PubG and Fortnite

The battle royale format has become a huge thing over the last year or so. Having a large amount of players running around, trying to be the last one standing sounds like a great plan, so there’s no wonder it’s become as big as it is. Today, I’m going to be looking at the two biggest of the BR genre, Playerunknown’s Battlegrounds (or PubG for short) and Fortnite.

Before we start, the term “Battle Royale” may need a little context for people. You remember watching wrestling? Remember the huge Royal Rumble events they would have where tonnes of people enter the ring and it’s the last man standing? The BR genre is pretty much that, but with more guns.

Out of the two games we’re looking at today, PubG takes a more realistic route (realistic guns, damage, terrain, style and the like), whereas Fortnite goes for a more cartoony stylised look and keeps that going with plinky plunky gun sounds. This creates a nice contrast of the two games, despite how similar they are in function. Both games have gained a huge following over the last year with their addictive gameplay and ease of access, Fortnite a bit more so than PubG thanks to its solid connectivity but we’re not here to point fingers or declare a winner… well, yes we are in a sense but shut up I’m making a point!

Battle royale games have such a big player base because the rate of players in each game is high, this means you aren’t going to be sitting on the menu screen for half an hour waiting for that final person to load in. With 100 players, or close to that, appearing in every game you’d think that it would take forever to finish which is were the size of the map comes into play. PubG goes for a big map with quite a lot of drop areas, giving players a decent chunk of time to land, rummage around in some of the houses for equipment and find your bearings before you get picked off  by some bastard hiding two towns over with a sniper rifle. Fortnite’s map is smaller and therefore results in much quicker matches, though the sniper wielding bastard scenario still applies. One issue with PubG’s map size is that it makes traversing it harder than Fortnite’s, but it does come with vehicles which, at the time of writing, Fortnite doesn’t have.

When comparing the two games you aren’t going to come across many glaringly obvious differences, it’s all in the subtle, small ones. For example, one difference that stands out to me is PubG’s draw distance. When playing PubG you may find yourself in a tall grassy area and naturally you think “I’ll go prone here and try and catch anyone who runs passed and doesn’t notice me.” The problem with this, on console at least, is that at a certain distance that tall grass won’t load in for other players leaving you a sitting (or lying) duck open to all the headshots in the world. Another small difference is the inventory system. Fortnite goes for a minimal approach by giving you a handful of quickbar slots and a set amount of inventory space. Pubg allows you to find your own backpacks that have different levels, those levels designate how much space each of those backpacks have. Out of the two, I think I prefer Fortnite’s system. It gives you one less thing to worry about while running around in the heat of the battle which is very important. That’s enough about the minutiae though, the biggest difference between the two games is Fortnite’s building system.

While PubG lets you focus more on finding weapons and people to kill (or more likely finding fuck all and aiming to avoid other players to survive longer), Fortnite adds a Minecraft-esc element into the mix. While running around the island searching for provisions you can use your trusty pickaxe to destroy almost any part of the surrounding scenery, gaining that resource to build walls, ramps and bases. This gives Fortnite an edge in the battle by giving players an additional form of defence that isn’t just running away and hoping your assailant doesn’t follow you. However, this does mean that players have an extra part of the game to focus on. it’s not that you couldn’t get through an entire game of Fortnite without building anything as I have done just that once or twice, but if you aren’t proficient in using the build function then you will come a cropper when you are facing off against a building pro that can place walls quicker than you can shoot them down. Additionally, you can find and build traps to lay for an unwitting player to step on. Just how effective these traps are is a mystery to me as every single trap I’ve ever set has been avoided, so either I’ve been very bad at picking spots to set them or they are obvious to the more seasoned player, I’m going for the first option.

There is a lot of enjoyment to get out of both games here. I would say if you’re more of a Call Of Duty or Battlefield player the PubG would speak more to you with the realistic side showing through more, the gameplay is more focused on survival through scavenging and positioning. Fortnite, on the other hand, probably speaks more to casual players that are just looking to get into a game, run around, maybe shoot at a few things before dying and hitting the “return to menu” button to drop right into another game.

I guess my point here is that both games shine in different ways, even if the overlap in genre is vast. One last thing that Fortnite has going for it though is its gradual progression in world building. Some of you may have heard a while back about a meteor that seemed to be constantly orbiting the planet in Fortnite, well that meteor came down right in the middle of the island completely changing the layout of Dusty Depot, now know as Dusty Divot. This may not seem like anything but it has given the map another quirk with anti-gravity crystals - that let you jump higher for longer - while also prompting more conspiracy theories about other parts of the game. It’s all cosmetic really and hasn’t changed the way the game is played but it is something that PubG doesn’t have, though that isn’t what PubG is really going for.

Both games will be releasing more maps in the future with PubG talking about a smaller, more contained map while Fortnite are focusing more on refining their original map as well as designing others. Both Fortnite and PubG are also still tweaking equipment, damage and shields as well so neither game is perfect which to me begs the question: If this type of game is addictive now, what on earth will they be like when they have been polished up a bit more?

Good luck getting your kids back then!

Plus both games have been released for anything with a screen. So, when your child or loved one does get addicted and you decide to deactivate their console, they can just load it up on their phone or tablet or fucking microwave. It’s endless!

I hope you guys enjoyed this look at PubG and Fortnite, I have no doubts that many of you are already on the bandwagon for either or both games helping make the genre as big as it is. Keep checking back to Game Changers for more gaming news and updates and remember to follow us on twitter at @gcgamingtank. Happy gaming guys!ming guys!