What Would Make Fortnite Better?
Fortnite: Battle Royale is a household name at this point; whether you keep up with the world of games or pay no mind to the industry, you've likely heard the name Fortnite (or Fork Knife). Rarely do we see a game explode to this level of popularity, but developer Epic Games struck at the right time with its version of the last-person-standing game mode. Players scavenge a huge map for not only weapons and health items, but also raw materials to build structures. Fortnite finds inspiration from the likes of Minecraft and throws construction into the mix, so even if you get caught in the middle of a field, you're not a sitting duck as long as you have the necessary resources and wit to put a protective fort together.
Tens of millions of people have played Fortnite, and for good reason: it's a great game. It's a ton of fun to outlast and eliminate enemy squads with a group of friends or by yourself. In our Fortnite: Battle Royale review, we stated, "Although a few shortcomings in the map design eventually surface and fatigue in looting can set in, Fortnite rarely fails at challenging you in unexpected ways, resulting in something more than just another typical last-person-standing shooter."
Epic has been committed to adding new features to keep the game fresh and players interested. Seasons also include thematic shifts that lead into sweet-looking skins and changes to the actual map layout. Weekly challenges provide different objectives to complete aside from winning matches. We've even had The Avengers villain Thanos make a guest appearance as a playable character with a slew of unique abilities. However, there are still some aspects of the game that can be improved. With Epic so responsive to feedback, we compiled a list of changes we'd like to see come to Fortnite: Battle Royale.
What would you like to change about Fortnite? Are there additions, modes, or tweaks you'd want to see done to the game? Let us know in comments below.
Introduce A New Map
Ten months since its launch, Fornite: Battle Royale still only has one map. PUBG comparatively got its second map after only nine months. Epic has done an amazing job filling the current map with entertaining activities on a consistent basis, as well as imbuing it with narrative significance thanks to big community events. While I'd love to see more of this, I can't help but wish there was a new map to play on.
I'm hoping Epic takes a different approach from the biome-focused maps that PUBG has been introducing to the battle royale formula, and do something wacky. Maybe the next map will have us fighting on a giant island floating in the sky, or in some over-the-top The Running Man-esque arena. Whatever approach the studio ends up taking, it ought to introduce it sooner than later. | Matt Espineli, Associate Editor
Make Some Timed Modes Permanent
Teams of 20, 50v50, snipers only, and explosives only have been incredibly fun modes to play, especially because of how they change up the traditional battle royale formula. These have been nice changes of pace after getting your fill of Victory Royales, and perhaps Epic should considering keeping one or two of these modes around permanently. Part of the allure could definitely be tied to the fact that they're available for a limited time, but popping into a Blitz mode match works extremely well if you can't dedicate time for a full match or if you're itching for faster action. The rotation of modes is understandable, but keeping the best ones around makes sense. | Michael Higham, Associate Editor
Find A Way To Stop Challenges From Interfering With Regular Matches
Fortnite is far from the first game to introduce supplementary objectives to spice up gameplay, but it's likely the most popular to do so. But, as with those previous games to do it--Team Fortress 2 comes to mind--they continue to have an artificial impact on the way matches play out. And for as much as I enjoy having those challenges available to me to guide what I do in any match, I'm not crazy about the way they impact a given round.
Challenges in Fortnite task you with any number of things to do. Some of these are no different from what you'd do in a given match, like open chests in a certain area. Others require you to collect specific objects in certain locations, while others still ask you to deal damage or obtain kills with certain weapons. With any of these, it's basically tasking you with doing something you wouldn't necessarily choose to do. These challenges are done in public games where other players are simply trying to play and win.
Jump into a team-based match, as is my preference, and there's no guarantee that your teammates will actually care about winning--they might be more concerned with kicking a soccer ball into a goal. Even something as innocuous as racking up damage with a pistol can hurt your chances at a Victory Royale if someone opts to use a crappy handgun instead of the high-powered rifle they grabbed when they rushed to open a chest they needed.
