Fortnite’s New FPS Mode Ballistic Is Janky But Good

Fortnite’s latest game mode, Ballistic, plays a lot like Valorant or Counter-Strike. The mode, currently labeled as being in “Early Access,” is rough around the edges and feels more like a demo than a full game. However, Ballistic is also proof that Epic can build first-person shooters that work in Fortnite, and that’s exciting.

Launched on December 11 on all platforms, Ballistic is a 5v5 tactical round-based first-person shooter in which one team defends two bomb sites while the other team of five attacks and tries to plant an explosive device. There are no respawns until the next round and between rounds, you buy guns and equipment with money you earn from kills and winning.

That probably sounds a lot like Counter-Strike and that’s because, yeah, Ballistic is basically Fortnite’s version of Valve’s popular FPS.

Before I played a few matches, I was curious how well FPS gameplay would work in Fortnite. After a few matches of Ballistic, I came away impressed. Epic has done the work to make animations and movement feel and look good in the first-person perspective. Sprinting, climbing, aiming down sights, reloading, and all that feels snappy and responsive, like you’d expect from a well-made first-person shooter.

I do have some quibbles with the controls. I really want a button that lets me swap between my rifle and pistol. I’d love to be able to map my grenade and gadgets to specific buttons, too, instead of using Fortnite’s default inventory and hotbar system. But these are minor issues that could be fixed in future updates. For now, what’s here is a solid FPS that just happens to live in Fortnite and uses all the character and weapon skins you already own.

Yes, that means Darth Vader can snipe Goku while Leatherface helps Snoop Dogg plant the bomb at location A. Weird shit, but it also is a big selling point to someone like me who owns all these characters (and more).

As for the mode itself, Ballistic is fun and tense, like Counter-Strike or Valorant. However, I experienced some issues with menus not loading properly, random sound effects happening for no reason, long waits between matches, and janky post-game victory screens. While I had a good time taking out Fortnite kiddies who have never played a game like Counter-Strike, I understand why Epic labeled this an “Early Access” experiment. It’s enjoyable, but far from finished or stable.

Still, even in this janky, early access form, Epic’s latest mode is a promising first step toward the developer adding more FPS modes and games into Fortnite.

Epic has also, with the launch of Ballistic, given the community the ability to start publicly uploading games using the company’s FPS tools. I expect that in the coming days and weeks, we’ll see people recreating famous Counter-Strike maps and more. That sounds exciting, though if I was someone working on a first-person shooter that wasn’t Call of Duty, I’d be nervous.

If Epic can build upon Ballistic and add more modes, games, and options, it might be able to bring a whole new audience into its ever-growing ecosystem, and it might get even tougher than it already is to launch a multiplayer shooter.

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