Fortnite next-gen impressions: Sweet victory royale

With the continuous success and popularity of Fortnite, it’s no surprise that developer and publisher Epic Games was eager to bring the game to the Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5. Like several other titles, Fortnite’s next-gen version is more than a port. The game hosts a number of graphical and technical improvements while maintaining its quality gameplay.

Next-gen facelift

Fortnite has already seen a number of massive visual overhauls over the past few years, and gets yet another facelift on the next-gen consoles. On both PS5 and Series X, Fortnite can now run at 4K 60 FPS, a gorgeous and smooth upgrade from its predecessors. The game’s cartoonish art style really lends itself to these upgrades, as the characters and locations look stunning. That being said, it is a bit disappointing that there are no options for ray tracing on either console, as we know they’re both capable of it.

Like just about every other game running on a PS5 or Xbox Series X, Fortnite boasts some speedy load times. With it being a battle royale, players will find themselves frequently jumping in and out of matches. On last gen, load times were so rough that players could potentially load into a game after the battle bus had already begun its route. This issue is eliminated on next-gen as load times are slashed across the board. It’s hard not to feel like a broken record, but the new SSD tech in both the PS5 and Series X make load times a non issue. 

Getting physical

Epic Games has made efforts to improve Fortnite’s physics engine recently, and this continues on next gen. Now, players will notice that the grass and trees react more realistically to explosions. Although Fortnite has never chased realism, it’s cool to see trees and grass realistically respond to blasts from grenades or launchers. 

Playing on the PS5, I was really impressed with how Epic Games uses the DualSense to further immerse players into the world. Vibration is used pretty generously, from the menus and UI to gameplay itself. When riding in the battle bus, I could feel my controller strongly vibrate on the right side as jets sped past. In battle, the triggers have a bit of a pull to them when firing, and there’s some solid vibration upon landing shots, giving much more weight to combat. 

Fortnite also makes it very easy to transfer progress, as players will simply need to enter the login information used to previously play the battle royale. Rewards and stats are immediately available, and the game still includes full cross-play support. 

Victory royale

Fortnite’s next-gen version is a solid upgrade for the battle royale. Fans of the game will enjoy the increased load times, with a buttery smooth FPS rate and pretty graphics. Epic Games’ Fortnite stands as one of the most notable titles with a full next-gen upgrade.

Donovan Erskine

News Editor

Donovan is a journalist from Maryland. His oldest gaming memory is playing Pajama Sam on his mom's desktop during weekends. Pokémon Emerald, Halo 2, and the original Star Wars Battlefront 2 were some of the most influential titles in awakening his love for video games. After interning for Shacknews throughout college, Donovan graduated from Bowie State University in 2020 with a major in broadcast journalism and joined the team full-time. He is a huge film fanatic and will talk with you about movies and games all day. You can follow him on twitter @Donimals_