The last seasons of Battle Royale have bored Fortnite with constant innovations that either littered the map or added a bunch of poorly functioning mechanics. Air pipes, for some reason destroyed the Abandoned Towers, in whose place a boring new location appeared, destroying everything in its path walking mechs – you can’t remember everything at once.
The launch of the second chapter of Fortnite, as Epic Games calls it all, went off in a big way. The fact that the popular royal battle was sucked into a black hole for two days was not only written by specialized publications, but also told on American television. Apparently, in this way, the developers disguised the long-term prophylaxis of servers – after it the action changed externally, many familiar elements disappeared, and the interface was shoveled.
We tried to make the acquaintance with the new season spectacular – at first you don’t understand why you are forced to watch the introductory video and are not allowed to miss it, and then Jonesy jumping out of the bus turns out to be a playable character flying towards the new map. True, it cannot be called completely new, since some of the old locations are immediately recognizable: here is the Pleasant Park, and the Nightmare Cinema, which has long disappeared, and the Trade Point, beloved by many.
In addition, the entire map in the menu cannot be considered at first, it is covered with the “fog of war” and gradually opens when visiting each location. In this regard, there are still no places where fifty people fall out at the first opportunity, as it was before. A meteorite fell and destroyed the Old Warehouse? Everyone wants to get there, and after five minutes, two-thirds of the players are dead. New locations have appeared after the volcanic eruption? Everyone only flies there.
Another great feature of the new season is the significantly reduced amount of loot and all kinds of interactive objects on the map. Now there are no vehicles at all, except for the boat, installed on which the missiles do only 35 points of damage. No furs, balloons, hoverboards or anything else. No pocket breaks and pulse grenades, even the launcher disappeared, although it seemed to be an integral part of the inventory, since it did not take up space, and allowed you to quickly get to the desired point.
Opportunities for medical treatment have become less – the pungent nectar, the vigorous bomb and the vigorous broth are gone, and the shields seem to come across much less often. Cozy bonfires cannot be placed anywhere – just look for them on the map. Vending machines selling random goods are no longer there either. In general, it is much easier to list what is left in the game: ordinary grenades, bandages with first-aid kits, shields and a good old trap – if you don’t count the weapons.
There are few innovations, but they look interesting. For example, a fishing rod that occupies one slot in the inventory can now be caught. Find any body of water, throw a hook into it, wait a couple of seconds, and it starts to peck – you can catch a healing fish, cartridges, resources and all kinds of junk like tin cans. Sometimes weapons come across – if you find a good place, you can get something epic or legendary. The main thing is that a sniper does not look at the inattentive fisherman through the sight.
Another new item is the bandage bazooka, with which Epic Games is clearly trying to add variety to Squad Mode. It takes up two slots, so the player wearing it cannot put more than three other things in the inventory. But you can appoint him as a “healer” – suddenly there is a weak link in the team, which neither can shoot nor build. Now such users will not run their tail after the others, but will hide somewhere and will support their comrades-in-arms.
Unfortunately for those who don’t digest construction in Fortnite, this element has not changed in any way. Rather, for experienced builders, some things have become more convenient (including editing), but for completely “casual” players, everything is still the same – if a skilled opponent comes across, he will install walls and ceilings very quickly. At the same time, the matchmaking system has improved in the action game, and at some point, weak users will no longer meet with professional streamers.
Of course, there were some drawbacks. The dispersion of some types of weapons has increased noticeably – it is especially sad to shoot from machine guns. There are problems with the sound – once I was shot right up with a shotgun, although I did not hear a single step of the enemy. Some have complained about poor optimization, which seems to have been improved with the last tiny update. But most of all, the players are annoyed by the interface – here not only notifications about medals and completed achievements come out, but it is also constantly reported that there are 50 or 10 opponents left in the match.