Indus Battle Royale review - An anticipated blockbuster that's struggling to survive after its initial launch
SuperGaming launched Indus Battle Royale in the Mobile gaming market on October 16, 2024. It was touted as an Indo-futuristic Battle Royale game that will massively enhance the gaming experience of mobile users worldwide. However, since its launch, the developers faced huge criticism for releasing a game that requires plenty of development.
While being critical is not my main aim, I must agree with the consensus regarding the latest BR title. Here's our review of Indus Battle Royale following its launch on Android and iOS.
Indus Battle Royale - Focus on Indian culture
SuperGaming is an Indian company that highlighted its game will reflect the true essence of Indian culture. The same can be seen with the in-game characters' names and appearances.
Furthermore, the emotes are modeled on popular Bollywood steps which are fun to play with. Even the introduction of a chappal with the tagline "Maa ka pyaar" (mother's love), gives it an Indian outlook.
However, the characters' lack of original ability or any back-story doesn't add to the game's fervor.
Smaller game modes are plus points in Indus Battle Royale
When I installed Indus Battle Royale, I had high hopes of getting an immersive BR experience. While the BR mode experience was pretty average, the smaller game modes — TDM and Mini TDM offered a lag-free experience. I was stunned to see the amount of detailing present in the Deathmatch modes.
While I played TDM on both Android and iOS, the modes worked fine with proper renderings. Even the Firing Range mode helped me find my sensitivity and offered a lag-free experience.
Graphics and glitches are the biggest drawbacks
While compared to other BR titles in the market, Indus Battle Royale's graphics are below par. Although the trailers showed great graphics, the initial launch had unrendered patches of grass, making the graphics look terrible.
I also found that water bodies in the BR mode are made for the sake of it. My character could even slide in the water bodies (since the character can't swim) which had no depth whatsoever.
Furthermore, I encountered multiple areas that took me out of the map, knocking my character out in the process. I also found it hard to climb obstacles or jump over windows. Glitches like these are nightmares and should have been eradicated before the launch.
Lack of optimization makes it hard for gaming
I played the game on both Android (Poco X3) and iPhone 13. While iOS performed relatively better than its Android counterpart, the latter made me sit for minutes because my phone was heating up constantly.
I was trying to record my screen, but the game froze so much that I had to stop recording within a few minutes. The optimization is so bad that you can barely move your character on low-end devices.
Furthermore, loading screen errors, delays while firing, and non-responsive touches further fueled my frustration.
It remains to be seen if SuperGaming fixes everything before the much-awaited Indus International tournament which has a prize pool of INR 2,50,00,000.
In Conclusion
Indus Battle Royale looks like a half-cooked meal served on a platter of high hopes. While an update was launched recently introducing the ranked mode, changes to color contrast, and some minor bug fixes, SuperGaming needs to toil hard to make this title reach the top charts.
While the developer continuously kept hyping Indus Battle Royale, in reality, the game shouldn't have been released so early with multiple drawbacks. I still wonder why the playtests were conducted when the final product would appear incomplete.
While it was stated to bring in a gaming revolution in India, the game is highly unoptimized for most low and mid-end mobile phones available for Indian gamers. This makes it a huge problem for those trying to shift to a different game.
Despite SuperGaming stating that they are open to feedback and are trying to implement major changes in future updates, I am not sure how they can make the game better in a short time. If they do provide updates that make the graphics better and offer a lag-free experience, Indus Battle Royale can indeed become a great BR mobile game.
Indus Battle Royale - An Indo-futuristic battle royale
Reviewed on: iPhone 13 and Poco X3
Platform(s): Android and iOS
Developer: SuperGaming
Publisher: SuperGaming SG
Release Date: October 16, 2024