We're mixing things up a little, here are the details! It's a round-based Slayer mode, which is made up of three rounds, each going to five kills. However, there are some nuances to be aware of. Let's break down the win conditions:
- When you win two rounds in a row, the game ends with you as the victor
- If you lose two rounds in a row, the game ends before things get too out of hand
- If both of you win a round, the series goes to a decisive third round
- It's important to note that by the end of this third and final round, you will need to make sure you have more kills than the opponent does for the entire match. For example after a Round 1 where you lose 0-5 and a Round 2 where you win 5-4, the enemy has 9 kills and you only have 5 kills in total. This means in Round 3, you'll need to account for total kills in the match, so winning 5-4 again won't cut it as you'd only have 10 total kills compared to their 13 total kills. After a Round 1 & 2 scoreline above, you'd need a 4-0 or 5-1 performance in Round 3 to tie or a 5-0 to win the entire match outright. It may be round-based, but this is still a Slayer game mode at its core – the player with the most kills at the end of the match wins.
To give a little more context as to why we took this approach, I asked our Sustain Designer behind the mode, Blaze, to provide a few sentences:
While 1v1 is certainly a niche crowd, my goal was to approach the mode in a way that is slightly more accessible, and in some cases, more tolerable for someone who wouldn't typically play a 1v1 but maintain the same excitement for those veterans who already do.
One way of doing this was to shorten the match times. That way when a player has a bad match, it’s over quickly and they can move onto a new opponent. Another was by adding rounds into the mix, which we hope will help in a couple areas.
- Resetting the playing field will allow new opportunities to obtain the power weapons and power positions
- Gives the players the chance to learn the map’s layout and the best starting strategies
