After a huge relaunch, creature catching battle royale Farlight 84 is flying

You probably haven't heard of Farlight 84 - I know I hadn't until two days ago, when it started appearing all over my X feed. In a sea of battle royale games and zoomer shooters all trying to be the next Apex Legends or Valorant, Farlight Games' high-octane FPS simply got lost in the proverbial, bullet-ridden sauce. Having released back in 2023, today marks a brand new dawn for Farlight 84. Fully revamped, with a new character, map, and adorable buddies, August 7 is when the multiplayer game rises or falls, and if its current Steam stats are anything to go by, I suspect it may be the former.

While re-releasing your FPS game on the same day as the Battlefield 6 beta may not be the best move in the world, Farlight 84's player count has spiked overnight. From a consistent peak of around 1,450 players to a much more impressive 7,597 (a 420% increase) at the time of writing, the relaunch is looking pretty good so far.

Akin to other battle royale games like Apex Legends and Fortnite, the aim is simple: kill everyone else and earn your place at the top of the leaderboard. You can choose from various characters (or 'Capsulers'), each of which has their own unique abilities, and there's a range of weapons to procure and vehicles to run your opponents over with - I mean, who doesn't have that urge?

Dropping alongside the relaunch is newcomer Kui Duo, a martial artist whose speed is completely unmatched. If you like to get up close, unload your mag, and get the hell out of Dodge, he's perfect for you. Hacker Syfer has also received a complete rework, allowing her to hack her foes' shields to tag their location, and teleport around the battlefield.

So far, it's just been the standard battle royale fare, but what makes Farlight 84 unique is its buddy system. There are various Pokemon-style creatures lurking around the map, each with their own traits. As you dodge bullets and incoming cars, you can catch said beasties and add them to your arsenal - success is guaranteed, too, so you won't need to watch your Poke Balls wobble back and forth while emulating its jiggling on the D-pad. (No? Just me?)

Each buddy falls into a different tactical category: controllers help you lock down parts of the battlefield, mobility pals help you weave your way out of tight spots, and damage buddies, well, deal damage. Sparky, for example, acts as a grenade, while Smokey does exactly what its name suggests.

Three new buddies have joined the fray: Nimbus, who lets you fly, Calamurky, who creates linear smokescreens, and Thunderhound, who fires missiles. Then there are also the new super buddies, which are stronger than their base counterparts - think a Prime Warframe, or a Mega Pokemon.

There's brand new map Nextara, too, which lets you explore an abandoned city with its own, loot-filled underground vault, and the Eco-Dome and Costa Nextara, where you can find the aforementioned super buddies. My personal favorite, though, are the Rat Cannons, which allow you and two others to blast across the map in style - after all, who doesn't love being shot out of a cannon? That's not me speaking from experience, just to clarify.

In addition to all of this, there are brand new weapons and tactical gear, as well as a slew of improvements to… literally everything, so here's the full rundown. There are also more rewards on offer, and if you start playing right now you'll get the current battle pass for free; not bad, if I do say so myself.

The Farlight 84 relaunch update is available now, and if you were affected by the game's servers being down you'll receive a compensation gift. You can check all of the new content out for free here.

Otherwise, if it's Farlight 84's vibrant aesthetic that lured you in, we have a list of the best anime games. Or, if you're looking for more games to play while you sit in the queue for Battlefield 6, we have a rundown of all the best multiplayer games.

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