A Fortnite PC Review: Base Building, Elements, and Content

When Fortnite first announced in 2011, some people have been riding on the hype train. Promising spectacular L4D-style zombie waves, Minecraft like base building, a DayZ survival feel, and an intricate skill-tree progression ripped straight from the most hardcore RPGs, Fortnite looks to be a mishmash of elements. The biggest question is this: does the game deliver? All right, let’s tackle this Fortnite PC Review.

Building and Elements

When you first start a match in Fortnite, you and three other players will get dropped abruptly at a random place on the generated map. The maps are well made even though each one is random. Locations and spawns make sense, and there’s an organic feel that makes you feel like you’re going to the right.

The beginning of the game is lengthy consisting of survival and gathering. Players have to scramble to pick up raw materials and fight off zombie stragglers. Fortnite is straightforward: grab mats and prepare for the incoming zombie onslaught. In this part of the game, it feels very DayZ or Minecraft. The game does a relatively good job, but it’s rather a shallow part that feels underdeveloped, somewhat.

Although the core mechanics of Fortnite is a Minecraft/L4D fusion, the starter levels for new folks won’t feel it as much. In fact, base building is completely out the window for the first ten hours of your Fortnite gaming. Still, you can shoot the crap out of zombies, win, and then move on to the next match. After things start to pick up and its core mechanics of base building truly shines. With intuitive controls and a workable base building interface, you can create any shape or form of fort that you desire. Whether rounded or polygonal, the options and opportunities for building are endless, as long as you have the materials to build.

When it comes to combat, Fortnite’s gunplay is polished. Shooting feels accurate with each weapon type having a proper feel of how it’s supposed to work. The only real problem with combat in Fortnite is that weapons are imbalanced. For example, not all sniper rifles are created equally, even if they’re legendary. Some are just dull and not worth the time, while others are strong like the Shredder. Save your ammo for this bad boy!

Too Many Things Going On

Fortnite has some rough patches in the content department. Yes, the gameplay mechanics are fun, but some of the content is lacking to an extent. Most missions are the same, which require you and your party to defend the Atlas from a horde of husks attacking from one side of the map. Well, that’s all the variation Fortnite missions have even at level cap.

Even character progression isn’t as complicated. There’s a linear skill tree for each hero that simply needs to be leveled to gain everything. There are no custom builds or complex specs that one can create. In a nutshell, each character is a cookie-cutter of a gaming trope.

Loot can be a hurdle since very few items, and unlockable characters might not be a good fit. At first, you could get overwhelmed by the thousands of item types and heroes, but once you get your grip on how the meta of the game is played, you’ll realize what to keep and dump. There isn’t lots of loot diversity in the base game. Also, it might bore competitive players who seek hard challenges. It’s easy enough to juice up your favorite hero and get best-in-slot gear while ignoring everything else. In fact, there is more crate-exclusive loot that you might never get your hands on if you decide not to let money talk in the cash shop.

The Verdict

Fortnite is a good game that attempts to do multiple things simultaneously, but some elements seem to lack. Character progression, loot system, character and weapon balance, and a slew of other things, however, need some fine tuning. Overall, the core gameplay of Fortnite is crisp with beautiful animations, voice acting, and fantastic art stylistics. The meat of the game is that there’s something to look forward to, especially if you’re planning to crank out some hours to learn the ropes. Fortnite has potential to improve. Hopefully, the developers get the picture early and add more content to make the game feel more fulfilling in all aspects.

Thanks for checking out this Fornite PC Review. Feel free to share any insights in the comment box.