Fortnite Ballistic (PS5) Review

 

Fortnite Ballistic is the new FPS mode in Fortnite Battle Royale, which released on the 11th of December 2024. You play in 5v5 rounds, in which one team has to plant a bomb, in this case a 'Rift Point device', while the other team has to defuse it or eliminate the attacking team. The first team which wins 7 rounds, wins the match. It's the same gamemode, like in every of the Counter Strike games or Valorant for example. Even the buy menu for weapons and items in between rounds is nearly identical to that of Counter Strike. So its very clear where Fortnite Ballistic took its inspiration from. The important questions however are: Is it fun? And can it compete it with the best in the genre?

Fortnite in my opinion has never been a FPS and will never be a FPS. Call of Duty tried something similar, when they introduced a third person mode in the Modern Warfare 2 Remake. It was an entertaining gimmick, but it was never a serious gamemode. Call of Duty in third person just felt clunky and scuffed. The same can also be said about the Apex Legends third person LTM from a couple of years back.

Fortnite is good at being a third-person shooter, but the first person gameplay never felt smooth, when they introduced the first person weapons in the later chapters of Fortnite Battle Royale. They now just took the same scuffed FPS gameplay without any improvements and put it into Ballistic to base a whole gamemode around it. All the weapons in Ballistic are from Chapter 5. Another controversial decision to exclusively use weapons from the least popular chapter in Fortnite history. To be fair, I think they just did it because it was a lot less work and they could just copy and paste it.

This is generally a problem of Ballistic. This mode doesn't just feel a bit scuffed, but also quite lazy. I know a lot of people will excuse this by saying it is just "Early Access", but what does that even really mean nowadays anymore? Ballistic launched with a single map (!) and hasn't made any gameplay tweaks for this mode to accommodate Fortnite to a pure FPS mode. I don't think Fortnite could ever be an amazing FPS, but there is a lot more potential in this sidemode, if they would at least put some effort into it. There was no reason to rush this mode out. They could have taken some time, polish the actual experience and release it, when it's actually ready.

There is two other really big issues with Ballistic. Apart from the generally clunky feeling, the first person weapons have less aim-assist than the third person weapons in Fortnite. This would already be a significant disadvantage for console players, but Fortnite also uses the same sensitivity settings for both first and third person aiming, which is of course idiotic. You will now have to choose between changing your settings every time you switch gamemodes or having to play with subpar aiming sensitivity in Ballistic. A lot of the other gamemodes offer separate settings and Epic desperately needs to bring this to Ballistic as well. I am playing a lot of both Console and PC games and this lack of aim assist and sensitivity options is giving most console players a noticeable disadvantage against PC players.

The other big problem is the broken matchmaking in Ballistic. There is a non-ranked version of Ballistic, but for most players it won't even let you queue and result in multiple matchmaking errors. But even if you get into a match in the ranked version, the majority of my matches didn't even start with 5v5s, but with 5v4s or sometimes even 5v3s. The filling up of lobbies doesn't seem to work right. There is supposedly also a disconnect penalty, but I haven't played a single match in a couple of hours of Ballistic were there wasn't at least one disconnect per match. This completely ruins the balance of the gamemode and takes a lot of fun out of it. Letting newer players join during an ongoing match might not be ideal, but it would probably still be better than having matches with uneven player numbers. Nobody enjoys winning a 5v3 or 5v2.

 

Result:

Fortnite Ballistic in its current state is a disappointing gamemode. I have heard some people call it a "Call of Duty or Counter Strike Killer". These people are either trolling or are completely delusional. You can definitely have some fun, but Ballistic is lightyears away from being able to compete with the best games in the genre. I don't think it will ever reach that greatness, but it at least could have the potential to become "very good", which would be absolutely fine for a sidemode in Fortnite. They will have to improve the scuffed FPS feeling of the gamemode, at least offer us separate sensitivity settings for third and first person aiming, fix the broken matchmaking and release at minimum 2-3 other maps. I didn't expect them to launch with a dozen maps, but a single one is pretty pathetic contentwise.

In its current state Fortnite Ballistic gets a 5.5/10 from me. I do think there is a potential for Ballistic to one day maybe reach a 7-8, but that's only if Epic puts in the necessary effort and polish.

 

5.5/10

While Mom's Away (PC) Review

 

While Mom's Away is a goofy and chaotic FPS, which recently released on Steam. The big twist of the game is, that all weapons are everyday objects, like a chips tin and a pizza box as Assaults Rifles and Smgs, a satellite dish as a sniper rifle and a hair dryer as a flamethrower.

