5 Reasons Why You Should Be Playing Fortnite: Battle Royale

Perhaps you’ve heard of a little game called PlayerUnkown’s Battlegrounds? Or its iconic acronym, PUBG? It’s a beloved battle royale game, in which 100 players are thrown onto a huge island and tasked with killing each other until only one stands.

But we’re not here to talk about that battle royale game; no, let’s discuss the worthy contender to PlayerUnknown’s seemingly unflappable title: Fortnite’s Battle Royale gamemode.

The mode was added to the popular PvE game back in September of last year, and has since skyrocketed in popularity. Despite initially seeming like nothing more than a PUGB clone, Fortnite: Battle Royale has managed to carve-out its own devoted fanbase; thanks, partially, to the unique building mechanics on offer alongside the intense gunplay.

So let’s take a look at five reasons why you should be playing the game that’s currently the fourth-most popular game on popular streaming site, Twitch:

 

IT’S FREE

There, list over.

No, of course not, but this should be a huge draw for this fantastically fun survival shooter. Not long after it was announced to be coming to consoles, Epic Games revealed that the Battle Royale mode for Fortnite could be downloaded as an independent game – totally free of charge.

Not only does this mean that anybody with an Xbox One, PS4 or PC can jump right in right now, but anybody who takes a fancy to the game via the aforementioned Twitch support has no reason not to try it for themselves.

This wasn’t something I was aware of until recently, which has led to a crippling addiction to the game. I can’t stop playing it. Like, really: help me.

 

active developers

As well as a highly active player base, the Fortnite branch of Epic Games’ development team are really active across social media; particularly Presidential-favourite Twitter, on which they constantly update fans with upcoming patches and content.

Obviously the Battle Royale mode has only been out for a handful of months, but if the devs continue to engage with the community on the same level they have been, there’s no doubt that it’ll continue being just as popular as it is. A direct line of communication is crucial in the tech-age, and these guys seem to have nailed it.

 

PAINFUL TENSION

Every single moment of a Fortnite: Battle Royale game is filled with tension and anxiety.

At the beginning of a match, when every player boards the appropriately named ‘Battle Bus’, poker faces become paramount. You can choose to drop onto the distant island whenever you please, but experienced players will often all throw themselves towards the nearest, largest town to duke it out for the best loot.

There’s nothing like landing inside of a building, only to hear another player running around on the roof. And when that player starts using their pickaxe to break through the ceiling just metres above you, armed only with a pistol and fear? There’s nothing quite like it.

Just you wait until you make it to the final twenty – or even ten – players. Every single gunshot ringing across the horizon becomes a sign of instant death, and you’ll need just as much luck as skill to not bottle it at the final moment.

 

NO BUYABLE BONUSES

Remember the monumental shitshow around EA’s handling of Battlefront II’s loot box system? How players could either invest tens of hours to unlock favourites like Darth Vader, or simply buy their way towards content and bonuses that would improve aspects like damage output, therefore fundamentally damaging the game?

Fortnite: Battle Royale’s got nothing like that. It seems a sorry state of affairs when a positive for a game is its lack of cynical in-game economy, but this is the world we live in. Instead, like Overwatch and many other great multiplayer shooters, Fortnite offers purely cosmetic DLC that spices up the visual flair of your character.

These come in the form of parachute variants, dancemoves, emotes, and skins. If you don’t want to spend a single penny on the game, then don’t; you’ll still receive the exact same gameplay experience as everybody else. If, like me, you’ve invested hours upon hours and fancy a change, then the offer of the Battle Pass is an enticing one: a one-off payment that makes levelling-up all the more rewarding, as you naturally unlock new skins and all that jazz for doing well at the game.

Arguably this could have been included from the get-go, but this is a free download; these kinds of purchases in this kind of game are much more favourable than in a full-priced release.

 

UNPARALLELED multiplayer fun

Okay, so this one is kind of subjective.

But it’s hard to see how Fortnite: Battle Royale isn’t one of the most fun multiplayer titles in recent memory. The pick-up-and-play free nature of the game means that all your friends can download it with ease, and it won’t be long before your squad of four survivors is fighting with others for top place.

The game’s incredibly easy building mechanics also make for a huge amount of variety, as you effortlessly erect towering bases to snipe or bombard your enemies. It’s an intense and rewarding experience that I haven’t found in a game in a long time, and I know I’ll put twice as many hours into the game as I already have.

Enjoyed this? Be sure to check out what we though of PUBG over on Xbox One! It’s not pretty, but we cannot stop playing it. Alternatively, you could just check out what some of the best Fortnite players do to make yourself better at the game.