Why I enjoy Fortnite BR so much

Lately the game I have put the most hours into is Epic Games own entry in the Battle Royale Genre. Now, this game is probably the most hyped Battle Royale currently, and opinions on it differ strongly depending on who you are asking. In this blog I want to go over the reasons why I found this game to be more enjoyable than other titles in the genre currently.

Style and performance

Let's get some obvious things out of the way. The style is pretty cartoonish, which at first I feared would be distracting. Coming from PUBG it was quite a change of scenery, but one that I came to appreciate. It isn't heavy or too colorful on the eye, enemies are easy to distinguish in the distance, and it carries a certain charme to it that you wouldn't find in other Battle Royales.

The performance is great in this game. And it really has to. Free-to-Play titles thrive through the fact that anybody can pick it up. Which also should include people with weaker computer specs. Something that PUBG for example still struggles with. 

Gun Behavior

Ah yes, this is going to sound pretty casual but I adore it for it's simplicity. There is a 100% first-shot accuracy when standing still that makes for easy shots even if you are not good at aiming. There is no real recoil, instead there is the weapon bloom, meaning that shots land anywhere between the circle of your crosshair. This can be frustrating at times, but it was never so much to the point that I got too angry over it.

Snipers and shotguns feel good on their own, with the only exception in my opinion being the newest heavy-shotgun and the crossbow. The first not feeling "heavy" enough, both sound and animation wise, while the seconds projectiles are just ridiculously slow and even when hitting your target it just doesn't do enough damage to be worthwhile taking in my opinion.

The Building

One of Fortnites big selling points (well, if you can call it that when it's free) is the building system. By gathering materials (wood, stone, and metal) you can place walls, floors, stairs and roofs, which you can also edit. A wall can have a door, window, or be re-modelled to an archway. Stairs can be made slimmer, or become a spiral staircase and so on.

Now, when first playing you will probably forget about this some times but it is essential if you want become a better player. Being able to build means that you don't have to rely on natural cover. Just make your own! An enemy is far above on a mountain? Just build yourself up there. The possibilities are there, you just have to take them. It's not a mere tool for cover. You can use it offensively, to get a higher position, to stop an enemy from reaching you.

You don't need to win to have fun

Okay, okay. This is a thing that goes for all Battle Royale games, I know. It's just that Fortnite made me realize this again. When playing other Battle Royales I often felt like my deaths happened more and more because of dumb reasons. Bugs and glitches, hackers, my performance suddenly dropping by a huge chunk out of nowhere. These things just don't occure to me in this game.

One thing that also helps are way shorter travel distances. I hate to bring up PUBG here again, but the "new" desert map was nothing more than a chore for me when it came out. Having so much distance to travel when the zone was on the other side of the map and constantly having to worry just because of how open the map was at release made it no fun at all. Here the map is much more compact, and even if you have to walk long ways, you usually encounter somebody else on the way, have a jump pad to get there faster or you just don't have to fear that the zone will leech you dry of healing items until arrival.

The Cosmetics

This is something that is never a major point of interest of mine. Cosmetics are nice things to have, yet they just don't matter in a competitive game to be honest. On the other hand, this is a Free-to-play game that brings me a lot of joy, which is why I had decided to support the creators by making some purchases in the shop. And I honestly don't regret it. These skins are some of the nicest looking ones I have seen in a game so far. Which to me just shows that Epic isn't just slamming these skins onto the shop, hoping to make some quick cash.

The skins themselves usually only change the character in a major way when it comes to the epic or legendary rarity, but even those below have some neat ideas behind them. There are also event-skins already, which I wouldn't have expected so soon. Other than that, you can get new gliders and pickaxes, or even emotes. The first two being cheaper than their skin counterparts mostly, and usually not being as flashy as the skin itself (exceptions are there though, like the Party Animal Pickaxe). The emotes can be flashy as well, like the rocket rodeo, where your character rides on a holographic rocket!

Variety

Fortnite tries to keep the game intersting by rotating weapons and special game modes. Not too long ago there was a manually-guided rocket launcher in the game, whose place has now been taken by a LMG. Meanwhile, game modes are a bit more on the interesting side. They are there to provide some distraction from the typical way the game is played. Currently the 50v50 mode is in place, which, as the name suggests, is a mode with two teams consisting of 50 people each fighting against each other. Before that we had modes where you always found legendary loot, or where the only loot you could find consisted of snipers or explosives.

Another way they add variety to the game are with small features. Like the recent vending machines, offering you weapons or items for your materials. Or how about the port-a-fort, a grenade which on impact creates a small fort for your defense. Or the extremely versatile impulse bomb. This small thing has a ton of uses. Letting you bounce to an enemy base, driving enemies out of cover, saving you from a fall that would be the end of you. Just to name a few.

Some closing thoughts

Is Fortnite BR a completely innovative and special title in the genre? I would have to say no. Like a few YouTubers have pointed out, it is alright, it does what it needs to do. It functions well, creators listen to feedback and there is effort put into it. This is basically how any game should be. The game not being innovative or special is mainly because when broken down it is just a Battle Royale with cartoon graphics and building. But that shouldn't undermine your enjoyment with it. Heck, this whole blog could be seen as me just being a fanboy. 

The way I see it is just that sometimes the most simple things are the ones that make us happy and bring fun. A game does not need to have complex mechanics or stories to bring entertainment to its consumer, which Fortnite BR exemplifies. 

Anyways, I hope this wasn't a too boring of a read and I wish all of you a wonderful day!