Every match has a couple of different minigame rounds. In 'Trophy Steal' you have to hold a gold trophy for the longest time, while the other players have to eliminate you to get the trophy for themselves. In 'Bomb Em All' the last players holding on to bombs are exploding. In one game mode a team has to steal blueprints from the other teams base and there are also 'King of the Hill' and short 'Battle Royale' rounds. The performance of each player in every round is being rewarded with points and the player, who first reaches the point limit, crowns himself the champion of the match.

There are 7 maps in total, which are all rather small and arena like designed. On the one hand, it does fit the gameplay somewhat well, but the maps do look and feel quite similar. A bigger selection and variety would have helped the game to stand out more. There is a Level Editor ingame, which is nice, but since there are barely any players, you will not really encounter any custom maps, which could freshen things up.

The movement speed is quite fast in this game, which adds to the arena feel and in combination with the weapons, gives the game a bit of a chaotic feeling. Nevertheless, the gameplay is overall enjoyable, even though not groundbreaking in any sense of the word.

 

Result:

While Mom's Away is a fun, little FPS, best played in small bursts with a couple of friends. The weapon selection is amusing, but otherwise nothing out of the ordinary. The gameplay is entertaining, but after about an hour, you will have seen everything the game has to offer. More maps, gamemodes and most of all players, would have really improved the experience. The funny weapons may make it worth a look nonetheless.

 

6.5/10

The OG Mode in Fortnite get's too much hate (Opinion)

 

Today we are going to talk a little bit about OG Fortnite, the new Chapter 1 gamemode for Fortnite Battle Royale. I have recently seen, that not only a lot of Youtubers are full of criticism for this mode, but there also seem to be a lot of Fortnite players, who are apparently dissatisfied with the new mode.

"OG Fortnite is dead!", "OG Fortnite messed up big time" and "OG Fortnite in real trouble" are just some of the headlines you can read out there. I personally however think it has despite some flaws been a major success.

Let's take a look on some of the most brought up points of criticism:

1. The Mode isn't enough OG! The game is using a different UI now, than back in the day. The Visual engine is obviously also different and they haven't brought back the old school Movement for this mode.

2. There are now Bots in OG Fortnite! This point in particular seems to enrage a lot of players.

3. Another point of criticism is that there are too many tryhard players returning to Fortnite!

It's funny how some of the points of criticism nearly contradict each other, but okay. I have to admit that some of the criticism is perfectly justified, especially for OG Fortnite purists, but a lot of it also seems hypocritical. For example, we have had Bots since Chapter 2 in every single season. This system in OG Fortnite is exactly the same it has been in every of the seasons of the last 4-5 years of Fortnite. I can understand players, who refuse to have any kind of Bots in their matches, but I don't understand people saying they have enjoyed Fortnite in some of previous seasons, perhaps even in the current Chapter 6, but somehow the Implementation of Bots in OG Fortnite completely breaks the mode for them.

I also think Bots are not that much of a problem, to be honest. They help newer players to not quit immediately and are usually not too many to really distract. Most matches have probably between 10-30 Bots. These 90 Bot lobby tales are mostly nightmare stories of new player accounts. This criticism seems really exaggerated in my opinion.

I have a pretty similar view on skill-based matchmaking and tryhards in Fortnite. The game has sweats in every gamemode. That is just part of the game and was, apart from maybe the immediate beginning, never any different.

I personally would have been fine with Epic doing a 1:1 copy of the original Fortnite, so I can understand the purists to some degree. Overall however, I think they managed to strike a really healthy balance of new mechanics and old in the OG Mode. The Chapter 1 map returned exactly as before, which alone would have made me extremely happy, but we are also getting back all the different seasonal map changes and all the different story live events. This is just amazing.

The new visual engine might be different, but the old map still looks great regardless. Some of the new mechanics, like Sprinting and item usage for example, may be different this time, but they are certainly not too distracting for me. Some might even see them as plus points. Other new mechanics, like the Zero Build Modes or Respawns from Season 1 onwards, are just fantastic and make the OG Mode even more special for me this time around than in the original Chapter 1.

 

Result:

Fortnite is in my opinion, the only major Battle Royale game, which manages to successfully combine Classic Fortnite and Modern Fortnite players.

Perhaps the implementation is not perfect and some OG purists have a reason to be a bit angry, but Fortnite did a much better job here than Warzone or Apex Legends and I am saying that as someone, who would probably name Peak Apex as his favourite Battle Royale Game of all time. Apex only brought back its OG LTM for a meager two weeks. Warzone players on the other hand have been begging for a Verdansk return since years. Instead, Activision Blizzard just permanently shutdown the in my opinion, superior Warzone 1, to spite its playerbase.