One solution for all of this is to play solo or with friends, but that's simply not ideal. Instead, I'd like Epic to find some way to prevent players with a way to opt out of challenges. Whether that's a specific playlist for those looking for a more competitive experience or something else entirely, I'd like to play the game and have the satisfaction of doing well without having to wonder if it's only because my opponent was more concerned with finding a vending machine than attacking me. | Chris Pereira, News Editor
Changing Up The Weekly Challenges To Be More Varied
While challenges can interfere with the true goal of a victory royale, there's no doubt they've helped keep gameplay fresh. Weekly challenges have been a wonderful way to encourage players to use items and weapons they wouldn't use otherwise or approach matches in different ways. Over time however, challenges have started to be a little too same-y which has taken some of the magic away from these activities. It might be a tough ask, but perhaps situational challenges like getting a kill with less than 20 health, sniper kills from a five-story structure you built yourself, or getting multiple kills within a minute of landing are just some interesting ways to change things up. Admittedly, we'd want Fortnite to have new challenges that wouldn't encroach on how the game should be played, but we do want to see a bit more variety. | Michael Higham, Associate Editor
Have Bigger Challenges To Work Toward
Going off of the previous point about have varied weekly challenges, an intriguing idea could be to have larger, more time-consuming challenges to work toward. These could be timed to a month, or achievements that exist indefinitely. Maybe bigger challenges can simply consist of 20 victory royales within the span of a month, or racking up an accumulative kill count when there's only last 10 players left in a match. Of course, there would be incentives like battle stars and additional XP, or perhaps exclusive cosmetics for achieving the bigger tasks. These would also be conducive to team victory to get ahead of players that might ignore the overall match to complete the challenges. Season 4's Blockbuster and Carbide challenges were sort of a step in the right direction for establishing long-term objectives, and it'd be nice to see Epic take that a step further. | Michael Higham, Associate Editor
Take The Best From Save The World
Fortnite's Save The World mode has a lot of great ideas that could add tons of personality and new tactics to Battle Royale. I'd start by bringing in abilities as pickups such as Mantis Leap, War Cry, Teddy, Base, and Shockwave. These abilities would let lucky players leap higher, buff team damage, deploy a machine gun-wielding teddy turret, reinforce structures, and demolish structures. It's a system that would give more meaning to fortifications and counter shotgun rush tactics. They would also give more power to people who just want to build and support the team. The base game also has some hilarious ideas like monster chests that will chase players across the map if they don't pay attention to the warning signs. | Aaron Sampson, Senior Video Producer
Quality-Of-Life Adjustments
There are a couple of very important quality-of-life improvements I'd love to have. For starting players, a sandbox test range where they can practice is already inbound. I'd love the option to have a squad leader be able to eject the entire squad from the battle bus rather than individual deployments where teams can end up spread apart. Most importantly I really, really, really want macros and preset shapes that I can customize from the main menu. I'd like to be able to drop common structures such as a ramp plus wall with a single button press or chose to have my stairs always be double stairs. One of the reasons the skill gap can be so high at the end of matches is due to the number of buttons people have to press to build. By lowering the difficulty of building, players can have more fun. | Aaron Sampson, Senior Video Producer
Expand The Mobility That The Shopping Cart And Jet Pack Introduced
The shopping cart and jetpack introduced a new element to Fortnite that made the game more mobile and more entertaining. Those who have mastered these features have taken creativity in the game to a whole new level with fresh and dynamic ways to build and eliminate other players. I've seen players hop on carts, build a ramp, ride down, and eliminate players mid-flight. I've used the jetpack in various ways to creatively eliminate an opponent. These are situations and features that made the game even more fun than it already could be.
Expanding these new features to potentially include using the row boats on the lakes or hiding keys to cars and trucks in chests randomly across the map can expand the already creative world that is Fortnite. Imagine filling your squad up in a truck and driving down Dusty Divot, eliminating players left and right. Allowing players to utilize the row boats on Loot Lake could create mini Pirates of the Caribbean-esque battles with players fighting for the Victory Royale glory instead of the treasures of the Isle of Tortuga.
Although the idea of using the rowboats or the vehicles on the map might be far-fetched, the possibilities of expanding mobility are endless and the potential clips I'll see on my news feeds have me drooling with enthusiasm. | Nasser Al-Rayess, Intern
More Customization For Outfits
Fortnite does cosmetics extremely well. So many bright, colorful, and silly outfits make the game even more fun to play, and they neatly fit into the lighthearted nature of Fortnite. And because of the third-person perspective, you can always see your sweet fits. One thing that could make outfits more fun is customization options for individual outfits. The country-themed gear during the Winter Olympics was a neat addition, and Fortnite took the next step by offering customizable jerseys for the World Cup. More instances of tinkering with the smaller details of cosmetics seems like a minor thing, but it'd let players get creative with their avatars even further for an added touch of personalization. Adjusting color accents to clothes or choosing from text presets for outfits might be a sensible change. | Michael Higham, Associate Editor
Add Weapon Skins
Fortnite's weapons are varied and fun to use, but I do find myself wishing they looked flashier. Custom skins could be what the game's weapons need to get that extra dose of style. After all, games like PUBG and Destiny 2 have experienced massive success with their weapon skins. And for good reason; you can never have too much player-driven customization in a competitive multiplayer game, where giving players the freedom to visually express themselves is paramount. Fortnite is well-suited for weapon skins and a sensible next step for additional cosmetics that would help support the long-term interest of its player base. | Matt Espineli, Associate Editor
First-Person Mode, Maybe?
It would be great if Fortnite had a first-person-mode--much like PUBG's first-person update back in August last year. While more of a gimmick than anything else, the perspective's introduction to PUBG made for a fascinating addition to what was already a pretty tense game. Of course, Fortnite is more fast-paced in nature and it has building mechanics, but the limitation of sight that a first-person mode introduces could easily add a whole new layer of complexity to the game--if implemented correctly. The mode would admittedly divide the player base, and there would need to a separate playlist for it, but I'd love to have the option at least. | Matt Espineli, Associate Editor
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