Apex Legends celebrates its second birthday by handing everyone an awful shotgun

It's been a good two years, Apex Legends. But eight seasons, two new maps and a dropship full of new heroes later, we can all agree that the Mozambique is still a comically terrible shotgun.

Which is why I adore that the wimpy firearm is taking centre-stage in this year's Anniversary Collection Event, running February 9th through 23rd. Headlining the festivities is a new "Locked & Loaded" limited-time mode. Replacing the standard mode, this new gametype kits everyone out with a full loadout of level-1 gear—white armour, syringes, shield cells, and a Mozambique kitted out with basic attachments. Basic is hip.

While you're free to pick up whatever you like after dropping (and should, considering all loot will be of blue rarity or above), it's nice to see the Moze get its 15 minutes of fame. Will it prove to be handy in those spicy first drops? Or is holding onto the naff shotgun a sucker's game?

As a collection event, the Apex Anniversary also comes with its own set of cosmetics. There are some garish gun charms to unlock on the event prize track, along with a suite of older legendary outfits re-coloured with a handsome red and gold palette. Instead of unlocking a specific heirloom for collecting everything, this time round you'll be handed enough heirloom shards to craft whichever one you fancy.

The event was preceded by a fascinating look back at the past two years of Apex Legends, with a separate blog post detailing the run-up to the game's release back in 2019. There's some incredible early shots of the game's roots in Titanfall 2, along with an animated time-lapse of the game's first map coming together. But it also nods to the game's future, suggesting that Respawn wants to look beyond the existing confines of a 60-player deathmatch.

"Since launch we’ve had eight season launches, over a dozen lore events paired with original video content and over a dozen major in-game events," Respawn write. "We’ve added two new maps, vehicles, eight new legends, and countless other limited-time game modes and improvements to the game.

"The game continues to grow. Later this year, we’ll launch new ways to play the game that take us beyond battle royale."