Battle Royale Games Thread

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As I’m sure most gamers are aware, “Battle Royale” games are currently very high in popularity at the moment. Games like Fortnite, PUBG, H1Z1 King Of The Kill, ARK: Survival of the Fittest, and some up-and-coming games like Radical Heights (which is currently in early access on Steam only) have been drawing high numbers of both players and viewers, and while the various BR games/modes have a variety of styles and levels of quality, it appears we’re looking at the start of a brand new “major genre” of game, as opposed to the passing fad BR games were originally viewed as. In case you aren’t familiar with the Battle Royale style, 100 players are dropped into a very large map and must scavenge weapons, ammunition, armor, and health items to survive. Players are eliminated if they are killed, and the last person (or team) standing wins! All BR games have some variation of a “safe zone” mechanic, which gradually forces players closer together while fleeing from a constricting zone of death, ensuring that the final battles of a match are likely to be chaotic and close quarters.

Personally, I’ve been bitten pretty hard by the Battle Royale bug, and have been playing an absolutely massive amount of Fortnite BR. At the time of this post, I’ve scored 52 solo wins, and a mix of around 20 wins between 4-person-Squads and Duos. I really enjoy how well the game runs, the mildly cartoony art style, and the blistering frequency (near weekly) of updates, patches, new game modes, and additional weapons or items being added to the game! I believe that they are following the perfect model for a free to play game as well, given that all aspects of gameplay (even the special limited time modes) are available to every single player, and the purchases you can make are cosmetic only, offering zero advantage (other than ease of visibility, I suppose; but the map is so varied you’ll never find a color which blends into everything).

I’m a fan of PUBG as well, but it doesn’t run very well on my 6-years-old desktop, or my Xbox One S (though I hear it runs much smoother and crisper on a XOne X, which i’m planning to get over the summer)and so it’s much rarer for me to jump on there, although I did manage to finally get my very first solo win back in December, which felt pretty awesome! I believe they’re coming out with their third map soon, and I know they’ve added a bunch of guns and equipment items since the last time I played, too.

I thought it would be fun to discuss BR games with others in our community who may (or may not) already play them, share news about victories, game updates, etc.

Do you play any BR games yourself, have any stories to share, or are looking to team up with people you may know from the KI community? Post away!

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I’m really glad you are enjoying these games. I have played Fortnight BR and, while I can certainly see the appeal this probably isn’t the game for me. My nephew is completely hooked, however and plays constantly.

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I played Fortnight as well. I can’t stand the bullet spread, and the building aspect. Using a sniper and not having my shots be near the center while crouched and not moving, is bad game design imo. Guy sitting perfectly still and I’ve had my sight on him for 2sec and my shot goes wide left. He doesn’t notice. I take another shot and it’s wide right. I tossed my sniper on the ground.

If I get the chance to play PUBG, I think I’ll be happier with the genre, but I just can’t stand Fortnight.

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Today a team friend convinced me to play Fortnite. I played like 4 matches and it was fun, I’ll keep on playing it.
What about Ark? I’m a dinosaur fan! is it good??

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I don’t know what Ark is like right now. But the first few playable iterations were a really promising mess. I want to love it but it’s impossoble for me to recommend.

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tried fortnite about a week, it was total garbage so i just went back to UT. if i was getting shot at, id just put up a wall. wtf BS is that lmao. it ran good, good latency, and responsive weapons though. this is my opinion, those who enjoy it should continue to play.

pubg, also garbage. crap netcode, crap shooting mechanic that is cumbersome, and overall just crap game. the trigger delay on hip fire is also very bad and for a while it had me thinking i lost my fps skills. until i played an fps game and started a massacre. the guns sound amazing though…and thats all its got going for it imo.

for me battle royale games are pure ■■■■. i dont like the concept, id rather just do an arena shooter and get right into the action rather than looting for 10min and kill for 3 before i die or i win. i gave the genre a good try, but nah i feel like my free time is being wasted which is alrdy limited

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So are any of these battle royale games actually finished? I know fortnite is in an infinite “beta” and pubg is Early Access as is ark survival and h1z1. What’s up with this genre and unfinished games?

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What I really want to know is why did this genre get so popular so fast. It used to be a niche community and now I can’t even walk the halls without some people talking about Fortnite. It’s not even that good of a game. It’s decent at best. It’s fun sure but surely not game of the year.

Either way, I’d be down to play with anyone of you in Fortnite. I usually don’t play it (unlike my brother lol) but it’s a good game to just chill. I probably won’t be playing to win keep in mind :yum:

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I like Fortnite. It’s like a game of chess IMO.

Sure, there is some mechanical skill with the shooting and what not. However, I like the building aspect of it. It’s like, can I outbuild you/tear it down in a way where I make you move and react the way I want? Most of the time of you shoot at people, they will build. So how can I make a huge play, knowing you have the same chance to win like I do?

