Control is gone. It was a cracking way to kick off Apex Legends Season 12, so it’s a shame that the LTM is now gone forever. It was a strange decision going through so much effort to create objectives, scoreboards, and custom loadouts for a two-week game mode, but you do you Respawn.
Control is obviously coming back, and it always was going to. We can only guess at why Respawn implemented it for a short period of time at first, but I reckon it was probably a trial run to make sure everything worked before releasing it in full down the line. Don't worry, it worked. It really worked. When it returns, I hope they’ll add stronger leaving penalties and a more viable range of loadouts, but the most important thing about Control is the maps.
Of the original two, Barometer stood out as an excellent map for Control. It’s one of the best POIs in the whole of Apex Legends, so it makes sense, but the spread of buildings, cover, and verticality made matches fun and a range of strategies viable. To be honest, I usually switched to Battle Royale if Hammond Labs was in rotation – it’s too open and flanking opportunities are practically non-existent. We also know, thanks to dataminers, that Caustic Treatment is the next map to come to Control. But I’m going to work out whether the Kings Canyon town takeover is the best location for Control games.
First, we need to look at exactly what makes Barometer so great: verticality, plenty of cover, and good rotations. I think the triangle layout of the objectives helped spread fights out and not make everything a big clusterfuck in the central building. In Barometer, the centre of the map is actually not a great strategic point (the highest point of the tower is probably the best location if you’re into camping). Players are drawn into the centre by supply drops and fleeing opponents, not to capture objectives.
Caustic Treatment has its objectives in a slight triangle, but it’s not as pronounced as Barometer. You can check out a visualisation below, courtesy of Shrugtal.
This could go either way, but I also think it’s important to note that the main building of Caustic Treatment is much larger than that of Hammond Labs, meaning there is more room for separate and varied fights rather than five Knuckle Clusters and three Wrecking Balls causing untold chaos in a single room. There’s internal verticality in Caustic Treatment, and the roof is also available. Although the latter is the case in Hammond Labs too, so it remains to be seen how well this would work. However, I think there are potentially better options for Control on each of Apex Legends’ maps, so I’ll run them down for you here.
Kings Canyon
I think Repulsor would be a better map for Control than Caustic Treatment. While it doesn’t have the one central building that is key to both current Control maps, the multiple buildings could offer an interesting dynamic. One team spawns at Map Room and the other Hydro Dam, making their way towards a central objective in Repulsor. Would one team be at a disadvantage for being downhill? Perhaps.
Containment is a more traditional option for a Control map, and offers a bit of verticality in the central area. Crash Site is harder to imagine, but the extra verticality (i'm really going in on the multi-level fighting) would be great. I briefly considered Runoff, but that would probably make a better Arenas map. I’d prefer them to keep designing bespoke Arenas maps, but if they returned to the Battle Royale maps then this would be my choice. Going by the current roster of Control maps, Caustic Treatment probably is the safest option from Kings Canyon, but Repulsor or Containment have the potential to be more exciting.
World’s Edge
World’s Edge has by far the best options for future Control maps. Both Climatiser and Lava Siphon are great options, but I particularly love the idea of playing objective-based Apex in the latter. Pop an objective on each side of the POI, and the third either in the middle building or the taller one to the north and let teams have at it. Every objective has multiple points of entry – you can enter by air, by door, or even by cable car – and the potential for long- and short-ranged fights alike is great.
Putting the central objective in the northern tower could be reminiscent of Barometer, too. Place the actual objective on the lower level, and have the top level as a great sniper tower. Players then have to decide whether to sit on the objective or take the superior shooting spot – an interesting dilemma that brings out all manner of strategies.
As a relatively new addition to World’s Edge, Lava Siphon seems like it was almost designed with Control in mind. Respawn must have been developing the mode for a good while now, and it wouldn’t surprise me to learn that its addition had a secondary motivation.
Olympus
I’m not going to lie, Olympus is pretty barren of options for Control maps. Could Rift work as a non-traditional layout? Pathfinder’s Boxing Ring maybe? Somehow, Hammond Labs is actually the best option. But I still don’t want to play it.
Storm Point
The Mill is an obvious choice for a spicy Control map, but the central POI is smaller than that of any current map. I can’t help but feel it would be a bit empty. As much as I love landing there, Lightning Rod doesn’t have the necessary symmetry for Control, and Antenna could work, but it’s a little bland for me. I like the idea of Storm Catcher, though.
Storm Catcher has tons of verticality for multi-level fights, and if teams start at the two small POIs to the east and west, they can zip straight into the fight up high, or take the floor route for a sneak attack. The lower levels to the POI’s south offer ample opportunities for flanking, and I think it could really excel in the game mode. Don’t get me wrong, it would be spicy and teams would rush right at each other, but it would be exciting because of that.
Overall, it’s hard to beat Barometer. I reiterate: I’m of the belief that Barometer is one of the best POIs Respawn has ever designed for Apex, but when it comes to new maps, Caustic Treatment isn’t a bad shout. Maybe it’s my love of World’s Edge shining through, but I’d love to see Lava Siphon added to Control after Caustic’s had his toxic way with the LTM. After that, maybe we’ll return to Storm Point for some Storm Catcher action or get bespoke maps like Arenas. Whatever happens, can we all agree to leave Olympus well out of it?
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