Introduction:
Fortnite is a game I've been hearing a lot about in the last year, but I knew very little about it. It showed up on the Nintendo Switch's eShop, so I checked it out, and after some research, found out that what was on the Switch wasn't the actual Fortnite, but Fortnite Battle Royale. Now, this review is about Fortnite Battle Royale as it's own entity. It isn't about the PvE elements of the actual Fortnite, nor is there going to be some comparison with a certain other game I won't mention. I will be judging what exists on Fortnite Battle Royale as of this writing, so here we go.
How it Looks:
Okay, let's get this out of the way: Fortnite's art style is gorgeous. It looks really good, but that's a bit of a downfall. It's a very beautiful game that you see again and again and again and again. At no point does the game shows anything that stands out as unique, as far as I've been aware in the time that I've played it. The characters in the game, or outfits as the game itself calls them, are pretty awesome, with both genders being represented well. However, there's far too many similar characters, to the point that I can't tell some of them apart. Maybe that's just the fact that I'm not used to the characters, but regardless. The game relies on aesthetic items for it's variety, providing a large amount of them, either by achieving Tiers or by buying them from the store. Now, just as you expect from these items, they do absolutely nothing, and are just there to look pretty, or as a sort of trophy: 'Look, I have Omega, which means I'm so cool'. Unfortunately, unlike repetitive games like Minecraft, Fortnite has no aesthetic changes to the environment, which ends up becoming boring really, REALLY fast. Sure, it looks pretty, but who loses their breath when they see the Mona Lisa anymore?
How it Sounds:
Fortnite sounds good. There's really not much else to say about it. The sounds are good. Nothing too fancy or over-the-top or special, just good old multiplayer auditory goodness.
How it Plays:
Fortnite's most important aspect is it's gameplay and it's where it shines and fails, at the same time. First off, there's only one game mode disguised as different ones. There's Solo, where you jump into a cage match against ninety-nine other individuals. There's Duos, where you and a buddy jump into a cage match against forty nine other Duos. And then there's Squads, where you and three other buddies can jump into a cage match against twenty four other Squads. The same thing, different name. Once in the game, the way that the system works is fairly simple: You jump down into the arena (The same one map) and end up shooting it out with others. Or, if you're smart, you wait until the other side of the map and jump into a next-to-empty area full of loot. Like all other MMOs, this one has a system, and once you figure it out, you will get bored very fast. Example: I joined Fortnite a few days after it came out on the Switch. Before my first week was done, I already had several solo wins and every Challenge done. Unfortunately, the map becoming smaller due to the storm doesn't do anything to punish you for sneaking around and letting others kill each other, then swooping in to take the win, a strategy that works far too well. Not only that, the equipment feels scarce and repetitive. You'll come across the same exact weapon almost ten times in a match, if you search around long enough, and most of the time, you won't even care. And then there's the in-game purchases. Now, I must say, I've become a victim of this. I actually bought a few things, the Battle Pass included. But, for a game that has so little actual game, this game has an overabundance of purchasable items. Worse off, none of it actually changes the gameplay, just how it looks. A single snap of the fingers can cost 200 V-Bucks, which is about two bucks. But an Outfit can cost as little as 1,200 V-Bucks, or twelve bucks. Not only that, but the Battle Pass itself costs 950 V-Bucks, which is a grand nine bucks and a half. If you're not careful, your entire wallet will go on what amounts to filters. Don't get me wrong, some of these look great, but considering how little the game actually has, it feels more like a cash-grab than an integral part of the game's system. Since there's no trading of these items, no selling them forward, it makes the game look bad. Worse off, you only have three refunds. Three. If your child or friend bought the wrong thing, or something, and you don't want it, you're only able to refund it three times. It feels kinda shady, specially since these items are purely cosmetic in nature, and don't actually provide any benefits to the player.
How it Stories:
It has no story, as far as everyone knows. I've searched around to see if there's a story I've missed, but all I really got that was in some way resembling a story was a group of loading screen images that have a very little line of dialogue or something next to it. So, no story. No real lore. Just combat.
Verdict and Conclusion:
Unfortunately, although I love playing the game (Mostly because of the people I've met on there), I can't give this game high praise with a straight face. As it is right now, Fortnite is a laughable excuse for a game, with four of it's five menu tabs dedicated to cosmetic things that, unless you shed some real cash, will remain empty for a long time. It is sad, but I give Fortnite a strong 1 out of 5 stars, because of it's many unfortunate downfalls. If this game is incomplete is irrelevant, as it is already released and earning money. Nor does it have anything that informs the player that it is incomplete, therefore, what I've played has earned itself that 1 star.
No comments:
Post a Comment