Fortnite (Xbox One) Review

Trends can be a good thing, but more commonly a bad thing in the game industry. Sadly, Fortnite is a game that managed to succumb to a lot of ugly ones that don't belong on a console. Immensely long loading times, poor stabilisation, and crashes will be commonplace throughout the experience of the current build, but with good patience, teaming up with other players and fighting in a fortified base is a very satisfying experience in Fortnite's world.

Countless drops of equipment will be found or even left on the floor, and tons of upgrading is done in almost every aspect of the adventure. Weapons found will break after enough use has been done; however, the experience gained can be redeemed through recycling, allowing gear progression to not be completely voided due to durability, unlike Zelda: Breath of the Wild, where no single weapon is a permanent upgrade, due to the impending attrition of durability.

Story is pretty much virtually the opening premise. A zombie apocalypse happened. Grab weapons, find some trustworthy friends, play fort, and prevent the heroes from dying while killing countless monsters in the process. The writers certainly did not break new ground when coming up with Fortnite's story, but, luckily, it takes no focus here, as gameplay and structure take a full front seat at the stage of playing with friends or strangers who all have the same common goal of becoming a strong survivor in a dark, yet cartoony world.

Music and ambience is a very illusive subject. A lot of exploration will involve no actual music in an attempt to set a tone for the situation, which seems kind of off-putting, since the game has a very stylized look, but hardly any music to compliment it.

While some of the animations to the characters seem a little wonky, overall, characters manage to fit the cartoony, yet charming Overwatch look quite well. The art style itself can be very inconstant with its tone and setting, though. Farm areas look almost as if they belong in a goofy Saturday morning cartoon, objects and the overall environment don't seem to fit the look of the character models, and it all seems kind of odd at times.

When put separate from the greedy micro-transaction stuff, such as the gacha features and heavy grinding, the gameplay is quite polished. All weapons - from handgun, to assault rifle, to a rocket-propelled grenade launcher - have wonderful pinpoint aiming mechanics, and absolutely no delay when landing hits.