Unfinished: Fortnite - Battle Royale (01/14/2018)

@opusofthemagnum: Have you played both games?

This is like debating the fact you have to press a key to enter a menu and buy a gun, ala Counter-Strike. Counter-Strike made that specific feature popular. It existed before, nobody is freaking out.

PUBG is bringing nothing new to the table. The waiting area is the same in other Battle Royale games that have come before it.

On top of being a derivative clone of H1Z1, it is incredibly unstable on EVERY platform it has eveer been released on. To make things worse, it costs money.

So, again, say what you will of Fortnite, the game costs NOTHING. It's free. As far as i'm concerned, that gives Epic some leeway.

Also, the game is fantastic.

A lot of strong opinions about Fortnite in here lol. It's a decent experience, it's free, and it's evolving way faster than pubg has. Ultimately, I feel like I personally lean more towards pubg, but both games definitely have room to improve. I'm excited to see what other takes on the mode come out.

@clockwork_saint: entirely wrong, ignorant comment. The whole "its for kids cuz of graphics style" thing ended years ago, or so I thought. Also, looking at anyone who actually cares about being competitive, fortnite is far more so than PUBG is. Having 'realistic balistics' and vehicles doesn't have anything to do whatsoever with "skill". Having played like 500 hours of PUBG and maybe now 60/70 hours of this, PUBG is a far easier game to do well in for bad players, 100%.

Ya'll should try 50v50 mode (if it's still there) considering that's the only real interesting, unique spin Fortnite takes on the BR mode.

Jeez the hate for this game in this comments section is insane.

I've put dozens of hours into this game on PS4 with a rotating group of a dozen or so friends pretty much every night. PCs that can run PUBG aren't really in the budget for any of us, and we have a great time with this every time we play. The updates have been far more substantial (and are more frequent) than the PUBG changes in the past year, IMO.

I get that PUBG is the OG but Fortnite is a pretty damn fun alternative

Fortnite is like the OBS program for streaming. It's better than Xsplit and it's free. But some people insist on paying for the inferior streaming program, just like some people insist on paying for PUBG, when the superior battle royal game is free and open to everyone.

@bigbosslebowski: The core issue would be that Fortnite Battle Royale is a copy-paste of PUBG. Even tough i'm not a huge fan of neither PUBG or Battle Royale, i think it is important to recognize that the Battle Royale gameplay mechanic is gaining popularity, much like Dota-style did a few years back.

I believe Epic is doing enough things to differentiate itself from the likes of PUBG to have earned it's place alonside the other games of it's type.

I think the main difference between PUBG and Fortnite is that Fortnite actaully feels like a game rather than something that still feels like a MOD post release. Anyone who says PUBG plays well is a damn liar and drinking the tap.

Saying Fortnite requires less skill isnt really an argument when the endgame of every match of PUBG boils down to who can prone in a bush/behind a hill longer than the other.

edit

also, the fact that EPIC games has artists with a vision beyond "photorealistic dudes n gals running around uninspired photorealistic locations"... aka some random ARMA map makes it infinitely more appealing.

This comment section is a bit of a trashfire, huh? Between the negativity toward the game and the staff and the poor grammar/lack of basic punctuation.... Woof.

It's one of the dumbest threads on Giant Bomb in a good long while, that's for sure.

Honestly the whole conversation of whether or not this is a "rip-off" of PUBG is pointless and inane. Yes it's true that there were Battle Royale modes prior to PUBG being released. It's also very likely that without PUBG's popularity, this mode in Fortnite would not exist. And it's also true that there's absolutely nothing wrong with one game borrowing and iterating on the gameplay of some other game.

I mean, I don't know Fortnite from a hole in the ground, but all I see is one game taking inspiration from another, which is something that every single video game does. Where's the scandal? Unless this is just the modern equivalent of a console war, in which case this thread is even more stupid than I thought.

You folks are causing me literal head pains by misusing the word "racist" when talking about PC versus Consoles.

And here I am thinking this game looks like Wildstar.

These style games aren’t about how smart you are. It’s just getting lucky. Like being dealt 5 aces in poker.

I think PUBG added plenty with it's shorter rounds, the removal of crafting, arma-esque gun mechanics, abundant vehicles and higher player count than some of the previous attempts. And while Bluehole is not a tiny indie dev, it's a company with almost no market power in North America and yet it's probably one of the most popular games out right now in that region. And it was all led by an enthusiastic Arma-modder.