(That’s just how I see it lol)

Plus, the Impulse Grenades in Fortnite are like the best thing ever. Makes me feel like a superhero flying through the air over structures and onto buildings go win battles. I have a lot of fun with it. I do goofy stuff, and all sorts of different things I don’t think people would do in order to win.

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I think the genre lends itself to the “continuous update model” and is relatively easy to produce in a “this basically works” format. So I think they are just positioning themselves appropriately. I mean, it’s clearlg a different world. Look at the “KI is complete” thread. 20 years ago that would have meant the game was almost ready to be purchased. Now people act like a finished game is dead. This isn’t new to BR games, they are just taking it to its logical conclusion.

A couple of things certainly contributed. 1, these games make for compelling Twitch viewing. Without Twitch, PUBG is not a thing. Guaranteed. Second, Fortnight BR is free, which greatly accelerated the number of players an obviously many of them got hooked. After that, it’s basically the same as any other trend. The more popular it gets, the more people play. The more people play the more popular it gets. We will see if this is a “flash in the pan” or if it is here to stay.

As in many things in life, “good games” are subjective - although you can certainly point out objective flaws (crashes, instability, janky controls). GTA and CoD have been the best selling games forever, and I think both of those games are crap. But they appeal to huge numbers of people.

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Don’t much care for Battle Royales from what I’ve played of Fortnite, but I can see the appeal of a PvP online shooter mixed with sandbox survival. Fortnite is fun but I’d rather play other things that feel less… frivolous, I guess?

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battle royale is more fun with friends, solo its a snooze fest

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I’m actually amazed to read this, considering I actually spend more time running solo matches than with friends! I enjoy run and gun style shooters like COD, strategic shooters like Rainbow Six, larger scale ones like Battlefield, etc. In all of these types, I prefer to play (not necessarily stealth) roam-and-hunt style, finding my enemy and taking them out from unexpected angles or while they’re occupied. This is definitely possible in BR games, and it’s my preferred playstyle there, too. But watching other people play, there are a ton of playstyles which are supported, between builders, snipers, run-and-gunners, etc.

I do enjoy playing with friends when people are available, but running solo allows me to play how I want, wherever on the map I want, so I can always play the game the way I feel most comfortable with.

I don’t see BR games as “unfinished” in any fashion, there are constant updates which serve to benefit the game as a whole. The only BR games I’ve closely followed were the original H1Z1 (before it split into two games), PUBG (where the updates add additional weapons, cosmetics (I think), and new maps) and Fortnite (which adds new items, guns, and cosmetics on a fairly regular basis, with occasional updates to add or change Points of Interest on the map, as well as holiday-themed items and special events).

Besides balance changes, other games (say like COD or Battlefield) tend to have much less often content updates, and those they do have often stem around DLC releases, which usually must be purchased on top of the original purchase of the game.

Personally what draws me to Fortnite besides the general gameplay is how there is no way to actually start at an advantage in a match, besides personal skill level. Sure, landing speed, landing location, and luck play a part too, but in many other shooters where you choose a loadout to spawn with, or can spawn into a vehicle of some sort, those with more playtime (or a bigger wallet in some cases) are often given a large boost in power due to the loadouts, combinations, or tiers of items and powerups they have access to. Dropping into the match with nothing but a pickaxe every time may strike some as tedious, but I’m glad I don’t have to worry about starting on uneven footing outside of what loot I or my opponents find. On a negative side regarding Fortnite, the speed of building can certainly be a frustration, as well as the random missed bullets from “bloom”.

Just personal preference, of course, and I don’t expect everyone will like the same things I do for the same reasons I do. but I thought it was worth sharing.

I’d be curious to hear what you don’t like about it, specifically, since your openness to playing matches of it makes me wonder!

I’m not sure when you played Fortnite, but I do know a recent update made some adjustments to shooting. The random misses via bloom are still there, but the gunplay generally feels a lot more accurate. If you’re standing still your first shot is now exactly accurate, but most weapons do lose a little bit of damage over time. I think snipers have always (or at least for a long time) been dead-on accurate as well, though they do suffer from bullet drop. Were you using one of the unscoped hunting rifles maybe? I haven’t used those enough to know, but it’s entirely possible bloom has an effect there.

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i find it boring because to me its just another version of counter strike with looting. at least with my friends i can talk ■■■■ with them and sometimes shoot em in the leg while shouting we are under attack lol

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AFAIK, that update happened before I played. I was definitely using a scope sniper rifle, and accounted for drop. The spread (or “bloom”) was very much present in a long range situation.

I’m also just not a fan of the game’s artistic style, and gameplay regarding building and rarity of weapons in a BR type setting. That and rocket launchers. The BR mode in Fortnight just feels tacked on, whereas I get more enjoyment from watching Pubg, and get the feeling that the devs are focused on the game 100%. Fortnight’s dev team feels like they’re more focused on making crazy stuff, and not balancing the game.

But that’s just my 2 cents from watching RT play Fortnight, and for trying it out myself for about an hour.