Fortnite is an open-world survival game published July 27th, 2017. It features a variety of game-modes, however, it’s the multiplayer mode that everyone cares about. The multiplayer mode is essentially a huge 100-player free-for-all. Players drop from a bus in the sky and deploy a parachute right before they land. When they land, they have to search around the map for weapons and items to survive and kill each other, as being the last one standing means you win. As time passes, a storm comes in over the island and deals steady damage to those caught in it. There is a safe zone where they can avoid the storm, the safe zone gets smaller and smaller as the game progresses. This tightens up the playing area, forcing fights between players. When the storm reaches the edge of the safe zone, a new one is formed inside, and the timer until it moves again restarts. Soon, there will be two players left, and the one who gets the kill wins the game. The game, visually, is a breath of fresh air. Recently, games have had a grimy, realistic, look that got old quick. The new game COD: WW2 is set in the WWII era and understandably has this aesthetic. A strong competitor of Fortnite: BR, Player Unknown's Battlegrounds(PUBG), also has a strong sense of realism in its graphics and gameplay. Fortnite, on the other hand, displays bright colors and a wacky sense of realism that is different from the norm. There is no extreme violence, like blood or dead bodies, present. The developers say they took inspiration from Tim Burton and Walt Disney when designing their characters and map. The names of specific locations on the map are really silly as well, like Shifty Shafts and Moisty Mire. The character models you play as are a bit exaggerated, with females having large rear ends and males being perfectly muscular. The game also has different mechanics than other third or first-person shooters. For starters, it is possible to build walls with different materials you collect. The three materials are wood, stone, and metal. Materials can be found lying around, collected with the pickaxe by hitting trees and other objects, or taken from a killed player. With these, you can build structures, bases, and cover from incoming fire. There is also no way to fully prone, which discourages camping. When firing, with most weapons, there is no option to go into first-person nor aim down sights like other shooting games. Instead, there is a feature called “Bloom”, which means that there is a box in the middle of the screen where bullets are dispersed randomly. The rifles have the tightest hitbox, but at long range you could get unlucky with this system and miss your shots. This is a major complaint in the community because it adds an element of luck that allows less skilled players to luck out and beat better ones. Positive things aside, the game is not incredibly balanced. There are a few quirky weapons, items, and tactics that are either completely useless or way overpowered. For example, there was a tactic called the Double Pump, where players picked up two pump-action shotguns to eliminate the pump action in between shots by switching to the other Pump Action Shotgun after each shot. The way the game is supposed to work is that there are two shotguns that compete with each other: the Pump and the Tactical Shotgun. The Pump is slower but deals more damage. It only spawns in two rarities, uncommon and common. Meanwhile, the Tactical Shotgun is semi-automatic, deals less damage, and spawns in 3 rarities: uncommon, rare, and epic. The dealbreaker is damage and range. A full 100 shield and 100 health player will be killed by a clean headshot from any Pump Shotgun at a respectable range, and that is what makes it viable. The best tier Tactical Shotgun will deal 180 damage at best, not instantly killing the target, but its fire rate is what makes it viable. Using the Double Pump Tactic had no drawbacks other than one less slot and is basically an improved Tactical Shotgun. Items like the Chug Jug, which gives full health and shield after 15 seconds, make decision making harder and the game a lot less fun due to all these choices. Weapons like the minigun are fun but are literally beaten out by every single gun in terms of killing potential. Fortnite is an extremely fun game at its core with the potential to have a long lifespan. It appeals to most ages with little violence and moderate difficulty. The developers release new content every week and the micro-transactions available are all cosmetic only, meaning they only affect appearance and don’t provide any advantage or disadvantage. Though, it is clear the game-mode was created after the success of PUBG was made apparent. That’s why the Bloom mechanic exists but is unreliable. That is why, though the game is praised, it needs a bit more work to be truly remembered as a masterpiece. The game will fade into obscurity because there is no real heart put into the game. The game-play is wonky and the story to explain the main game is weak. Overall, it is an enjoyable game but not a memorable one. Stephen Reos
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