Epic Games
Fortnite: Battle Royale goes free across all platforms today. That means anyone on Xbox One, PS4 or PC gets to have a shot at what is best described as a more cartoony version of PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds. The two titles are very similar but Fortnite does have enough differences to separate it from being considered a full-blown clone.
Players still drop in from a plane, except it’s a bus in Battle Royale but it operates the same way. On your way down, you’re expected to choose a location that is free of enemies trying to beat you with a shovel but at the same time a location full of supplies and equipment. The biggest thing that sets Battle Royale apart from PUBG and other games in the genre is the ability to craft. This means you can create entire structures to help give you the edge on other opponents. You will have to find the resources before you start building though so you won’t be able to start work on your masterpiece as soon as you drop in.
There’s a good variety of weapons found in the game as well, including SMGs, Assault Rifles, Shotguns, Grenade Launchers and more. This gameplay video shows off many of those weapons and some of the structures that can be made. It can be pretty scary to start building a tower in an open field, knowing someone is likely on their way to kill you. This can become even more stressful once the map starts to shrink and begins to force the action that you’ve been doing such a good job of avoiding.
This gameplay video shows off a solo player but you do have the option to queue up in squads so you don’t have to worry about leaving friends behind. Both options can be a lot of fun but the stakes are definitely higher when you’re all alone out there with nobody to rely on.
Performance was top notch for the most point. If there were any framerate drops, bugs or glitches while playing, I sure didn’t notice any. That doesn’t mean it’s completely free of those issues but they weren’t prevalent while I was playing. This is still an early access title so don’t expect to never run into problems.
Fortnite: Battle Royale is free-to-play now for Xbox One, PS4 and PC. For those interested, here are the specs of the PC I was playing on:
- CPU: Ryzen R5 1600
- GPU: RX 480 4 GB
- 16 GB DDR4 3000 MHz
