Fortnite No Build review
I’m an occasional Fortnite player, having dabbled in the game when it first came out, and also back again in more recent seasons with the Marvel crossover for Endgame. However, with No Build Mode coming into the game I can see myself putting many more hours into the game, no I don’t have to worry about constructing things. Today I am going to bring you my impressions of Fortnite No Build Mode.
Fortnite has been through plenty of iterations over the years. For those that love the game, it’s more than a Battle Royale, it’s a competitive shooter, it’s a creative hub, it’s somewhere to hand out with friends and chat. For others it’s a meme, they hate it and switch off at the very mention of the ‘f word’. I was somewhere in the middle, I’d played the game a few times, but only solo and never with friends. I have some gaming buddies but they like PUBG and Battlefield, convincing them to play Fortnite always seemed a stretch too far.
One of the features that really put me off the game was the building. I could do it, but I wasn’t quick enough and you’d find yourself in a situation with a handful of players left, and I’d always be the one left who couldn’t build as fast as my opponents as they constructed a huge defensive system around them, or made a tower to get the upper ground. It wasn’t my thing, and it turned me off the game, I thought for good.
Earlier in 2022 Epic Games turned off building for a time and since then I had been meaning to jump in and give it a try again. I have done it, and it’s a whole lot of fun. It feels like the game has been through a huge balancing process, the playing field levelled for those who don’t enjoy building and just want to get into the nitty-gritty of the battle royale mode. I’ve also seen plenty of non-Fortnite players jump back into the game and talk on podcasts about how much fun they are having, and I can imagine Fortnite No Build Mode being in the discussion for Game of the Year 2022, or at least ongoing game. If Epic’s intention was to remove the barriers to entry for some players, then I think they have done their job very well.
As well as new and old players jumping in, the No Build Mode attracted a bump in Twitch streams, not only from players but from viewers too. Fortnite isn’t what it used to be in the heyday of 2018 and 2019, it’s no longer the most popular game on the platform, it’s lost its crown to Grand Theft Auto V.
No Build Mode was originally introduced as part of Chapter 3 Season 2 (last season, we’re now in Season 3), as part of the ongoing storyline in the live service shooter. Dr. Sloane eliminated everyone’s ability to build on the island. Initially, this was an experiment for a couple of weeks, then Epic added the no-build mode as a permanent option.
There are loads of games which emulated Fortnite’s Battle Royale gameplay; Apex Legends, Hyperscape, Call Of Duty Warzone, Spellbreak and only a few of these games have lived to tell the tale. Hyperscape and Spellbreak have since been cancelled, whereas Apex Legends and Warzone are doing well, arguably with Warzone lagging behind Apex Legends. While Fornite emulated PUBG and Rust to develop their own Battle Royale, non of these other games copied the building feature, that stayed unique to Fortnite.
The building was originally added to Fortnite: Save the World version of the game, which is much more of a PvE horde mode where you have to fend off Zombies. The building was carried over into the main Battle Royale at the time and stuck around, but personally, this was the element that always put me off. Now that there is a mode where I don’t have to worry about building, that motivates me to play more, and I’ve been having a great time with it. I can even see myself convincing friends to put down Battlefield and jump into Fortnite, which seems unimaginable only a few months ago.
It turns out that Chapter 3 Season 2 was a test for No Build Mode and that test went down very well with casual audiences of Fornite, like me. For the hardcore, there’s no dobut there’s some resentment, but there are still building modes in the game. The only concern I would have as a player is the player population and splitting the player pools across modes. That’s probably an unfounded fear though because Fortnite has somewhere between 2.5 and 4 million players every day, so finding a match in any game mode isn’t likely to be an issue.
Fortnite No Build Mode gets in more players to a game which has seen its popularity going down since its heights a few years ago. Epic noticed this and switched things up enough to attract new players, which is probably a good move, given Fortnite is the closest thing we have to a Metaverse. Facebook and plenty of other companies are investing in the Metaverse at the moment, but we already have something in Fortnite where we can play as our favourite characters from movies like the latest Marvel heroes or Indiana Jones. We’re not far away from having our own avatar and spending much more time in Fortnite. There are plenty of people who already hang out in Fortnite just to see their friends, whether they are in build mode, no build mode or just chatting. Fortnite has massive concerts with Ariana Grande already, so doing other social activities in the game, or in a mode in the game isn’t a big stretch of the imagination.
For now, No Build Mode has captured my imagination and I’ve sunk a few hours into Fortnite this week. I’m enjoying what I am playing so far, and I don’t have to worry about running into builders, and feeling like I am at a disadvantage in the game. If I die then I can only blame my lacklustre gun skills, and I’m much more comfortable with that than compared to building modes.
If you are on the fence about Fornite, then I’d say jump back in and give it a shot. No Build Mode is here to stay given it’s popularity, and for a filthy casual like me, I’m thankful of that.