Finally, it has come down to Free Fire Vs BGMI. After Free Fire’s release in September 2017, it took quite a while for this mobile battle royale game to gain its foothold in India. The game introduced a fresh wave of mobile gamers and loyal battle royale fans in the nation at large. However, the release of the mobile version of the most popular PC title at that time changed the situation. The game was none other than the pioneer of battle royale games, PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds. The developers of PUBG did a fine job making the mobile version of the game feel like the original PC title. The mechanics and gameplay were the same but suited to play in smartphones instead. Tencent also introduced a way to play mobile games on a computer via an emulator. It was after PUBG Mobile got banned; Free Fire got its true time to shine. Almost the entire mobile battle royale player base was playing the game in 2020 following the ban of several Chinese apps under Section 69A of the Information Technology (IT) Act. PUBG Mobile was revived as Battlegrounds Mobile India released on 2nd June 2021. With almost the same gameplay, the loyal PUBG Mobile player base has already made the shift to Battlegrounds. Within only a month of release, Battlegrounds Mobile India, or as they call it, BGMI has already crossed 50 million downloads and currently is grossing as the top free game in Google Play Store. Thus, Free Fire is facing huge competition in the community. Let’s attempt to break down the key differences between the two games and help you decide which one is the superior battle royale game for mobile.
Also Read: How BGMI has affected Free Fire in 2021?
System Requirements
The Google Play Store description for Battlegrounds Mobile India states the recommended device requirement of Battlegrounds Mobile India system requirements is Android 5.1.1 or above with at least 2 GB RAM.
As for Free Fire, Android OS version 4.0.3 and iOS version 8.0 or higher are recommended. 2GB of RAM is needed for this as well.
Thus, Free Fire is more suitable for lower-end devices while Battlegrounds requires a slightly more upgraded system to run smoothly.
Graphics
Battlegrounds India has far better quality than Free Fire. Designed on the Unreal Engine, Battlegrounds has almost computer-like graphics which are both very clean and realistic. Each frame is super vibrant and smooth. This is one of the main reasons the game requires an upgraded system to perform as compared with its rival.
As for Free Fire, in exchange for low-end system requirements, the game provides very minimalistic graphics. It’s not at all bad, but when it’s compared with Battlegrounds Mobile, it’s really bad. Since we are only comparing the raw graphics of the games, Battlegrounds Mobile wins the day.
Gameplay
While both games belong in the same battle royal Mobile genre, they vastly differ in actual gameplay. Players in both games jump in a deserted map from a plane, compete to find items, engage in gunplay and, the last person to survive wins. Free Fire has more dynamic gameplay which includes special abilities of player characters with pets that can be used to gain an advantage on the opponents. Battlegrounds Mobile India incorporates the same PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds gameplay which has a more realistic approach along with the real-life-like feel of the battle royale experience.
To start with, Battlegrounds allows 100 players to be in a single game. The maps are huge where players can choose to start passive, collect and upgrade items and gradually make their way to the top or rush at opponents from the very start with whatever item they initially get by doing a ‘hot drop’. As for Free Fire, the player limitation is up to 50. The maps are comparatively much smaller. Players always have to start hot drops and the parts on the maps with maximum loot are much smaller with dense buildings. This brings us to the actual time of each game. Battleground Mobile matches extend to a minimum of 30 minutes while Free Fire matches are completed within 15 to 20 minutes.
The control layouts of both games also hugely differ. In Free Fire, the minimap or radar is positioned in the top-left corner of the screen. It cannot be customized or relocated. As a result, it emits the possibility of playing with three or four-finger claw settings, which is proven to aid gamers in gaining more control over their character. While, in Battlegrounds Mobile, the minimap or radar is on the top right corner as well as every option is fully customizable. Players have upgraded from their normal gaming settings to four-finger claw settings which improved their control of the character. One of the main drawbacks of the Free Fire controls is the unavailability of the gyroscope feature. This feature reads the movements of the device and moves the character accordingly. It is mainly useful in recoil control of automatic rifle guns. Battlegrounds Mobile has this feature and allows players to get comfortable spraying full automatic rifle guns and mowing down their enemies.
Skins and Characters
Garena Free Fire has been promoting different character skins from the very start. With new events, they release character sets that include skins of different characters, and players can buy and equip them. Instead of full character skin sets, Battlegrounds Mobile has skins for specific items or clothing. So players have different skins on the same base character. Both these approaches suit their respectable gameplays. In Free Fire, players can be as visually appealing as they want since the gunplay is pretty straightforward. However, things are not so simple for Battlegrounds Mobile. It’s quite easy to locate and kill someone with vibrant skins lurking in the grasses.
As one can see from the comparisons above, Battlegrounds Mobile has more dynamic and realistic gameplay with advanced controls but is suitable for more upgraded systems. Free Fire offers more straightforward gunplay with some key abilities which the former is missing and can be played in low-end systems.
Also Read: Esports – A Growing Industry in India.
This was our take in these two games. Let us know your thoughts in the comments below. Keep following redjacket.gg for gaming content. Keep gaming.
