Fortnite

When the experts meet the beginners it’s not very pretty

Fortnite by Epic Games, $free to download with in game purchases (some items can cost up to $20); run on game consoles, PC, Android, ESRB rating T for Teen (violence); I’ve played all platforms. I prefer the PC. This review considers the PC version.

By: Luke Corcione

Like tag with guns and forts, Fortnite is player v. player, battle royale (last player standing) style experience video game, starting with one hundred players and a moving zone in which the remaining players must stay in, in order to survive.

The ultimate goal is to be the last remaining player alive, claiming your crown for a Victory Royale. Although, the goal of the game has seemed to change over time, players aren’t just looking to win anymore but rather, dominating the entire lobby of players and chasing maximum kills on their way to the victory has become more appealing.

Fortnite became extremely popular in March of 2018, when people of all ages loaded up this game with an all new building component that has never been seen before. At first, the building mechanic was so difficult that it didn’t start playing a role in the game for a little while. Although, over time with days of practice under the belts of these professional gamers, the building mechanic advanced at a quick pace.

With the help of streamer, Ninja (Tyler Blevins), Fortnite was able to dominate the video game competition and for most people, it was the only video game that they were playing at the time. Since this happened, players had a strong desire to become the best at the game, a normal accomplishment for competitive players.

While this was occurring, the building mechanic’s evolution did not slow down, with updates to settings, the ability to edit builds, and the ability to turbo build, building was about to become very difficult to keep up with. It did not just end here, controller players were adding paddles and extra buttons to their controllers, in hopes to keep up with their competitors on PC.

Unfortunately, the ability PC players have to place multiple builds and move with a three hundred and sixty degree mouse, made the building mechanic much easier to use, and performing much better than any controller player could. In 2019, the debate was finally settled after watching streamer and PC player, Kyle Giersdorf (Bugha) dominate the World Cup championship held for competitive Fortnite players all over the world.

I love this game, but it drives me nuts. The bottom line is that controller players, even with aim assist, are at an unimaginable disadvantage when it comes to playing this game. It has become the greatest skill gap in any video game ever, and the proof is in the pudding, not many famous streamers who play on controller, can compete with these professionals and gave up playing due to the skill gap, and even comment on its difficulty today.

Luke Corcione is a video game reviewer from The College of New Jersey, I have experienced this skill gap first hand for the past few years and can acknowledge the difficulty better than most considering my time spent playing Fortnite over the years. Thank you for reading and if you do choose to play, I recommend the PC version.