PlayerUnkown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG) may be one of the biggest runaway successes of the video gaming industry in a very long time. Its deceptively simple, yet addicting battle-royale format has inspired an entire wave of copycats, clones, and homages, such as the lucrative (but not quite as good) Fortnite. Since its release, PUBG has featured but two maps: Erangel, a lush island located near Russia, and Miramar, an expanse of arid landscape in Mexico that overlooks the sea. Both maps are the same size (8 kilometers squared), yet they encourage completely different play styles, as one map features a wealth of cover options and foliage while the other is rather sparse yet extremely vertical.
Earlier this year, the PUBG team announced a third map to come, nicknamed “Savage.” As an avid fan of the game, I awaited this new map with much anticipation, shrouded in mystery though it was. Over the week from May 9th to the 14th, however, not only was the name of the map released, but it was available to play on the PUBG Experimental Server here in the US!
The new PUBG map that we’ve all been awaiting is called Sanhok, and it is a small, tropical island located in Southeast Asia. A few things about Sanhok are sure to have caught your eye right from the start. Not only is Sanhok even more lush than its two sister maps, but it is also half the size! That’s right, Sanhok fits the same 100 players per round, but only in a 4-kilometer-squared space. On top of that, Sanhok is way more dense than the other two maps, both in terms of foliage and building placement. Villages and towns are plentiful with little space in between them, and an ample supply of rocks and trees offers places to hide out while you’re on the move.
Naturally, this means that the combat in Sanhok is much more fast-paced than the combat in the first two maps. First off, since Sanhoks’ surface area is so much smaller and the buildings are more bunched together, it’s virtually impossible to drop down into a place where no one else is, thrusting you into some quick action a lot sooner than either of the other maps typically will. To its credit, the arid and open Miramar is no picnic in the early game either, but Sanhok takes things to much greater heights. Gone are the days when my friends and I would drop into the schoolhouse in Erangel or the busted wrestling ring in Miramar for some quick action; now we have Sahhok, a condensed map devoted entirely to duking it out with your enemies in high-octane bursts of action.
Not only is PUBG‘s new map Sanhok smaller and more condensed than its predecessors, but its rules work slightly differently, as well. The first, most noticeable change is that assault rifle drops are way more common, meaning that you’ll probably be picking one of those bad boys up within the first few seconds of gameplay. I know that we’re just talking about the Experimental Server, meaning that future changes are sure to come, but as it stands it’s like death by assault rifle over here. Literally. Remember when everyone had a million assault rifles in PUBG all the time before they lowered the spawn rate? Yeah, it’s a lot like that, but even worse.
On top of all that, the circles even work differently. In Erangel and Miramar, each circle has a timer of about two minutes before it starts shrinking to its new state, chasing players into a tighter and tighter zone to encourage combat. Sanhok, on the other hand, only waits for a matter of seconds–less than a minute– before it starts pushing players into a new zone. However, the circle doesn’t move nearly as fast as it used to, shrinking just slightly slower than a player can sprint at top speed. This deceptively simple combination makes it feel as if the circle is always moving, making Sanhok a fast-paced experience all the way through. From my experience, a full game in Sanhok will last just under 20 minutes, whereas the other maps’ runtimes can go over that by quite a bit.
So what about the more cosmetic changes? I personally really like the way Sanhok looks. The buildings are really cool with that Southeast Asian flair, the ground is way more lush with plenty of grass, trees, and rocks to hide among, and, well, things just look good. A lot of new building types have been introduced here, as Sanhok utilizes almost none (if any at all) of the old buildings from Erangel or Miramar. On top of that, some of the huts scattered about don’t even have windows, adding to the strategic element of the game where you have to decide whether to open a door or create a racket by hopping through a window.
And there we have it. Due for a release in the next few months, Sanhok is the latest and most exciting addition to PUBG’s roster of levels. This level is tight and encourages a fast-paced gaming style, perfect for those players who just want to get in a little bit of action.