Epic has a long list of IP and had spent years developing Fortnite, to little fanfare, and now is taking something it couldn't build itself to try and grab the spotlight.

Yeah, the crafting seems like a neat addition, but I'm not keen on trying this or PUBG. This is free though, so maybe I'll give it a whirl.

Now, if the new Mount and Blade gets a Battle Royale mode, I'll be allllllll over it. Played so much of that Warband multiplayer.

Fuck archers forever.

To say that this game is a PUBG ripoff is ignorance. If anything it's a "The Condemned" mixed with "Vanilla Ice Remodels House on HGTV" ripoff.

Look, I met Vanilla Ice and threatened him with an ass beating one time. You have to understand we were at Planet Hollywood in Vegas and he was break dancing behind me and Matt Predmore and he kept kick dancing inbetween us. So I grabbed Ice's leg, and I said, "Kick me and I'll beat the shit out of you!"

Vanilla Ice threw up a wooden structure, we all started shooting phaser guns and shit got real. I built my house out of stone, he built his out of wood. After a few pew pew's from Predmore, Ice's structure fell. Ice took fall damage but sent up a flare.

About that time Stone Cold came out and did a stunner on Predmore and I was doomed. Shit got wayyyyyy out of hand as we were both pointing stupid phaser guns at each other saying, "I dare you!"

afterwards we both realized that getting upset over a video game website just isn't feasible. And if you do, don't get upset, just voice your opinion. You don't need to be a dick. Good work.

B-dubz, about 65% of this story is true.

except realistic bullet physics, realistic gun sounds and mechanics. only people complaining about pubg just suck at pubg.

@pause: No one's disagreeing with you but PUBG has entered the common lexicon so it's now the de facto name for these types of games.

And being F2P.

I enjoyed this QL a lot. Dan got a little caught up in explaining mechanics mid-match, might've been better to do the solo game first. But it was a fun time. I don't think it's for me, I still don't really want a single-life MP game, but a bunch of my friends have gotten into this and I can see why.

@danryckert If you aim at those blue circles when you're mining it'll break the thing down faster, they're like randomly-generated weak points. That's come over from core Fortnite.

GOTY was only a couple weeks ago though.

@elite49: Hah, fair enough, I stand corrected.

I don't mean to be that guy but could we watch the GOTY spoiliers :(

It takes some of us little more time to get through 15 hours of podcast and I am like 80% of the way through the last one....

Yeah, I played it with my kids once and it's fine I guess.

I just couldn't believe how much of an exact copy it is, like EXACT. It just feels weird playing it, knowing they're being scumbags. I can't get down with this game and their lame business practices.

It will be interesting to see how it looks after they overhaul the combat. The shooting just looks incredibly unappealing. That's really not surprising though. They have PvE combat that's been applied to PvP. It's probably fine for original fortnite, but it looks bad in this mode.

I have 300 hours in PUBG. I have like 5 in this game, but it's actually not the game's fault. If you're a more casual player, Fortnite is a fantastic game for you. I do not mean that in an insulting way, and it certainly can be difficult and punishing at times, but the game play is simpler, the movement is simpler, the crafting is fast and easy, and the shooting is much simpler. Despite the fact that it is a pretty blatant PUBG ripoff, and kind of gross in the way they made it, it's a decently designed game. I stopped playing PUBG because I'm tired of how laggy, clunky, and buggy it is, and I won't be returning for a while, but Fortnite seems like a game I might play a couple of matches in every now and then. It's just silly fun. And free.

I just don't think PUBG but with X mechanic is the right way to go. The ArmA mods, H1Z1, and games like the Culling all had similar setups but the extra mechanics bogged the game down for new players. Maybe some developer will figure out an important mechanic that's missing but so far it seems like taking mechanics away from the formula was the key in making PUBG the success it is today.

Falling Damage would be a good name for a band

I’ve seen this played before and the QL pushed me over the edge to download it and give it a try. Downloaded yesterday, fired it up about 6 minutes ago for the first time...and I’ve been sitting on a blue “Logging In” screen that appears to be counting down from 15:30 minutes to when I’ll get in or kicked out. Fantastic experience so far.

Edit: it was a countdown and I was given a “Log in with your Epic Account” screen. I did, and now I’m in another log in queue with another 18:30 wait. I’m starting to suspect this isn’t going to be worth it.

