Every so often, Fortnite has these big “Event” moments in it’s story line. They are essentially just an excuse to destroy the island and revamp it, at least from a game play perspective. These often happen at the end of the Chapter, but sometimes also between Seasons. (The game is Chapters, subdivided into Seasons). For the end of Chapter 3, Fortnite had an event called Fracture. Compared to the Collision Event for Chapter 3, Season 2, this event felt incredibly lack luster.
The way the events work, a half hour or so before the start time, it becomes the only game mode you can queue for, at which point, you get dropped into a holding pattern lobby with 3 other players. For Collision, this was the cockpit of the giant Voltron Like Mech, for Fracture, you just get stuck on a small island floating in space.
There wasn’t much to do on the island besides run around and emote. There were no weapons and it wasn’t particularly large. The only thing really there was a TV with a countdown. Slightly disappointing, I believe due to the slight slop of the island itself, it was difficult to use the “Emote Together” emotes where two players can interact. Eventually the count down ended and the TV lit up bright and the event itself began. There was a brief little movie bit where the Herald attacks the Reality Tree before the entire island is overrun by the Chrome that has been slowly consuming everything all season. After-which it explodes. Or I suppose, more accurately, it Fractures.
After the fracture, you find yourself simply floating in space alone. Before The Paradigm starts narrating about the Zero Point reassembling the world…. or something. Eventually you are roped in and pulled to a small floating island in space, along with your squad and some other people, maybe 50 or so players total, at least I assume they were all other players as well, it wasn’t real clear.
At this point, the actual game play starts. And it’s… ok, at first, but lasts for like, 40 minutes, and is extremely repetitive, and not very clear on what needs done exactly.
Basically, you are collecting these little zero point Orbs. Some are just laying around the island, others are gotten through doing various mini quests and tasks. There is no shooting, or Battle Royale, or even any weapons, you just, run around randomly, doing random shit. Some of these things include, doing “bounties” of throwing a snowball at a player, or finding hidden props hidden around the island, or apparently fishing, though no one seemed to have figured that one out, or spotting things floating in space, using a telescope. These were the easy ones. Others, like assembling the snowman, or throwing a chicken into the Zero point (WHICH SOUNDS STUPID EASY) were not clear on the goal. I probably tossed 20 chickens into the Zero Point and didn’t once get credit for that one.
Every 5 minutes or so, The Paradigm would talk about the Zero Point reacting and it would pull another piece of chuck from space and more activities would unlock. More of… the same activities. Just in a new little chuck of island. It honestly wasn’t clear if the activities of the players were causing this, or if it was just on a timer. There was no meter or anything that players were working to fill by collecting Zero Point orbs, which would have at least helped a bit with how pointless it all felt.
Eventually, the thing just unceremoniously ends, The Paradigm says she is going to sacrifice herself to save the island and then the island gets reformed a new as a bunch of promo teasers of locations and characters for next season come flying in to form the new island.
The whole event was kind of dull, and judging from other reactions I have seen online, I am not alone in this thought. Here is hoping the next season is better, but I’m already thinking I may take another break like I did for Chapter 3 Season 3. Doomguy is probably in the next Season Pass, which is kind of cool, but I’m not sure if I really want him that bad. I would be a new island at least to mix things up a bit.
