We sacrificed our weekend to try out the new Vikendi map coming to PUBG — and rather liked it
So, PUBG’s long-promised snow-themed map has arrived — albeit only on the Test Server — just in time for the UK’s traditional rain-sodden Christmas. But is Vikendi, as the new map has been called, any good?
To test it out, we sacrificed our weekend to give the new map an intensive workout.
The resort island of Vikendi has an aesthetic reminiscent of Sniper Elite 4, which is most apparent in towns such as Dobro Mesto, which feel a lot more fleshed out and congruent than the settlements that pass for towns on Erangel and Miramar.
The new Vikendi map — looks more like four by four kilometres rather than six by six
Bluehole have described it as a six kilometre by six kilometre map, although it looks closer to four by four. That said, the high number of locations to drop-in to does make it feel less claustrophobic than Sanhok, while remaining a lot less mañana than Miramar.
You have just over four minutes to tool up after hitting the ground, which is generous for the size of map, but a smaller than usual first circle to retreat to. However, the speed of the encroaching blue zone isn’t anything like as punishing as on (say) Miramar or Erangel, and there’s just enough vehicles to go round (as well as fewer expanses of water creating barriers and pinch points).
Taking the tourist UAZ tour of old Vikendi, starting in Dobro Mesto
Thereafter, the blue zone shifts are quite manageable — nothing like the cross-country schlepps often required in PUBG’s three other maps.
As for the environment, the snow-themed map does actually feel fresh and different.
Footprints, tire marks and tracks from the new snowmobile all get left behind in the snow, which should make for an interesting new dynamic, especially in squad games where one squad is hell-bent on tracking down and dispatching another squad.
The Vikendi snowmobile is surprisingly straightforward to drive — but quite noisy
It may also be possible to identify potential targets from their breath as they crouch in cover. That’s another nice touch.
The sound of footprints on the snow is crisp and convincing, and the howling wind also adds another aural dynamic. However, it seemed odd that players could run around quite happily on a frozen lake with no slipping and sliding, as one might expect.
Also, there were some places on the map — such as around the castle — where players leave neither footprints nor tire prints in the zone. In addition, there were one or two unexpected graphical glitches. These will require tidying up before Vikendi is launched on the main server.
And, while there are a number of buildings regularly reproduced throughout the map — the copy-paste of store-bought assets — this feels like it has been done to a much lesser degree on Vikendi.
Some houses have mezzanine levels looking down onto living rooms, which should provide an exciting new way to eviscerate noobs and other careless players. There are also some very spacious, nicely decorated toilets to hang-out in if that’s how you like to pass your time playing PUBG.
The snowmobile, like players themselves, can leave behind tell-tale tracks in the snow
What about the new snowmobile?
Well, it’s a surprisingly easy to drive vehicle — certainly more so than the Dacia and better handling than the UAZ. A two-seater, it’s noisy but nippy and well-worth seeking out. The Dacia, meanwhile, seems like it handles better on snow than actual roads, so it’s maybe best to take this hideous 50-year-old dog of a vehicle across country, rather than sticking to the road.
Other observations: there seems to be plenty of healing items, Tommy Guns, Uzis, four-times scopes and two-times scopes. But maybe fewer eight-times scopes, as well as Kar-98s, Mini-14s and SKSs.
There are also more vertical foregrips, which is welcome. The new G36C assault rifle, dropped-in in place of the SCAR-L, looks like a cross between UMP-9 and QBZ and is a satisfying gun to use.
In terms of the map, the one big eye-brow raiser was the winery — yes, a winery. PUBG has made a big thing about the northerly location of Vikendi and a winery is one of the locations you’d least expect to find on such a small island that looks like it was based on a cross between (say) Reykjavik and Copenhagen. What looks like the vinyard is, in any case, ludicrously small.
Does this even look like wine growing country?
Perhaps the developers should swap the winery out for a craft beer brewery or gin distillery, both of which would be just the kind of wanky accoutrement a ‘resort’ island might more convincingly offer in 2019.
An unconvincing room upstairs within the equally unconvincing Winery
Also on the unconvincing side were some of the visual assets casually dropped in, for example, to the church in Dobro Mesto: the pews seem both far too few and too small for the size of building.
