Should I not have done that?
Epic is showing no signs of plans to remove the controversial mech-like B.R.U.T.E. from Fortnite, saying the powerful new combat option helps in the studio’s mission “to bring players of all skill levels together to have a fun experience where anyone can win.”
The launch of the B.R.U.T.E. earlier this month has been one of the biggest changes in the game’s short history, letting two players team up in an armored automaton to hurl a barrage of missiles at relatively tiny, mech-less opponents. Angry players have been flooding online forums and social media with clips showing overpowered mechs destroying other players, claiming the addition is ruining the competitive balance of the game.
A sample reaction (edited, of course, to reflect the refined sensibilities of this cultured and classy website):
I [expletive deleted] hate everything about these [expletive deleted] mechs, they can go [expletive deleted] themselves. If Epic Games is watching my stream, go [expletive deleted] yourself until you take these out of the game because they don’t [expletive deleted] do anything positive. They’re all negative. [expletive deleted] yourself.
No, tell us how you really feel.
I don’t play Fortnite, but I can kind of maybe guess what’s happening here. What’s happening here might be that a bunch of people with a particular style of winning the game are suddenly discovering that their go-to strategy of rapidly building giant structures and then sniping from them apparently don’t work too good against two guys in an armored mecha firing missiles. Although I imagine that it’s absolutely hysterical to watch, as long as you’re not the guy on the wrong end of the missiles.
My apologies by the way if any of my readers had to keep from ragequitting because a B.R.U.T.E. came out of nowhere and proceeded to be utter bull[expletive deleted], man. You, I will sympathize with. Some of these other guys? Mayyyyybe not so much.
I play Fortnite. I am on, shall we say, the high end of the age range for the players. For the non-players, it has 4 PVP modes- solo, duo, squads (4 people) and everything else. Personally, I tend to play in the “everything else” category, which includes the 20 v 20 mode that I normally play. It has no competitive scene. No prizes. No ranking. Epic often forgets that it’s in the game. The mechs in game aren’t battlemechs, they’re fairly fragile. A lone player can take one down if neither player in the thing figures out where the shots are coming from fast enough. And 3-4 players can take one down fairly quickly. It’s a non-factor over there.
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Over in the other three leagues, where the actual “pro” players are, mechs are only really a factor in one of them. In squads, if your 4 person squad is intact, you can focus fire a mech down fast and then take out the two people in the mech as they exit before it explodes. If you don’t have an intact squad, well, honestly,you weren’t going to win anyway. In solos, these are not one person vehicles. If you drive, you can’t shoot, just stomp. If a gunner, you can’t move. If you somehow make it to a final circle, yeah, maybe you might prevail there but you’re the biggest, easiest to shoot target there. You’re giving up a lot of defense and offense to be in a mech. It’s only really in duos where the mechs become an issue.
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And here’s the thing- Fortnite’s selling point is that it changes all the time. You play Dota? The map will never change. Same for CS:GO or PUBG or Halo or anything else. But Fortnite is constantly changing the map and the weapons available and the modes of transportation, etc. And the people complaining are people complaining about the basic theme of the game. Fortnite pros should be able to cope with the whole “Whoops. Took your favorite weapon out of drops before the tourney this weekend. Have fun!” thing or else they’re not really pros. And honestly, I spent last night watching a duos team from a gaming website consisting of one newbie and one more experienced player playing duos, grabbing mechs and generally just having fun. They were having a blast and mostly being completely non-competitive. They got to fourth place once, but generally ended in the 20s. If the choice is between them and the “raging at others having fun” or the “I should be curbstomping these noobs. How dare they have a chance!” guy, I gotta go with the casuals.
I’m quite fond of it.
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Not because I play Fortnight.
I don’t.
I’ve tried it, it’s not my cup of tea, but lots of people really enjoy it.
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I like it because a lot of Fortnight players have been inspired to try Titanfall 2 because of it. (And like the Apex Legends wave before them, many of them are sticking around, because it’s simply one of the best games for this generation of consoles.)
It’s always nice when matchmaking takes under 30 seconds.
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Advice to anyone thinking of joining the happy crowd:
Play the solo campaign first. It’s short, it’s darn good, and it’ll give you a very solid introduction to the mechanics and tempo.
Don’t try to camp a rooftop with a Spitfire in PvP. There’s too much mobility in the game (not to mention kewl powerz) for this to be a sound tactic. Also, veterans of the game will actively hunt you down as a point of pride.
You will die. A lot. And respawn within seconds to seek your revenge. It’s full-bore balls-to-the-wall gonzo. Computer players might as well put a weight on the W key to hold it down.
Skill-based matchmaking is in effect. So don’t worry too much about getting pub-stomped. (This does not apply to PvE Frontier Defense. Playing this and trying to keep up with the vets will help you improve rapidly.) The downside is that you’ll most likely be matched into a single game mode, over and over again. (Attrition *is* one of the best modes, but some variety is nice.)