Skip to main content

Epic Games' Early Access Game Fortnite: A Fun and Clever Mix That Will Take Up More Time Than You Think

So, someone who has no idea that I am some sort of Internet blog-journalist-gamer-reviewer (I like to mix genres, okay) gave me a free key for the Early Access of a new game from Epic Games, Fortnite.  It's a... game where you gather materials, build forts, and then defend them from zombies.  You also attach weather balloons to vans, build possibly alien technology to combat zombies, and power things with blue goo.  And I thought I liked to mix genres....  Anyway, the game is fun, and does not take itself particularly seriously.  Except in the excellence of the mechanics.

Building is fluid and simple, the harvesting mechanic is fun, the heroes and survivors all look different and interesting, and shooting/stabbing/burning/launching zombies is just as much fun as you think it will be.  The only thing I do not like is the minimap, which can be very confusing especially when searching for mission items in a party.  It's possible I am just directionally challenged, but I would like clearer markers on where I should be going, especially when I am in a random party with people who don't answer questions.

And sometimes, your walls will come with decorations.
The starter Hero is a female soldier named Ramirez.  All Hero types come in both male and female versions, and the game has a wide variety of body types assigned to each class.  Soldiers are soldier shaped.  Constructors are big bodied, Ninjas are wiry, and Outlanders (techies) are kinda scrawny.  The art style is very cute and the musical minigame of chopping down trees/breaking boulders efficiently is a clever way to break the monotony.  And the zombies kind of look like they escaped from Plants vs Zombies and got an upgrade.  Also, Lobbers are the worst.  The worst!

Anyway, in a few days I will have to rebuild my entire fort because it is a mess and I didn't realize how far Lobbers could reach.  So kudos to you, people of Epic Games, for making a really fun gathering-building-zombie tower defense-card collecting co-op game.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Review: Soulworker, or, Welcome to the Grind

Soulworker is an anime action brawler, created by Lion Games and published by GameForge.  Set in a post-apocalyptic purgatory, you play one of (currently) four young schoolchildren who fell from the real world into the world of Soulworker.  The tutorial gives you the setting, which varies slightly for each character, and then moves you to the first hub area.  From there, you begin questing so you can get gear so you can do harder quests for more gear and to progress the story, using energy every time you enter a quest area.  The combat is a lot of fun, but if you're unwilling to pay - the current in-game economy is beyond ridiculous, and the premium currency is wildly overpriced - the game gets very grindy. The characters are the different classes, and the character designs are all very charming, even if they go a bit far on the 'females are to be looked at' side.  There's Haru, a broadsword wielding pre-med student who is apparently allergic to things coveri...
Post a Comment
Read more

Comments

Please keep comments civil and polite. Please keep comments relevant to the discussion. Your words, your fault.  (I am not responsible if someone else is mean to you in comments.)  My blog, my license.  (I have the right to store, copy, use, transmit, display, publish, reproduce, and distribute your comments in any format currently known or developed in the future.  So don't post your Great American Novel in my comments, okay?  Thanks!)
Post a Comment
Read more

Secret World Legends: The Secret is out (but keep your credit card in your wallet)

The Secret World is an awesome game with a great setting and a fantastic story.  Seriously, it has some of the best NPCs and villains of any game, let alone any MMO.  Recently, they underwent Yet Another Change and rebooted as Secret World Legends , a free to play shared world action RPG with modernized combat and streamlined story.  I cannot let their flubs with the billing system get a pass, but there is already way too much about that on the official Reddit so I won't go into much detail aside from saying, yes, I was one of the people who got utterly screwed by HiPay and as someone who has worked in financial services back when I had a job, I can say that their screwups are completely inexcusable and it is only happening because Funcom was being cheap.  Or their CEO is dating the CEO of HiPay.  One or the other.  Aside from that, Secret World Legends is pretty awesome and I hope they follow through on their upcoming plans . I am a competitively casual ...
Post a Comment
Read more