I‘ve been playing PUBG (Player Unknown’s Battlegrounds) since alpha and I’m still playing it regularly. It’s fun, frantic, and tense specially if you got 3 of your friends in your team. The formula has been so popular a lot of gaming companies and publishers are creating their own BR games with their own added “spin” to it. It’s similar to the “survival” game boom that plagued Steam’s early access a couple of years ago.

I was browsing YouTube the other day and saw Shroud playing a new BR game called Ring of Elysium (Europa in China). The gameplay is roughly a 1:1 clone of PUBG but with a more “arcadey” gameplay. Instantly googled how to download it and I was surprised how polished the gameplay is even though it’s still on closed beta.

The game is currently only available in Thailand. The game’s language is in Thai too but luckily there are a lot of guides online that will guide you on how to convert it to English. It was created and published by the same guys who published PUBG for mobile (Tencent).

A lot of people are saying it’s a blatant rip-off of PUBG and after playing it for a couple of days, well… it’s very similar ^^; Make no mistake though as the game is fun as hell and it has some pretty cool features I wish we had on PUBG.

“Make no mistake though as the game is fun as hell and it has some pretty cool features I wish we had on PUBG.”

Difference with PUBG

In ROE, players directly start of inside the plane while waiting for other players. Once the game has enough players, the clouds that blocks the entire map will fade out signaling the actual start of the game.

Ring of Elysium Plane
The game starts directly inside the plane while waiting for other players.
Ring of Elysium Plane
Clouds that blocks the whole map will automatically clear out once there are enough players.

When jumping off the plane, instead of the usual parachute, we get to have gliders instead! The controls are a bit different but it’s pretty straightforward. One good thing about the glider is that you can travel longer distances since you’re technically “flying” and not “dropping”.

Ring of Elysium Glider
ROE uses gliders instead of parachutes.

“You get the usual levels 1-3 helmet, backpack, and armor plus a huge variety of guns (more variety than PUBG).”

Once you’re on the ground, it’s the usual “find loot fast” scenario. You get the usual levels 1-3 helmet, backpack, and armor plus a huge variety of guns (more variety than PUBG). There are no “best loot” location on the map either becase the game is very generous when it comes to its equipment and weapon loot pool. It’s funny because hand guns in this game are much more rarer than assault rifles ^^;

Ring of Elysium screenshot
You get the same 3 tiered equipment similar to PUBG and it’s displayed prominently on your main HUD.

One feature in this game that I really love is the “auto equip” of weapon attachments. Depending on your currently active weapon, all attachments will automatically be equipped the moment you pick it up. If you try to pickup a new weapon, all supported attachments will be automatically transferred to that new weapon you just picked up. This is a very nice “quality of life” improvement that is already present on PUBG’s mobile version but unfortunately is not on the PC version.

Ring of Elysium gameplay.
Weapon attachments in this game are automatically equipped the moment you pick it up.

The game also has its own set of drivable vehicles, but as of now, it’s nowhere near to what we currently have on PUBG. The vehicle characteristics in this game are almost identical (ie: every type of vehicle can all climb mountains ^^;). You also cannot engage other players while you’re inside a vehicle but you can use healing items.

Ring of Elysium gameplay.
Ring of Elysium’s FIAT 500 vehicle.
Ring of Elysium gameplay.
Currently, the game doesn’t allow you to engage other players while inside a vehicle. You can use healing items though.

Gunplay is OK but not as tactical like PUBG. ADS (Aim Down Sights) weapon sway is absent but there are still bullet drop and your aim will be penalized if you go full auto. Killing enemies is much more easier and engagements are very common too. As stated earlier, the game offers a wide array of weapons which is a big plus. If I’m not mistaken, there are a total of 4 weapon models for each weapon type in this game (they have the LVOA-C and Origin 12!)

“…the game offers a wide array of weapons which is a big plus.”

Ring of Elysium gameplay.
Killing enemies in this game is much more easier compared to PUBG.

In terms of overall visuals, I think it looks good. There are some moments I thought the game looks even better than PUBG ^^; A lot of people (including me) were also very impressed with the game’s performance (even if it’s still in closed beta). So far, I never experienced any frame dips or crashes in the game. Settings are pretty basic. You only have 3 graphical presets to choose from (Low, Medium, High). Screen resolution is also locked to 1080 but there is a very easy work around the requires you to set your screen resolution via NVIDIA’s control panel (if you have an NVIDIA card) – so 4k gameplay is still viable.

Ring of Elysium gameplay.
Overall visuals looks good on the current closed beta build.
Ring of Elysium gameplay.
Ring of Elysium
Ring of Elysium gameplay.
Ring of Elysium

Should You Play It?

First off, it’s entirely free so you have no reason not to try it out. Second, I’ve been playing PUBG since alpha and comparing the two, ROE also offers the same intense action present on PUBG. It has a huge variety of weapons, pretty good QOL improvements, and it’s very enjoyable to play specially with friends. The game has something special in it and I’m sure it will get even better in the future.

You can download the game via Garena or just click here for the detailed guide.