Fortnite: Impressions

Hiya TAY! I’ve been playing Fortnite over the past few days, and here is what I think about Epic’s battle royale so far.

If you haven’t heard of Fortnite, it’s a game in the same vein as PUBG albeit with some more cartoonish graphics. What’s more, there’s an emphasis on building which makes for some really interesting gameplay.

Want to get to the top of that mountain? build a ramp as you run along it. Someone shooting at you? Build a few walls for some cover. It’s pretty neat, really. Some players can put together a full blown fort, with multiple storeys in literally a few seconds! Something I haven’t quite mastered yet, it does seem to be quite essential in the end-game.

Going hand-in-hand with the building mechanic, pretty much everything except the ground can be destroyed for building materials, or a path of least resistance sometimes. Can’t find a door? Just make your own!

All this takes place from a 3rd person perspective. I have found the gunplay to be a little tricky to master, and I often get shot dead before I even see where I’m being shot from, much less return fire. It’s often better to put up a few walls for cover rather than attempt to return fire, something that you almost have to retrain your brain to do after years of Call of Duty and the like.

Aesthetically, the game is quite pleasing to the eye. Distinctive, even. Character animations are fluid, and the world itself is kindof brightly coloured and pleasant for a last-man-standing deathmatch.

The island arena is pretty big, with plenty of variation which makes for some interesting, and often tense, encounters. There is, naturally, a nice variety of weapons to choose from to suit different situations. Sniper rifles seem to be pretty OP, though. 

To walk you through an average game –

Every game starts out the same. Upon joining a game, you start out in a warm-up area where players generally dick around, dancing, jumping and shooting at each other (in this area characters are invulnerable) it’s all rather chaotic. You hear the battle bus starting at which point you’ll find yourself high above the island in said bus which is kept afloat by a large helium balloon.

The bus flies on a random trajectory across the island, giving players a window of 30 seconds or so to jump out and skydive towards wherever it is they want to go. Getting close enough to the ground deploys a glider so players can land with precision, usually on rooftops, where items are often found, thereafter proceeding to burrow through the roof into the building so as to scavenge some supplies.

The first several minutes will see a large portion of the players eliminated, and are often the most dangerous and chaotic times as everyone scrambles for the best weapons and survival. Larger towns tend to have better gear, which attracts more players, making them pretty intense and I have found it best to avoid these areas atleast until some natural selection takes place. Make it through this, and you probably have a good chance of making it to the endgame.

In this time, a storm will brew, and a ring will be cast randomly on the map. After a timer of say, 3 minutes lapses, the storm will close in. Players caught in the storm take DPS, ignoring any shield they have, and it’s a race against time to catch the storm. Every few minutes, another timer lapses, making the playable area smaller and smaller, basically driving any remaining players towards each other.

The endgame generally comes down to a handful of players, some there out of skill, some out of sheer luck, with varying levels of preparedness. A more experienced player will probably be holed up in a tower near where he/she thinks the storm is headed, keeping a sharp eye out for any other players who they will snipe without hesitation.

I haven’t won any games yet, and due to my less than great internet connection, I am likely not having the most optimal of experience. I have been enjoying myself, in spite of all this, and have made it into the top 10 several times in the 5 hours I’ve spent playing the game. 

The best thing about Fortnite – it’s FREE! As far as free games go, this one is remarkably polished and makes for some good entertainment. It’s pretty addicting, in fact. I wouldn’t hesitate to support this kind of game with some real-world money. However, it’s still in early access and seems to be getting updated continuously. I haven’t had the game very long, and I think I’ve had to update it 3 times already!

So, overall, I think it’s definitely worth a try – hell, it’s free! What are you waiting for? I’d love to hear about your experiences with the game, if you’ve tried it. As always, Thanks for reading!

Fortnite is available on PC, PS4, Xbox One and Mac.