PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds is now testing Emergency Pickup, Metal Gear-style. Players can now comedically balloon their team to safety.
In PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds’ test servers, they implemented patch 11.1, a fully usable Fulton balloon for the entire team. It allows players to redeploy themselves and improve their chances of winning.
Players can use Emergency Pickup to the safe zone
Fulton balloons, known as Fulton surface to air recovery systems, are common military recovery equipment. Much like how they work in Metal Gear Solid V, they allow extraction of materials from landing zones for recovery via plane.
In PUBG 11.1, players can now use an Emergency Pickup that will hurl the entire team across the map. Once out, players have 60 seconds before the plane comes. It will then catch players and pull them towards the center of the map.
Fultons are also a great way to escape a hairy situation. For teams, it takes them out of positions where all directions flank them. At any point, players can also jump away from the plane for a more advantageous position on the map.
Such, it would be more hilarious to Fulton corpses away. Even then, it would be a perfect strategic option for teams who want to maximize their chances of winning. Even then, there’s heavy risk with using Emergency Pickup.
Fulton balloons have their risks
Emergency Pickup is one of those bonuses that offer a good balance to its utility. While it’s an awesome way to escape and regroup, it’s also full of risks.
For starters, Emergency Pickup works much like the Flare Gun. It announces player position and draws a lot of unnecessary attention, which means teams open themselves to attacks. Other teams will have 60 seconds to foil their escape.
Once picked up, the Fulton is not as fast as its Konami counterpart. As players are in the air, they are also open to attacks without a chance for retaliation.
PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds patch 11.1 did not stop at adding Fulton balloons. The devs also added a few extras, including ten extra Mastery Medals. The devs also rebalanced some of the weapons.
They also reintroduced the Paramo map, which is a small, easy-to-traverse ground. While Paramo is back, the patch removes Haven and Karakin for the time being.
According to the devs, they’re looking to keep Erangel and Miramar as permanent maps. The other maps will then cycle around to keep things fresh.
PlayerUnknown Battlegrounds is still a solid game to play. A new title, PUBG: New State, is in the works, together with Striking Distance’s The Callisto Protocol.
Featured image courtesy of PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds/Youtube Screenshot