lessening recoil. In the comments on Reddit, GhostAlireza said they would combine the idea of loadouts with Apex Legends' attachment system by making loadout stats weaker, but able to be augmented through in-game pickups.
While some commenters on Reddit have expressed an interest in seeing a Gunsmith-like feature, others feel it may not mesh well with Apex Legends' loot-based weapon system. Reddit user Sebastianx21 suggests guns could start off basic in loot boxes but change to a player's preset loadout when collected, whereas others feel the idea may work better as a purely cosmetic option similar to weapon skins.
The idea of incorporating a Gunsmith-styled system for cosmetic differentiation is not unprecedented. Last year, PUBG Mobile debuted a "Guncraft" feature that allows players to adjust the designs and colors of their weapons without adding attachments that have the potential to break its mechanical balance. If Apex Legends were to add such a feature, this may be easier to incorporate with its current systems.
It's unclear whether Respawn Entertainment has an interest in such an idea, but if the studio winds up adding a Gunsmith feature, it could likely get a lot out of GhostAlireza's glossy mock-up. The battle royale is currently mid-way through its seventh season of content, but recent leaks have suggested that Apex Legends Season 8 will include an anniversary event. At this point, only time will tell what the developers have up their sleeves.
Apex Legends is free-to-play on PC, PS4, and Xbox One, with a Switch version in development.
Source: Reddit