TonyWatchesMovies Game Review: Fortnite: 7 out of 10

I know. Zombies again. Haven't we had enough of zombies yet, as a gaming community? I mean hell, the new Call of Duty looked incredible, like they were finally trying to get back to what COD was during COD 3, then the goddamn Nazi Zombies trailer came out and it officially killed what excitement I had, like nazi zombies is Call of Duty's fucking safety net to make sure that some idiots will buy their game. So, of course, when I saw that this game was coming out and that it was a zombie survival game I was pretty unimpressed when 7 Days to Die and Left 4 Dead 2 are in my Steam library. Then, against my better judgement I went into my local GameStop and, even more against my better judgement I passed up Final Fantasy to buy this game, and even as the game was updating I was shaking my head thinking "what the hell are you doing dude? You know this'll be anticlimactic".

TonyWatchesMovies Score; 7 out of 10

"What? 7 out of 10? Then why did it sound like you hated it?" Well, for a second, I did. Then I started playing it, and holy shit is this game smooth. Once you know where all your functions are, the switch from combat to farming to construction is seamless with little to no disruption of your flow. The combat controls are tight, getting materials isn't as monotonous as it is in other games, and building is really easy, so if you have your game face on you can build up a strong fort that can withstand a small to midsize attack along with the ammo and resources you need to survive on your own.

Let's talk about crafting. This is kind of where Fortnite draws itself back a little, in the fact that it is OBVIOUSLY a "pay-to-win" game, where micro-payments (although in Fortnite's case, not so "micro") can get you a huge advantage to other players in terms of heroes and weapon schematics. For you purists out there like myself who haven't spent a dime to get extra coins in mobile games, this seems kinda unfair. However, I feel a little guilty because I got the Early Access codes that gave be a bunch of rare heroes and schematics, and when I would get into lobbies with new players and saw their entry level equipment I kinda felt bad. While it isn't a deal breaker to use the basic equipment (in fact, they're actually pretty effective against zombies if you use them correctly and play smart), it certainly helps to have schematics early on. If there wasn't a micro pay system and you just got new schematics in the game world or through the piñatas (which are like the crates in Team Fortress), Fortnite would be a pretty awesome game. But the fact that it even is there kinda pisses me off, like "I already spent $60 for this game, what more do you want from me?"

The range of heroes in Fortnite is kinda astounding. The kinds of heroes are first divided by role, like construction or tank or ninja (which is my class), then you have a ton of heroes who's strengths and perks differ. Plus, on top of that you have one of the most elaborate skill trees I've ever seen outside of WoW and Elder Scrolls, so there are a ton of ways you can customize your experience. If you think about it, Fortnite could've just thrown base building and crafting and zombies and micro payments into the game and people would still have bought it, but they took a step further that makes the game so much more interesting.

I love the look of this game. What makes it look good is what makes Mass Effect Andromeda look bad, in that they made the art style of Fortnite simplistic and thus cleaner. Mass Effect paid so much attention to detail that it became very off-putting, and when the characters and their complicated designs get in the way it makes for a clunky game, because you feel like you have to pay attention to everything for all the work they put in. Here it seemed like they chose a style and stuck to it, because the gameplay is the focus here, not the elaborate skybox and eyebrow animations.

So, all-in-all, sturdy game. Just put in an update to get rid of micro payments please, you aren't Boom Beach.

Cheers,

-TonyWatchesMovies