Have you heard about Fortnite Battle Royale before? If not, then you’re missing out on something intense and spicy. People Can Fly and Epic Games served us an explosive cocktail last summer when Fortnite Battle Royal hit the market on July 25th. Since then, Fortnite has only grown in popularity and lit up the video game scene.
Fortnite is a 3rd person shooter that incorporates construction, survival and strategy elements. The game offers a free player versus player mode (PVP) also called Battle Royale and a player versus environment mode (PVE) that starts at $39.99. Fortnite is available on Mac, Windows, Xbox and PS4.
In the PVE mode, you are the savior of the world. A storm wiped out 98% of the population and only left hordes of zombies behind. Your goal is to survive and save the human race. Fortnite earned its reputation through the Battle Royale mode. In the Battle Royale mode, you’re dropped on an island with 99 other players and your only goal is to be the last survivor on that island. To survive, you will have to find weapons and ammunition, build forts at strategic locations and cooperate with friends if you choose to play in team.
Both modes are extremely thrilling at first. You are propelled in a chaotic world with nothing but a pickaxe. Defending your fort against hordes of zombies or fighting to be the last survivor on the island, Fortnite includes the construction dimension of Minecraft, the intense shooting action of Counter Strike and the survival thrill of Resident Evil. The game’s playability and mechanics are simple and the graphics are cartoonish. Fortnite is designed to be accessible to a wide audience. New players can easily handle the basics and have fun, while more experienced players can really compete and use the deepest resources of the game to stay entertained.
However, the game quickly becomes repetitive and boring. Especially the PVE mode as it features only two types of missions, survives or saves. The biggest weakness of the game when it comes to the Battle Royale mode is its pace. The beginning of every round is slow. The gathering/construction phase is usually long and not much is happening. You have to wait a while before getting involved in more intense situations. Also, as a single player, you will always lose to a team. So if you plan of on playing solo, don’t be upset if you don’t last long in the storm.
Now is Fortnite a solid free to play (F2P) game, yes definitely (Keep in mind that only the Battle Royale mode is free.) But is it comparable to franchises like Counter Strike or even Call of Duty, probably not. The real question is, can we expect a F2P game to be on the same level as a pay to play (P2P) game? Of course, the idea of playing a video for free is attractive, especially since the industry of the video has always been an expensive business. Players have to buy their platform and all the equipment needed for an isolated video game. You can’t play League of Legends or World of Warcraft if you don’t have a computer, a keyboard and a mouse. Similar to how you can’t play Call of Duty or Battlefield if you don’t have an Xbox or a Playstation and controllers. By releasing F2P games, developers are doing a favor to their audience.
However, are F2P games devaluating their P2P peers? The most played video game in the world right now, League of Legends, is a F2P game. That means that a F2P game definitely has the same or even more success than a P2P game, but does a F2P games can replace a P2P game? Probably not, P2P games are the foundation of video games. Franchises like Call of Duty, Battlefield, World of Warcraft, FIFA or even Assassin’s Creed are the pioneers. The experience provided by those games cannot be imitated by a F2P game.
The universes created by those franchises, the degree of immersion and reality cannot be matched. You feel like you’re living in World of Warcraft when you play it and you feel like you’re at war when you play Call of Duty or Battlefield. Most of the players are attached to those franchises. It is part of their culture. That’s why most video game consumers play both types of games. We also adapt our degree of expectations. We expect a lot from Call of Duty because we pay for it and the developers have the budget to amaze us.
Overall, Fortnite is a grenade of fun thrown at your face. It is a solid and entertaining game. Its free to play Battle Royale mode lives up to its reputation. However, both modes quickly lose their fun and entertaining dimension after a couple hours of game play due to the slow pace of the Battle Royale mode and the lack of content and challenge of the PVE mode.