[Impressions] Fortnite Battle Royale

Before starting the Impressions, let me just clarify that I'm going to tackle Fortnite Battle Royale as being completely separate from the rest of the Fortnite IP.

Fortnite Battle Royale is a completely free-to-play standalone game that you can download and start playing right off the bat.

I think it is important to address the elephant in the room: is this eerily similar to the famous PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds (PUBG)? Yes. Do I personally care? No. Fortnite's take on the battle royale genre is also a hundred-player mode where players are dropped on an island with only a hammer at their disposal, with the objective of being the last man standing at the end. As in PUBG, during the matches, the area of play tightens as time passes and players search the environment for any loot: weapons, ammo, healing items and crafting materials. The first three are what you imagine, but here's the twist in Fortnite: you can craft objects during gameplay, such as walls to block off entrances.

For the gameplay itself, it is all over the place. In the beginning, when there's still a high number of players alive there will be people dying left and right, even perhaps before you land yourself. But, as the numbers dwindle, the game becomes more tactical with the remaining players trying to outsmart each other and obtaining better loot, while at the same time taking the ever-tightening area of play into account.

For the gameplay, I'd say that's pretty much it, there's not much more, but I'd like to congratulate the developers for creating two matchmaking channels: Solo and Squad. While I played this game quite casually I'd say in the long run this will help the game a lot, both by making the game fairer for solo players, and also by allowing players to play with their friends. Another thing I've noticed is the support for the game, I'd see my console downloading new updates for the game every other day, which I think is crucial, given the reported large player base by other outlets.

All in all, I'd recommend to give this game a try. I never played PUBG and the battle royale genre doesn't really appeal to me, but I definitely enjoyed my time with Fortnite's take on the genre. Plus, it's completely free, it's a free-to-play game and there are no microtransactions involved (at least for the time being).

#fortnite #battleroyale #ps4 #freetoplay