Since 2015, Battle Royales have steadily become one of the most popular sub-genres of the FPS scene. Following modded servers on games like Rust and ARMA 2, 2015’s H1Z1 really kicked off the craze. Then came the wildly successful PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, and then, the big three. Fortnite, Apex Legends, and Warzone. With each game dominating their slice of the BR pie for nearly a decade now, it’s easy to see why players are getting bored with the genre, particularly following the lukewarm reception of Splitgate 2‘s new Battle Royale mode.Which is why, in a way, writing this article makes me slightly bitter. I’m a lifelong FPS sicko, and I’ve played and enjoyed more Battle Royale games than I can possibly remember. Some are, admittedly, duds from the start, but others are genuinely great games. And yet, their player numbers continue to dwindle, some even outright nonexistent, all the while players echo the sentiment of a tired, overstaying genre.So, anyway, here are some great Battle Royale games that you’ve been ignoring:Battle royale + MOBA = ‘SUPERVIVE’Screenshot: Theorycraft GamesI love a good curveball, so it’s only fitting that we start with the biggest departure from the “typical Battle Royale” as possible. SUPERVIVE isn’t even an FPS game – instead, it’s a marriage of several genres that somehow works wonderfully. Take the leveling, creep farming, and map control aspects of League of Legends. Then, take the hero-centric brawling aspects of Battlerite. Put ’em in a blender and make it a Battle Royale. That’s SUPERVIVE.Games start how you’d expect. Teams of three drop into a large map with scattered points of interest. If you’re not immediately fighting other players, your team seeks out creep camps similar to a MOBA’s jungle mobs to gain experience. As you level up, you choose which of your hero’s skills gets stronger. As you defeat other players, you’ll earn shards, which allow you to obtain stat-boosting gear.SUPERVIVE started on a really strong foot for an indie studio’s debut game. On its initial early access release, player numbers peaked at nearly 50,000. Since then, they’ve dwindled down to an average of 1,000 per day. It’s a free-to-play game, and you’ve got to earn each hero to play (though the speed at which you earn is pretty generous), which may contribute to its shortage of players. Regardless, Theorycraft Games continues to pump out new heroes to play and events to participate in. A parody game like ‘Totally Accurate Battlegrounds’ has no business being this goodScreenshot: Landfall GamesLandfall Games are a silly bunch, known for making silly games that, despite being parodies in nature, still slap. After releasing Totally Accurate Battle Simulator, a wacky, physics-based parody on the large-scale battle sim genre, they gave us TABG, or Totally Accurate Battlegrounds.Funny enough, what was meant as a parody of the Battle Royale genre turned out to be one of the funniest and most entertaining in years. Totally Accurate Battlegrounds plays a lot like PUBG; you’ll drop on a random location, scurry around for weapons and gear, and get to fragging. Unlike PUBG‘s more realistic take, though, TABG‘s wacky and exaggerated physics make this an unhinged moshpit of flailing arms and tumbling bodies. Weapon recoil is especially exaggerated, such as when firing a .50-cal sniper that blasts its user backwards.Throughout the game, players can pick up various “blessings,” giving them special abilities like healing, faster movement speed, or magic spells. The overtuned ragdoll physics means players can squish their bodies into unreasonably tight spaces, like small gaps between buildings and tiny open windows. There’s also no fall damage and an abundance of verticality, making TABG play a lot like an arcadey arena shooter in some aspects.It’s a hell of a good time. And seeing that it still retains around 250 to 300 daily players despite its age? That’s impressive.Enjoy the taste of blood? ‘Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodhunt’ will satiate youScreenshot: Sharkmob ABIf you’re a fan of tiered weapons and hero-centric abilities, but need something that speaks to your cold, black heart, I can’t recommend Vampire: The Masquerade: Bloodhunt enough. Based on the titular tabletop RPG, Bloodhunt sends players through the dark streets of Prague. Before each match, you’ll choose a vampire from a selection of “clans” as your character, each offering differing perks and abilities to bring to the table.Between guns, melee weapons, and vampiric powers, you’ll battle against rival vampire gangs, hopping along rooftops and throughout the damp streets. NPC military entities will patrol the streets, hunting vampires in select locations. While civilians, on the other hand, will scurry away at the first sight of trouble. In-game humans all have particular types of blood that, when consumed, will heal you and reward you with permanent buffs for the match.Gunplay is fantastic in Bloodhunt, but what really sticks out is the ultra-fluid movement. You’re a vampire, after all, so scaling up the walls of a skyscraper ain’t a problem for you. I mentioned how TABG has an abundance of verticality, but Bloodhunt takes it to a whole new level. No fall damage in this game, either, so jumping off five-story buildings to chase your prey is perfectly acceptable here.Bloodhunt once peaked at almost 30,000 players, but has since dropped to around 400 to 500 per day. A year after its official release in 2022, developer Sharkmob announced that it would cease development on the game. However, as of today, official servers are still up, and Bloodhunt still has a pulse.Pour one out for ‘Darwin Project’ – Battle Royale’s greatest hitScreenshot: Scavengers StudioThis one’s more of an honorable mention, because Darwin Project, unfortunately, is effectively dead. Sure, you can still play it, but it averages less than 10 players per day, which isn’t even enough to fill its 10-player lobbies. Darwin Project had a rocky start, between mismanaging its monetization structures and game direction, ultimately leading to its downfall. And it’s a damn shame, too. Because in its prime, Darwin Project was absolutely the best Battle Royale I’d ever played.While other Battle Royales were sporting 100-player lobbies, tons of firearms, and humongous maps, Darwin Project did things a little differently. The snow-covered map was smaller, and lobbies consisted of only 10 participants, plus one extra guest. All combatants had the same two weapons: a bow and arrow, and an axe. Players would spawn in one of seven tiles and scrounge for materials by chopping trees and rummaging through piles of leather. Once gathered, players could use the materials to craft more arrows, a stronger axe, or upgraded clothing to survive the cold.In a way, Darwin Project was a mixture of small-scale Battle Royale and a survival/crafting game. You need wood for arrows, but also to make fires to replenish your heat gauge. You need leather for added warmth, but also for better shoes to help mask your footprints in the snow. And you need animals for meat to replenish your health.And then there’s the Director.That extra guest I mentioned? That’s the eleventh player, who assumes the role of the Show Director. A flying orbital drone, the Director serves as a sort of host for each match. Able to zoom around and spectate players, speak to them, and spice up each match in a variety of ways. If the Director wishes, they can close a zone entirely, forcing players to migrate to specific areas. Or, they can temporarily enable low gravity, wall hacks for all players, or other wacky effects.Darwin Project even had Twitch chat interactivity, where Show Directors could stream matches and allow viewers to vote on specific effects that would impact their match. It was the ultimate spectator BR, equally as fun to watch as it was to play. It pushed for innovation in the scene and had its own unique identity that no other Battle Royale has come close to. Darwin Project was short lived, but damn, do I miss it everyday.The post Battle Royale Games You Should Be Playing if You’re Tired of Battle Royales appeared first on VICE.