Preview: Fortnite (PlayStation 4)

Rating: 0
Author: Jim Smale

by Jim Smale · August 9, 2017

The Storm came without warning. 98% of the world’s population vanished … then came the monsters. Lead the world’s remaining Heroes in the fight to hold back the Storm. Explore the large, destructible world where no two games are ever the same.

Pros:

Cartoonish graphics.
Platinum trophy.
Opening and ongoing tutorial.
14.64GB Download size.
Four player online support.
Wave based tower defense gameplay.
Earn EXP, Level up and earn upgrade points.
Two controller layout options.
Third person perspective but a first person view is available.
Expedition- Recruit survivors and defenders and send them out for supplies. Time taken for activities is in real time.
Daily login bonus.
Private and public games with invite system.
Join random games, You can select any mission or quest line ones.
World map screen where you can select individual levels and the map uncovers as you progress the story.
Can break anything in game like buildings and cars. You do so to earn resources which you then use to craft. The only thing you cannot break is the actual ground/land.
Craft-You can craft guns, Ammo, traps and buildings, walls etc. You earn the blueprints from playing or from drops.
EXP boosters- For both yourself and team mates or put it on team mates and get some share yourself.
Massive open world levels.
LOOT! Loot is everywhere. You can find chests, Safes or it can drop from clearing mobs or special monsters.
Massive skill tree. Its actually split into 3 tiers and it covers everything from gun damage to health to trap health or build speed. You can also unlock new abilities or powers.
Cross play with PC players.
Four worlds to unlock.
Follows a campaign structure.
Characters-Soldier, Ninjas, Outlanders and constructors. Each one has unique abilities and buffs.
Nodes-Found in level you can get bonus loot from these if you are a Outlander otherwise they are just a standard speed boost.
Snap together easy to use building system.
Detailed levels with massive houses, Basements and hidden cave systems and rooms.
Auto re join upon disconnects.
Random events can occur in levels.
Evolve-Next level leveling up that increases stats but also unlocks passive and new aggressive abilities.
Tight gun play and each gun feels different.
Addictive game.
Easy to get into.
Rewarding gameplay.
Tons and tons of replayability.
Several mission types- From survivor rescues to protecting a vehicle or weather balloon to standard defend a point.
The main objective doesn’t start until you trigger the event meaning you can free roam around the map and get stuff done.
Main missions but also optional side missions, dailies and hero missions.
Llama-Loot llamas can be bought or earned and generate random loot.
Loot also gets graded from common to epic.
Emotes- Only two but they are dancing and music plays as you hit em.
Earn medals in game for killing enemies, Building, Resource collecting etc. These get used at the end to generate EXP that is used to determine what reward loot chest you get.
Resource points-Kind of like upgrade points, Resource points have tiers of upgrades and you can unlock new abilities and slots etc. The main difference is you earn resource points passively and you can increase the cap you earn a day and how fast you earn them.

Cons:

A lot to take in.
Long initial load.
Doesn’t explain a lot of the many options very well like expeditions and the point of survivors and defenders.
Really slow burner at times.
Takes ages to unlock perks and abilities.
Mini map clogs up quickly with text about rewards or crates left on the floor for every player. This leaks onto the main screen.
Very repetitive.
With great space comes slackers who wont help out and just do what they want.
Not a lot of variety.
Menus are everywhere and even crafting is a slow awkward experience.
No emotes for communicating.
Hard crashes periodically.
Game can soon outstay its welcome the further you go.
Weapons degrade and break easily.
Ammo can easily become an issue to craft as you struggle to work out what is needed and where to get the materials.

Summary:

For how early this game is, Fortnite is a lot of fun. Yes it has issues but it is early access and its stuff you can easily forgive. I like the fact that you can go off and do what you want for a bit then join up and do the objective. The wave based defending is great and looks fantastic. I dont like how much grinding is needed once you get a fair way into the campaign. Its a really neat idea but in a weird way I feel it needs to be reeled in some what and make it a bit more team based, Its very much lone wolfing until the objective and even then you can go solo. I shall keep an eye on it and I have no doubt they will improve as this initial build is more than playable.