
Battle royale in Tokyo with Knives Out’s new map
It sounds exciting, but Knives Out’s version of Tokyo is poor
Tired of hiding behind bushes, crouching under rocks, scampering across wheat fields for what seems like eternity in PUBG?
You might want to try NetEase’s smarpthone battle royale game Knives Out, which just added a new map that is a condensed version of Tokyo. The game has even just renamed itself Knives Out Tokyo Royale (though in fairness, it’s probably not permanent).
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So maybe a map of Tokyo makes sense given the game’s Japanese fans. And what better way to pay homage to the battle royale genre than to take the fighting back to Japan, the setting of the classic film Battle Royale?
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The 3D models in the map are very raw and unpolished. Even the 3D models in Google Earth feel more detailed than this.
In terms of gameplay, the map of Tokyo didn’t exactly enable us to do more in the game. Items and weapons remain pretty standard, and there are no extra interactive elements. I wanted to have a gunfight in a Japanese department store with pillow feathers swirling, but none of my Asian gangster movie fantasies were fulfilled in the game.
If anything, the map actually feels a bit too big. As we ran from building to building, we struggled more than usual to find enemies. There are way too many 4 or 5-storey-tall buildings in the map. We ended up just climbing a lot of stairs.

So maybe every so often if you become sick of the green Eastern European setting so common in PUBG clones, just remember that Knives Out has prepared a bleak, depressing-looking Tokyo for you to cleanse your palate.
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For more insights into China tech, sign up for our tech newsletters, subscribe to our Inside China Tech podcast, and download the comprehensive 2019 China Internet Report. Also roam China Tech City, an award-winning interactive digital map at our sister site Abacus.
