⭐ Games that receive this star have a score of 95% or above. This is purely from a game design perspective and is not in any way related to our morality evaluation.
Note: Fortnite is continually updated, often on a weekly basis. Because of this, catholicgamereviews.com tries to release a new review every in-game season. Each review will be based on the start of each season, but since new content is added throughout you may encounter things not mentioned in this review. I only cover the much more popular Battle Royale gamemode, but I have played a lot of the Save The World mode and can say most morality notices are pretty similar across the two.
There’s not much to update morality-wise this time since my last review, except to say that some of the Marvel characters are referred to as “Gods”, the same way they are in the official Marvel Universe, along with decreased prices for microtransactions. To save both readers and myself time, I won’t regurgitate the rest of the same stuff every new season so if you are curious about that and haven’t read it yet, take a look! The overall morality summary will still be at the bottom though, if you just want to check that. Either way, stick around if you want to hear all the new additions in Fortnite Season 4 from the viewpoint of a competitive catholic player!
For the first time since last October (The release of Season 1 of Fortnite Chapter 2) the Fortnite team pulled together and managed to release the new season on time. Season 2 was supposed to begin in early December. It was pushed back to late February. Season 3 was supposed to launch on April 30th. Instead, it was June 17th. This time, however, the start of Season 4 was announced to be August 27th, and it stayed that way. I wasn’t expecting to be writing about Fortnite again so soon, but I’m glad I am. Sit back and watch (read, I guess) me fanboy about the latest Season.
Many people had concerns with the theme of this Season leading up to it when we saw the teasers. This is the 3rd consecutive Season to feature a comic book superhero as part of the main “theme”. While it was beginning to get a little tiring, I think they mixed it up enough this time around to more than satisfy the players. Unlike Season 2 and 3 that had their own original story with the licensed superhero sort of just thrown in, this time they went all out. The theme/story IS the superheroes. Completely.
Although kind of cheesy, the story goes several characters from the Marvel universe have been summoned by Thor to the Fortnite Battle Royale Island. Galactus is on his way to consume the world. These heroes must team up with the Fortnite characters to stop Galactus before it is too late.
The heroes are:
- Jennifer Walters (She-Hulk)
- Groot, the living tree with a very limited vocabulary
- Storm, “Goddess” of the elements
- Scary Robot Man aka Doctor Doom
- Mystique, blue Black Widow*
- Tony Stark (Iron Man)
…..
- And Wolverine 🙂
All of the characters I just mentioned are available in the Battle Pass after Thor, in the same order as above (although Wolverine has exclusive “challenges” to unlock him.) While all this is really cool, it means the Pass is entirely made up of Marvel cosmetics. Because of this, every single thing you unlock is the “Marvel” rarity, which I imagine will make people’s lockers look weird, although that’s a pretty small gripe. Although I did say it is still cool, because IT IS.
Epic Games really went all out with the license. Every character has special cosmetics unique to themselves that reference Marvel lore, such as Jennifer Walters’ emote that transforms her into She-hulk, Thor’s Mjölnir glider, and my personal favorite, Mystique’s emote that copies the outfit of the last player you defeated (she is a shapeshifter in the comics).
The map itself doesn’t have as many changes as last season, unfortunately, but enough to keep things interesting. Pleasant Park has turned into Doom’s Domain, which houses the big guy himself and plenty of loot. Some Quinjets land randomly around the island every round, and house incredibly good loot, including the new mythic weapons and Stark robots that you can “hack” to make them join your team. I am a little unsure how I feel about the mythic weapons, as you can get multiple of the same kind from these locations and they seem a bit weaker than previous weapons of this rarity.
It’ll take some time to tell for sure whether this was a smart move on Epic’s part though.
On top of all this, Epic brought back weapons and items we haven’t seen in forever. This includes the combat shotgun, boogie bomb, and one of the community’s most loved traps, the bounce pad. Here’s a complete list of the changes made to the loot pool this season.
Unvaulted (returning) guns:
- Pump Shotgun
- Bandage Bazooka
- Revolver (Epic + Legendary variants ONLY)
- Scoped Assault rifle
- Tactical Submachine gun
- Combat Shotgun
Unvaulted Items & Traps:
- Shockwave Grenade
- Boogie Bomb
- Bounce Pad
- Port-a-fort (Rare variant ONLY)
Vaulted (temporarily removed) Guns:
- Tactical Shotgun
- Pistol (Epic + Legendary variants ONLY)
- Rapid-Fire SMG
- Hunting Rifle
Vaulted Items & Traps:
- Decoy Grenades
- Launch Pad
- Stink Bomb
New weapons + Items:
- Stark Industries Energy Rifle
Probably the biggest game-changer here is the return of the pump shotgun. Most of the community desperately wanted the pump back after it’s hiatus last season, and sure enough, it’s back. The combat shotgun returning seemed like a big deal as well, as it was incredibly powerful back in Chapter 1, but it’s damage has been reduced significantly this season. The charge shotgun is still here as well, and while I’m still not sure whether the pump is better than the charge, I can say for sure the combat is best to be avoided. Also, chest spawns are no longer 100% (much to many’s displeasure) so if you check out a spot you for sure thought had a chest and it isn’t there, no, you’re not going crazy.
Final thing: Fishing was given a massive update, with dozens of new types, including thermal fish that help you see other players clearly and jellyfish that provide and AOE healing affect. Each fish you reel in has a unique size, and the game tracks your biggest catches and compares it to those of your friends. It’s like a little mini game in itself, and I love it.
Although there are a few unfortunate changes, most Fortnite fans, casual and competitive, and even those who haven’t played in a while, will still be quite pleased when they check out this season. The positives outweigh the negatives. Beware though, the update – on PC at least – is a hefty 21 GB.
Positive scoring changes from this season are marked in GREEN. Negative changes are marked in RED. New morality notices are marked in PURPLE.
Scoring – 95% ⭐(EXCELLENT SHOOTER/BATTLE ROYALE GAME)
Graphics: 4/5
Controls: 5/5
Gameplay: 5/5
Replayability: 5/5*
*Thanks to the return of so many weapons and an increase in the size of the loot pool in general, I feel confident I can raise the replayability score from 4/5 to 5/5!
Morality/Parental Warnings
Language: Completely clean aside from select concerts/events
Sex/Nudity: Many of the female skins have revealing clothing, select male skins don’t have a shirt
Occult: Some skins themed after demons/the devil, wizards & witches, a few Marvel skins are referred to as Gods
Violence: Guns are realistic, but no blood/grotesque sounds present at all
Consumerism: Lots of expensive micro transactions, although prices have decreased slightly (20%)
