Fortnite

I was a bit late to the party that was Fortnite but with the release of Fortine Chapter 2, I thought that maybe it was time to try my hand at it and... I think I kind of love it.

Now let me state point blank that I am absolutely no expert on Battle Royal games. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve tried them all beginning with the old Battle Royal mode for Arma Three, but I never got the hang of things. Compared to other multiplayer games I used to play and love, like Quake Arena or Unreal Tournament, the controls on these Battle Royal games always seemed a bit off... always seemed to be against me. Plus, the overall aesthetics and animations seemed to lack the polish of those other, more straightforward, games. And then there were the players themselves that were always… well, a bit shitty towards noobs like me.

Since I felt like everything was against me my thoughts were “why bother spending hours upon hours trying to play a game mode that, while interesting, would never feel satisfying?”. Well, that all changed this year with the release of Apex Legends, a polished game, made by one of my favorite developers.

Now - I thought - Now, this is a real game. A game that was as responsive and polished as I wanted a shooter to be. But unfortunately, an old problem persisted. By not having the time to really dedicate myself, I quickly lacked behind the player base and to this day, every time I play it, I always feel that I’m THAT guy. You know, that guy that still doesn’t know how to play the game properly even being at a higher level than most and that still makes some awful and unforgivable rookie mistakes.

Enter Fortnite Chapter 2.

I’ll be honest: I went in having absolutely zero expectations. All I knew is that this was the sequel to a juggernaut of a game and that literally everyone plays this game, from 12-year-olds to old guys like me. So I was very much surprised to come upon a game with such depth and so well thought in terms of welcoming new players. Apex, you better take some notes because this is how it’s done.

After the first match I got the basics down, and I understood what’s expected of me in terms of movement, either offensive or defensive. I already knew that this game isn’t always about shooting things but also building things, and that made me a bit worried I wouldn’t be able to get it, but, truth be told, it’s pretty straight forward and even playing mostly an offensive game I found myself experimenting with building structures, mainly to improve my defensive game.

This is a game that does an excellent job of making you feel powerful enough at every point and when you screw up you’ll know exactly why and what to do next time in order to avoid it. Yes, I have encountered players that are clearly light years ahead of new players like me, but the game does a banger job of making us noobs feel like they can take even these Fortnite gods head-on. And the reality is that on most games I’ve cracked the top 10 just by being a bit careful and paying attention to my surroundings… and this is a confidence booster that makes me want to keep on playing game after game after game.

Truth be told, I don’t know how they’re doing that. Maybe there’s an internal tier system in play that keeps new players far away for the really good ones, maybe I’m playing mostly against bots (something I think Apex should really implement) or maybe it’s something else entirely. To be honest with you, I don’t really care. I came here to play and have fun and on those fronts this game delivers in spades.

The controls are very responsive, the aim is generous and quite forgiving, and the whole game clearly has been made with the objective of keeping the players engaged and always wanting to play just one more round. This is a formula that Epic nailed because I really can’t wait to have another go.

So, congrats Epic Games!

For all the shit you take, you really know how to make a freaking addictive and damn fine video game.