LEGO Fortnite just came out and it’s already one of the most promising collaborations in the history of gaming. That’s great, but what exactly is it? Does it play like Fortnite Battle Royale but with tiny LEGO characters? Is it more like the original Fortnite, the one about fighting off waves of zombies that I swear once existed but nobody remembers anymore? Well, not really.
Is LEGO Fortnite like Minecraft?
If we are to liken it to any game in existence, that game is Minecraft, yes. LEGO Fortnite asks players to put down their weapons and instead begin cooperating to craft and build cool stuff together. Just like Minecraft, LEGO Fortnite allows you to play in either sandbox (creative) or survival mode. This means that players can either enjoy creating whatever they want without fear of getting their fun cut short by cute but deadly animals, or try to survive life in the controlled wilderness together. Those who miss the combat of Fortnite will probably enjoy the survival mode more, as it will also allow players to fight skeletons and wild animals.
Regardless of which mode you choose, LEGO Fortnite allows you to explore a map nearly 20 times bigger than the current Fortnite Battle Royale island, and fill it with the coolest LEGO-inspired creations that you can come up with.
So far, the only aspect that I find disappointing is the lack of freeform mining that exists in Minecraft. My favorite thing about Minecraft is that you can create your mine anywhere, because the game allows you to destroy any block in existence. You can’t destroy the entire map in LEGO Fortnite, which means you’ll have to find caves, and these caves will only have specific areas designated for mining. That’s a limitation alright, but not likely one bad enough to hinder the fun of most players.
What does Epic Games want of LEGO Fortnite
Back in October, Sergiy Galyonkin, Epic Games’s then-director of publishing strategy, announced that he was leaving the company as he claimed that it wanted to make Epic 5.0 a “platform”. That cryptic objective, along with the layoff of hundreds of workers, made fans fear the arrival of yet another metaverse that nobody wanted. LEGO Fortnite might be the company’s first step in that direction, but, to the surprise of many, may prove a move that many will end up enjoying. Only time will tell.
You can now play LEGO Fortnite simply by accessing it via your regular Fortnite Battle Royale client, and this is far from over for Epic. The company is set to bring two more huge reinforcements to Fortnite very shortly. On December 8th, you’ll be able to play Rocket Racing, a new game by the makers of Rocket League. On December 9th, you’ll get to play Fortnite Festival, a new music game by the makers of Rock Band.
