Fortnite (Nintendo Switch) Review

As mentioned before, Fortnite is simple to understand; you are placed on a map with 99 other players, and the last one standing (or last team depending on the mode being played) is the winner. There's a variety of different guns and items to find around the world, although you always start each match with a pickaxe that can be used as a melee weapon so that you aren't completely defenceless.

This pickaxe is used to play a big role in one of the game's other central mechanics, which is building structures. You can destroy many of the objects around, from lampposts, to boxes, and even entire buildings. Breaking down objects gives you materials, which can be used to build things like ascending staircases or pathways.

Before you even think about building anything, though, you always have to make sure the coast is clear. When playing solo, there's a lot of tension when wandering around the map, forcing you to keep an eye out for potential foes all around. This gets more and more prevalent as the match proceeds, and the game forces you towards a certain part of the map with its Storm Eye mechanic, killing you if not making it closer and closer to that spot in time.

This means matches are always interesting for multiple reasons: the beginning of a match is a frantic rush to get weapons and supplies to avoid someone ambushing you, the middle of the match is a nice cooldown as you journey to the "safe" point of the map to avoid being affected by the Storm Eye, until the match ramps up again at the end where there's nowhere to run and you have to fight to the death.

Dying very early into a match does happen sometimes, but that just makes getting further into a match that much more exciting. Starting out as a new player encourages you to keep getting better, and pushes you to try and see how intense things get the more you play and the better you become. Grasping the game's mechanics is easy enough, but there's still lots to think about and a healthy amount of depth that will keep players coming back to see how much they have improved over time.

Fortnite has a few other modes that cycle out every so often, but they are arguably far less interesting. The frequently recurring 50v50 mode in particular is a notable step down; you are split into two different teams, and can only deal damage to the opposing team. There's a lot less suspense and intensity here, since you have so many less players to worry about. It also has the noticeable issue where many matches end up being almost completely one-sided; close rounds feel like they almost never happen, and as a whole it just doesn't feel as exciting as the regular format.

Again, this is one of several cycling modes, but it's worth bringing up since the developer has discussed making it a permanent mode due to its popularity. Although even then, this mode is still completely optional, and the normal mode is always available, so this really isn't even that big of a complaint in the first place. After all, 50v50 mode is popular for a reason, even if it isn't necessarily everyone's cup of tea.

How's the Switch port itself, then? Well, all things considered, it's pretty good. There are some graphical downgrades, and going from 60fps to 30fps is a downer, but it's still an impressive port overall. It runs well in handheld mode especially, and seeing a game like this run on a handheld device just at all is great.

The PvE Save the World mode isn't in this version, but that mode isn't the current appeal of Fortnite anyway. Instead, it's the feverishly addictive and satisfying Battle Royale mode that really matters, and Fortnite on Switch has that, along with easy to use voice chat and cross-platform play with PC, Mac, Mobile, and Xbox One versions of the game, and even gyro controls in the latest update.