Edit 2: the 18:30 ticker finished. A new 4:30 timer started. It completed and told me my user name and password were incorrect. Hitting “Try Again” pit me in a 6:30 queue. I don’t know if that was trying my incorrect credentials or was a 6 minute wait to enter my username and password again because I finally wised up and quit. Maybe I’ll try again someday? But that was a terrible, terrible experience.

@pause: But what popularized the mode in the mass culture?

Anyway this doesn't look like it's for me, but a less tense, better looking pubg would be nice.

wonder where u were when all the kart racing clones came out

Why less tense if I may ask? Seems to be basically the biggest draw of the entire game from what I've heard and seen (haven't played it myself).

Dan saying "P versus E" instead of "PvE" is a bit weird.

Does Dan talk about how you can't play this on PS4 and Xbox One with the same Epic account?

Edit: Nope. They didn't mention that, but it's a glaring issue with the way Epic accounts are set-up primarily for PS4/PC Cross Play even when it's not necessary to just let somebody use the same account for the same game on multiple platforms.

pee versus eee. also, 'pubg looks like a mod' ? what does that even mean? and 'it looks like where it comes from'??

also also, there are a number of "pubg clones", some before pubg was ever a thing :p

you haven't been an xbox guy since the 360 era? like, the previous era?

interesting comment about being good at shooting, because i (and my partner) enjoyed pubg because (up to a point) you don't need to be good at shooting to do well. my partner was able to enjoy it and stick with it because we could have fun and do well without needing to be good at shooting at all.

@jwat: yeah this was hard to watch, not because they didn't get a win but because they acted like they've never played a video game before. Abby killing Dan, Dan not even noticing someone walking right in front of him, Dan not realizing he didn't even land close to where he picked out. Them not noticing blatant HUD info.

These guys are game journalists, this is their living, i don't expect them to win or even get a top 10 but i expect them to act like they know how video games work in general.

And on a side note, this game seems meh, very dumbed down and arcadey. Its like this is elementary school in a clean rich suburbia area whereas PUBG is high school on the bad side of town lol

They play this game the way I did when I just started. After a hour I was better than this.

I don't care much for this game, especially after I watched someone get to the end game. Everyone just hides in big towers.

It looks like ARMA and it plays a lot like a military simulator. It's busted and unpolished in all the ways you would expect from a mod.

Nice to know I wasn't the only one who thought that.

I see some people saying this is a casual PUBG, but after playing a shit ton of both I would say this game has a higher skill ceiling due to the building mechanics. It is completely nuts the things you can do in this game, quckly building towers, and gaining the height advantage. Also the game plays infinitely better which is a huge deal to me in any shooter. I have been very impressed overall.

It's gonna be a looong couple of years for people angry about companies copying Pubg.

Don't waste your energy shouting into the wind.

My god this game is so damn good. The building/destruction adds a massive layer of strategy that PUBG will never have.

@schindigg: I mean have you watched any of the Murder Island videos?

@vedicardi: Or DOOM clones, GTA clones, MOBA clones etc etc.

@schindigg: I don't want to riff on Abby too hard because playing games for a camera while talking is hard but "The dude who killed you the dark knight.. is behind you" at a time when "behind you" is by far and away the most pertinent information is kind of a really funny frustrating thing to say.

@cxeq: Why would you post a comment like that?

@pause: its like when people say "Batman combat" when Prince of Persia was doing that exact same combat for like 4 games before Arkham Asylum.

People are really aggro about "protecting" PUBG. This is like getting upset if someone else included a team deathmatch mode or something similar to any other shooter.

madmatt213 Because she spent plenty of time in the GotY podcasts talking about how she disliked PUBG and really didn't have any fun with that style of game.

Congrats on posting the same comment people have been posting for the past ten years.

@clockwork_saint: and all of the other commenters here talking shit they absolutely don't know fuck all about.

The guy who made PUBG was also the original modder for ARMA aka the 'Battle Royale' mode. (I'm pretty sure he was not the inventor of 100 player deathmatch with a circle shrink) They were paying royalties TO EPIC GAMES for almost the entirety of PUBG development.

Yes this is the same mode but anyone comparing the two and saying Fortnite is a copy are just clueless idiots, the game is fundamentally the same but plays entirely different, the building and destruction mechanics are fucking awesome and create a unique gaming experience. Plus the devs are always adding more content and I really think this game has strong potential.

I just hope when the game officially releases they have cool free skins and the paid skins are cheaper.