Initial Release Date: July 21, 2017

Chapter 2, Season 1 Release Date: October 15, 2019

Developer and Publisher: Epic Games

Genre: Battle Royale, Action Shooter

Fortnite is an online Battle Royale game for all platforms that made headlines this week after the entire game and all its social media accounts were sucked into a black hole. This marked the official end of Season 10, and left the fan base in total chaos. While most players expected an over the top live event, most assumed Season 11 would begin immediately thereafter. Instead players were left to stare into the empty abyss of a black hole from about 2pm eastern time Sunday October 13th until early morning Tuesday October 15th. When the game came back online, fans were greeted with Fortnite Chapter 2, Season 1. This fresh start came with a whole host of changes: An entirely new map, new cosmetic outfits and styles, new vehicles, new ways to gain experience, and new weapons. With all these new things, there is a lot to cover, so let’s dive right in.

This event was highly anticipated. In the final weeks of Season 10 players were able to complete the “Last Stop” and “Out of Time” challenge missions. Through these, we learned more about the visitor and his plans for the island we had been playing on since Season 1.  The developers also added a rocket on top of the warehouses at Dusty Depot counting down to “The End”. When the time finally came, players logged in to find they couldn’t play any actual game modes, everyone was being placed into an instance called “The End” and the only part of the map that was accessible was the area around the Meteor and Dusty Depot. Those who were lucky enough to make it into the instance witnessed a stellar display of rockets flying in and out of rifts that appeared all over the map, eventually they collided with the Meteor and all disappeared, there was a brief pause before the final crescendo sent all the rockets and the meteor hurtling toward the center of the map, Loot Lake. Upon impact all the players in the game were thrown back and given a front row seat to watch as the entire island was sucked into an anomaly, which eventually consumed the players as well. Monitors, Televisions, and Cell Phones across the globe went dark and players were left with nothing but a black hole where Fortnite used to be.

Never in my entire video gaming career have I been a part of an in game event at this scale. Millions of people tuned into this and Epic Games was nothing if not prepared for the strain on their servers. I was one of the lucky ones who got in to see it first hand, although I got in late, so I was already floating and watching the island disappear. But those stuck in the lobby were not forgotten. As the players in the game were sucked into to black hole, so to were the ones in the lobby, who received a cinematic all their own. 

This is where the intensity and grandeur ended. Most players, including myself,  expected Season 11 to begin immediately following this event. Instead we were left staring at a black hole for 36 hours. To their credit, Epic games did throw us a few bones. Almost as soon as black hole watch began, some gamer out there decided to input the classic Konami code (up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, a, b, start) and to our surprise it started a Space Invaders style mini-game featuring the players as a slice of pizza battling Duur Burgers shooting pineapples. It was a clever tactic on Epic’s part, as it kept players entertained, at least for a few minutes, before we realized the game was on an endless loop. The next bread crumb we received was a series of numbers. Once these numbers were cross referenced with the Visitor recordings collected during the “Out of Time” challenges, it decoded a message that read: “I was not alone. Others are outside the loop. This was not calculated. The nothing is now inevitable.” It sounds ominous, but players are still unsure what it means for the future storylines of Fortnite. 

At this point it is safe to say “The End” was a huge success. Not only did this turn of events piss off children around the world, which is always great, but it was a worldwide phenomenon. Hash tags such as #BlackHole and #TheEnd trended on twitter, it was portrayed positively by mainstream media, and it left some wondering if this was really the end of Fortnite all together. Those people would be wrong.

After a 36 hour wait, Fortnite is back and, for the most part, it’s better than ever.  First there is an entirely new map featuring mostly brand new locations. For some reason, Epic Games decided to keep places like Retail Row and Pleasant Park around a bit longer. This doesn’t really make sense though, considering the old island was swallowed by a black hole, and this new island is supposed to be a completely different plane of existence so why are these places back and looking exactly the same as they did before? Hopefully we’ll get an answer on that soon.

Other new features are the new season vehicle: the motorboat, the ability to hide in small spaces, and the ability to fish and swim. The motorboat holds multiple players and can even move on land, albeit very slowly. It has it own weapon system, and players not driving, can fire their own weapons. Those players that like to play more like assassins can hide in places like barrels to get the jump on those unsuspecting, and those who like to take it easy can sit back and cast a fishing line, giving players a new way to acquire loot. 

Team rumble also got a makeover with the addition of Med Kits, Bandages, and common rarity items that were previously only seen in the Battle Royale modes. These medical themed items were joined by the entirely new concept of a bandage bazooka that gives me strong Baptiste from Overwatch vibes. It takes up two inventory slots and can be fired at allies to heal them, or fired at nothing to shoot out bandages. I personally think this is a great idea, but the fact that it takes up two inventory slots makes it kind of useless to me. Along with the bazooka, blast assault rifles were added as an alternative to the standard assault rifles, although they seem a little overpowered. 

Let’s not forget the seasons new cosmetic items with the addition of seven new season outfits, some of whom have alter egos: Journey vs Hazard, Turk vs Riptide, Rippley vs Sludge, Remedy vs Toxin, 8-ball vs Scratch, Cameo vs Chic, and Fusion. The one thing I wish for these characters is that they had more style options. Though we did get a lot of new things this season so maybe Epic gets a pass, or maybe we will get more as the season progresses and the missions unlock.

To unlock these skins and styles, players must progress through battle pass tiers which used to be separate from experience level, but now the two seem to be one in the same. To help expedite this process, the devs added new ways to gain experience, and new ways to track that progress. While in matches, players can earn medals to gain bonus XP. Once all the medals are unlocked players must wait until the next day to get them again. To accompany this, a new experience bar was added to the UI so players can see their progress while playing, which makes leveling feel like less of a grind.

Overall, these changes are a step in the right direction for Fortnite. Everything is bigger and better than it has ever been and I for one could  not be happier. The transition could have been a bit smoother or just more forthcoming with release dates, but for the most part there was little room for improvement. I give Fortnite’s “The End” event and the beginning of Chapter 2 Season 1 the rank of: