When survival isn’t based on how well you run and hide from the enemy or snipe them from afar, but how well fueled you can keep your car and how well armed it is, you know you’re one step closer to realizing that you’re in a world that would make George Miller shed a tear. That’s essentially the premise behind Daybreak Game Copmany’s latest overhaul for H1Z1 called Auto Royale, which is a Battle Royale mode themed around vehicular combat and survival.
Instead of trying to capture food and water to stay fed and hydrated, you’ll be looking for repair kits and fuel in order to keep your vehicle running. The last vehicle with its engine still operational is the winner. It’s like Destruction Derby meets Twisted Metal meets PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds.
The news comes courtesy of an update over on the official H1Z1 website, where the developers detail the major update for the game and the improvements and bug fixes that tag along with it. They’ve improved the quality of life features, updated the UI, and introduced the new Auto Royale mode that sees up to 30 teams of four battling it out to be the last vehicle standing.
A launch trailer for the mode gives you a look at all the metal-twisting and fender-blasting action.
I can’t say I’m surprised, and I’m also not entirely against these small iterations on the Battle Royale concept. Tweaking the game mode to add new types of engagement and new ways to play could prove to push innovation forward in the single-A and AA development sector.
The addition of Auto Royale to H1Z1 comes with the added bonus of the game graduating from Early Access as well. You can now pick up the full version for $19.99 from the Steam store page.
Producer Anthony Castoro also addressed some of the concerns that the community had about H1Z1’s future coming out of Early Access, mentioning in a producer’s note that they aren’t finished with the game and that they will continue to iterate and optimize the Battle Royale experience.
I’m just looking forward to the post-apoc motif for the Auto Royale mode that makes H1Z1 feel even more like the Australian badass motorist and his desert driving exploits.
You can check out the new Auto Royale mode in H1Z1 right now. Some people are still miffed at the developers and the lack of proper optimization and server stability, so that’s something to keep in mind if you plan on diving into the game for the first time or if you plan on making a return to the game for a second (or third) time.