Fortnite is the only one, who gets it right and will therefore with almost certainty be the biggest BR Game for the next 1-2 years guaranteed. The OG mode will of course sometimes have less players than Chapter 6, but especially when new OG seasons launch or events happen, I think it will even surpass the Chapter 6 main mode.

Battle Crush (PC) Review

 

Battle Crush is an isometric Battle Royale game from NCSoft, which is often being compared to some Mobas (it even self identifies as a Moba on their own homepage). While the isometric perspective might be similar to that of most Mobas games, Battle Crush is clearly a Brawler Battle Royale Game. Apart from the fact, that you can collect items around the map to improve your character during the matches, there are no other Moba elements in the game. In fact, Battle Crush reminded me a lot more of the Brawler Game 'Divine Knockout' from Hirez. Both games share a similar bright cartoonish visual style and the same scenario of ancient gods fighting each other. Just that Divine Knockout was a third-person Arena Brawler instead. 

The gameplay of Battle Crush is neither extremely complex nor overly simple. The game offers 4 different attacks for every character and a few items, which can be collected per match. In comparison to games like Dota 2 or League of Legends it might seem a bit simple, but in contrast to 1 button autoplay mobile games, it seems appropriate. Giving it more gameplay options would have probably made it too hard for Switch and mobile players to compete with the PC crowd. The gameplay is overall enjoyable, but also neither stunning nor unique in any aspect. 

Battle Crush offers Solo and Trio Battle Royale matches for up to 30 players and also smaller scale Brawl and Duel modes for 1v1 action. The later ones reminded me a bit of Battlerite.

Battle Crush released in late June 2024 on Steam, Nintendo Switch and mobile devices. Around 5 months later the game will be shutdown on the 29th of November 2024. The big question is obviously "how could this happen?". The Steam playerbase is of course only a part of the total playerpool, but Battle Crush lost 90% of their players within the first month and they didn't launch with a gigantic playerbase in the first place. If I had to guess than I would assume this might be linked to the game not offering anything particularly unique or memorable. The scenario and visuals, as mentioned, were quite similar to Divine Knockout and also gameplay wise we have seen similar games. There are other isometric Battle Royale games like Battlerite Royale and Eternal Return, who offer a very similar gameplay experience. Most players probably played Battle Crush for a week and moved on to other games afterwards, since Battle Crush didn't leave enough of an impression on them.

 

Result:

Battle Crush isn't a bad game, whose failure was predetermined. The gameplay is fine, but nothing we haven't seen before in other games as well. Moba players didn't have a big incentive to leave their usual games, neither did classic brawler fans. And even fans of isometric Battle Royale games in the style of Moba games, didn't really have a reason to leave Battlerite Royale or Eternal Return for Battle Crush. The game didn't manage to make a big splash upon release and unfortunately that's part of the live service game curse. You either hit it big from the get-go or risk getting shutdown soon after.

 

6.5/10

Lights Off (PC) Review

 

Lights Off is a short Horror Game by The Dollar Game Store, which is based on the idea of turning all the lights out at night before you got to bed. Since the game turned out to be rather successful for an Indie game, it even got a remake in the form of Lights Off Directors Cut. As that is more of a reimagining than a remaster, I will be reviewing it in a separate article. Today we are just focussing on the original Lights Off. 

The game uses a very simple Pixel visual design and the gameplay is also very basic. Lights Off is a walking simulator, in which you can turn off light switches and go to bed. A bit more gameplay elements would have really enriched the experience. It doesn't need to be much, but even just the options to look at a book or turning on the TV, would have been immersive additions.

The concept is interesting. Turning off all the light switches and walking through your pitch black home is a scenario everyone can relate to. I also like how the game doesn't immediately tries to scare you to death. The pacing is quite nice and procedurally increases. That being said, Lights Off is another of these small Horror games with a cool concept, which is just way to short. You will beat this game in less than 10 minutes, which is just too brief. I also have to question the sanity of the protagonist. After the things that happened during the first couple of days I wouldn't be able to keep living there and falling asleep at the same home. The ending of the game might be fitting, but the execution is unfortunately subpar and leaves a bit to be desired.

 

Result:

Lights Off is another of these promising Indie Horror games, which has a great premise, but doesn't manage to live up to its potential. I really like the scenario and pacing of the game, but its short length and lack of gameplay elements unfortunately limit its impact. Most of the scary elements feel too passive. It will be interesting to see whether the director's cut remake can improve these areas.

 

5.8/10