Fortnite

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–PUBLISHER: Epic Games | DEVELOPER: Epic Games –GENRE: Shooter | THEME: Cartoon, Fantasy –PLATFORM: Download | STATUS: Early Access (Battle Royale available)

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Fortnite is a sandbox mix of third-person shooter and building that was announced way back in 2011 by Epic Games, the acclaimed studio that created the first three games of the Gears of War. Think of Fortnite as a cartoonish take on the MineCraft formula, but with the technology that only the studio behind Gears of War is capable of offering – this is the first game that uses the Unreal Engine 4, so you can expect all kinds of bells and whistles to go with the colorful, cartoon look. Fortnite is a free-to-play game exclusive to the PC platform.

Fortnite Battle Royale is the free-to-play PvP mode where 100 players fight for survival in a battleground.

Epic Games isn't bothering too much with a story for Fortnite, since the focus of the game is building and shooting demons. Players have to build and strengthen their forts by targeting a surface and choosing a material, from wood to stone and metal, so that they can build everything needed: floors, walls, windows, stairs, several types of defense mechanisms such as spikes, turrets, mines and more. The zombies, or Husks, will spawn from giant storm clouds that may be closed if the team manages to use a device called Atlas. Several campaigns are available, with different lengths that can range from 10 to 20 or even 50 hours. Campaigns are procedurally-generated and feature plenty of destructible elements. Players have to gather materials and build their forts before nightfall, when the zombie storm comes. Players only survive if they manage to close the storm clouds and when the morning comes it's time to repair the fort.

Four character classes are known at the time of writing: the Constructor builds faster with less resources; the Ninja has a double-jump ability and is an expert at melee, as well as having katanas, shurikens and smoke bombs; the Commando is a class skilled at combat and the use of firearms; the Scavenger is great at gathering resources faster than the others. Obviously, cooperation between all classes is essential to defeat the enemies and more classes are going to be added along the way.