There is a popular joke in the Super Smash Bros. community in which players imagine themselves taking super smash bros ultimate go back to the year 1997 and show it to a player to get their reaction to your wild list. I imagine doing the same with Fortnite these days. Battle royale gameplay is completely different than it seemed in 2017. The differences between the two, while far more expansive than Super Smash Bros., are ironically what makes Fortnite it’s still just as relevant, and you can see it once again in its final season.
When someone talks about a game straying too far from what originally made it great, it’s usually in a negative context. You’ll often hear complaints like “that’s not why I fell in love with this series” directed against long-running franchises like Final Fantasy that are constantly being remodeled. We’ve seen it with God of War, the Mario Party series, and it’s a serious point of discussion with the Sonic the Hedgehog fanbase. However, Fortnite has taken what many would see as a bug and turned it into one of the main draws of battle royale.
The only constant is change
FortniteThe latest season of takes the shooter even further from its initial “battle royale with construction” gimmick. Instead of simply existing as a loving child among PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds and Minecraftthe current version of the game looks more like a fusion of jet set radio, sunset overdrive, unreal tournament, and other games.
last year saw Fortnite get rid of his building entirely for a moment to introduce a Zero-Build mode. That move convinced more players to give it a try and it was so popular that it soon became a permanent playlist. After that, more movement options were introduced, including a slide, a cloak, and a sprint. In the latest season, the momentum-based gameplay has been further expanded with rail buffing and a radical katana called the Kinetic Blade to mix things up even more. Being able to do all of that with the new resident evil 4 Leon Kennedy’s skin is just perfect.
In the time I’ve played with this new update, I’ve completely fallen in love with all the new ways I can mix movement options to disorient opponents, escape bad situations, and just pull off some cool stuff. I recently went through a city, jumped off a rail, used my kinetic blade to launch myself to the top of a building, quickly slid to the ground using that boost, and instantly killed a player with the new pump shotgun. Moments like that happen regularly throughout the game now.
Out of left field it feels good
Then there are Augments, which return from Chapter 1 of Season 4. These are additional higher level abilities that you gain over time as you play, sort of like unlocking hero abilities. Some of these add even more to my movement arsenal, like a teleport air dash. All this comes together to make Fortnite in the best “Smoovement Shooter” I’ve ever played.
All of these additions are things that I would never have imagined would happen. Fortnite years ago. In fact, I remember being skeptical of Zero-Build initially, due to it taking away the mechanics that made the game so unique. Right now, it’s the only mode I play in Battle Royale.
Day to day, Fortnite it’s growing and changing in ways that keep it the most relevant battle royale in the genre and one of the most talked about video games, period. From its two battle royale playlists to its competitive modes and metaverse-like casual playgrounds, there’s always something new to look forward to with this title.
At this point, I won’t be surprised when the game adopts a fighting gameplay similar to Street Fighter and somehow surprises us all once again with something completely abandoned.
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