Apex Legends is bringing back its 9v9 Control mode next week

Imagine a battle royale game, right, but instead of dropping into an arena with one life and no guns, you actually start with your loadout and can respawn as many times as you like while you fight over control points in 9v9 matches. Now stop imagining that, because it's exactly what you'll get to do when Control mode temporarily returns to Apex Legends next week as part of the Spellbound Collection Event. I think the idea's got legs.

The Spellbound Collection Event kicks off on January 10th, and includes "24 Legendary skins for Vantage, Seer, Mad Maggie, Mirage and more". If you unlock all of them you also get Seer’s new Heirloom, the “Showstoppers”. Heirlooms are like other cosmetics but super rare, and you normally have to painstakingly save up for them by gathering shards from Apex Packs. More details can be found on EA's update page.

Getting to play Control mode again is the real reward. It sounds (and is) silly, but a more traditional multiplayer mode with respawns is a great place to stretch your apelegs. The 3v3 Arenas mode lets you get more practice in than a regular battle royale, but there's still a lot of waiting around. Constant fighting is the fastest path to improvement, and free, infinite respawns are the only route to that.

The second fastest path to improvement, of course, is reading Ollie's exemplary guides, from the best weapons in Apex Legends to the best characters in Apex Legends.

Apex Legends remains excellent. You can download it for free on Steam.