Players engaged in a firefight in one of the towns located on the map.
Photo courtesy of epicgames.com
Developed by People Can’t Fly and published by Epic Games, “Fortnite” was introduced this July across PC, Xbox and PlayStation platforms.
The Battle Royale feature in “Fortnite” was not included the day of its release. Instead the feature came out in September, where players had free access available on all gaming platforms. Before the Battle Royale aspect was included, the game only offered a sandbox—a survival campaign where players had to fight through hordes of enemies with materials.
Battle Royale is a video game genre that incorporates elements of survival, exploration, and scavenging while “the last man is standing.” Battle Royale based games have players scattered around in one virtual reality world where everyone starts with limited or no equipment. Players then have to search for weapons and armor while eliminating other opponents in the continuous shrinking safe area.
As the game continues, the safe area for players gets smaller. If the player is not able to make it into the safe area while it shrinks, they are eliminated.
These fundamentals that make up the Battle Royale genre are what make the game so intense and action packed. A player is constantly on the move in search for better weapons and armor, as he or she attempts to make it to the safe area. They also compete with other opponents to become the last player standing. This is also what makes the genre so competitive, as it is difficult to always be at the top.
Popular video game titles like “PlayerUnknown Battlegrounds,” “DayZ” and “H1Z1” have continued to create a massive appeal and interest within the Battle Royale genre over the past two to three years.
The “Fortnite” take on the genre is not entirely new and different. It incorporates the typical elements of a Battle Royale game mentioned above, but it does add some aspects of its own that make it stand out. The cartoony and colorful skin of Fortnite’s world looks vastly different to the more realistic and faded colors of other Battle Royale games. This may disinterest some people to play the game. The game’s Battle Royale option starts 100 players on a small-medium sized map compared to other games in the genre.
I judged the book from its cover and did not try out Fortnite’s Battle Royale when it initially came out. I thought the game looked cartoony and childish. However, I gave it a chance about a month ago.
Like in Fornite’s campaign, the Battle Royale option gives players the choice to mine materials in the map and build all sorts of objects like fortresses. This is only available to players if they have the necessary amount of materials. This adds so much versatility to the game, especially when a player is caught in a firefight.
With unlimited creativity and imagination, a player can add walls to cover from sniper fire and build ramps to get to higher ground against an enemy. This is the stand out feature of Fornite’s take on Battle Royale that will either entice players, or turn them away. It is definitely not for everyone, as building makes the game more complicated.
The only issue that has been bothering me and other players in the game are its gunfights, as they are very inconsistent. Gunfights are based on where a player points and shoots. The gun’s bullets are called randomly generated number (rng).
Players are most of the time on good rng. This makes gunfights inconsistent and lowers the ability to eliminate other players. The developers have noted on their website that gun balancing is a work in progress which is a good sign, as the game has continued to get updates out based on players feedback.
Overall, “Fornite” is another solid addition to the Battle Royale genre. It adds in new elements that have not been seen in the genre before and regardless of its issues, it is still an enjoyable, free and competitive experience.
Here is an example of building in use for a player to get higher ground advantage.
Photo courtesy of gadgetmatch.com
