Opinion | I Played Fortnite, You Guys

There I was sat in some long abandoned gas station, locked in an Epic Dance Battle Of Wits with my buddy Brian. If either of us relented, he’d be labeled a craven. We dare not relent, for this dance battle was the ultimate dance battle. We stared at each other, almost daring the other to give up, to roll over and submit. But no. Instead, some dude opened the door to the gas station and gunned us down with shotguns.

It would be foolish to me to ignore the fact that I have long bashed Fortnite. In truth, most of this was done out of the good fun of trolling (because PUBG is and always will be the greatest game of all time).

But those who follow me will know how much praise I give Fortnite, purely because the game has a distinct style, is damned good fun, and actually runs well on virtually every single device on which it’s available.

PUBG…doesn’t. Even with my overclocked i7 8700k and overclocked 2080 Ti, I still get frequent stuttering, textures failing to load, assets popping in, etc. In short, a year after it released, PUBG is still a mess…and it costs $30.

It’s no wonder, then, that Fortnite with its free entry fee has rocketed ahead with its unbelievably smooth performance, excellent polish, and focus on, well, fun. And after playing the game for not quite a fortnight (ha!), I’ve come to the (obvious) conclusion that Fortnite is a damn good game.

I love how colorful it is, the virtually limitless cosmetic items (which feed the microtransaction machine), and less realistic gunplay. Epic knows how to make a good game, and their expertise clearly shows.

I went ahead and grabbed the battle pass because, even though I loathe microtransactions, I wanted to experience what the “true” Fortnite experience would be. And I have to admit, it’s a damn good game. Of all the games with battle passes, I will happily admit that Fortnite’s implementation feels the least greedy and manipulative. Though, that’s not saying much given how utterly low the bar is.

My buddies and I in the Tawdry Ballz crew have had a blast these past several days. We clearly suck (like, really bad), and have absolutely no idea what we’re doing. But I’m sure we’ll learn. I’m particularly loving the Team Rumble mode as it’s a great stress-free way to learn the shooting mechanics as they’re so different to PUBG’s more realistic handling.

I still have yet to figure out how to build efficiently, opting instead to panic and call out to my friends for help. This usually ends in their deaths and me rolling around in fits of laughter.

But yeah, I don’t know what else to say really. Fortnite is a damn good game brimming with fun, and I’m having a blast playing it. I can’t wait to hop back in and play some more!