Epic game has made quite a bold move by releasing a Battle Royale mode for their game Fortnite. There is no way to do a review about Fortnite: Battle Royale without mentioning Playersunknown's Battleground because the two games are based on the same concept.
There is no denying that Playerunknown's Battleground has made quite an impact. Millions of players log in daily to play the game that is still in Beta. The game is popular because of the simple but yet addictive "Battle Royale" concept. For those who are not familiar with the movie, the game is basically a shooter with a last man standing mode. You are dropped on an island with another 99 players and you have to scavenge, survive and kill other players until only 1 is left standing.
To make things even more exciting there is a circle surrounding the battlefield. As time progresses this area becomes smaller which leads to intense situations.
At time of writing more than 1 million people are playing the game (source).
One of the most popular games at the moment based on the Battle Royale movie. Check out the original Japanese version of Battle Royale if you haven't seen it yet.
The game is only available on PC and an Xbox version has been announced so that leaves only the Playstation owners without their version of the game. Epic Games seized the opportunity and added a "Battle Royale" mode to their game Fortnite for Playstation.
You can argue that Fortnite's Battle Royale "borrows" some of the ideas of PUBG or that it pays homage but the truth is that the game is almost identical (in terms of concept) to PUBG.
In the third person shooter you are dropped from a flying bus called the Battle bus (nice one Epic Games!) on an island with nothing more than an pickaxe. You are forced to scavenge for weapons and other loot while trying not to get killed by any of the other 99 players. There is a storm surrounding the battle field that closes in as time goes by. The winner is the last man standing.
Glide to some loot as fast as you can after exiting the battle bus, chances are that you will need a weapon shortly after landing in popular areas.
There are some differences between PUBG and Battle Royale. The first thing you will notice is that Battle Royale is cartoony, very reminiscent of Team Fortress 2. The whole vibe is less serious than PUBG, for example with Battle Royale you have the ability to built things like bridges, stairs or walls if you have gathered enough materials (hence the pickaxe) not unlike Minecraft.
PUBG is a real stealth and survive shooter while in Battle Royale you can bunnyhop through shootouts and heal yourself with potions.
The overall feel of Fortnite's Battle Royale is less realistic and stressful than PUBG but because of the Battle Royale feel it is still very exciting to play especially as the number of players who are alive goes down.
The gameplay is quite good, shooting feels solid and movement is fluid. The graphics are quite nice if you don't mind cartoony shooters. The cartoony look will trick you into believing that this is not a serious shooter but believe me, it can get quite intense.
As the player count dwindles the fighting will intensify
Fortnite: Battle Royale is a solid and very polished shooter. The most "novel" thing about it is the Battle Royale, Last man standing concept. Battle Royale owes its popularity from the fact that PUBG is not available on Playstation (yet?).
Don't mistake this as just a poor man's PUBG clone, although Epic Games could have been a little more subtle in their "borrowing" process.
Battle Royale is free to play and beside the fact that it is considered a PUBG rip-off, there is nothing that I found lacking. It's just fun, the cartoony feel and less serious mood actually add to the fun while playing.
Although hardcore PUBG fans will probably rage against this game, truth is that this game is pure fun. One could argue that Epic Games just took advantage of the situation and released their version of the Battle Royale concept before Bluehole (the company behind Playerunknown's Battleground) were able to.
Read more about: Playerunknown's Battleground | Fortnite |
