Fortnite’s latest season is as chaotic as the media that inspired it (2024)

Chapter 5 Season 3 of Fortnite is utterly overwhelming. The first time I dropped from the Battle Bus and onto the deserted lands of Brawler’s Battleground, I couldn’t tell up from down. The stadium — which is designed to look like a monster truck rally venue — comes equipped with flamethrowers, live rock music, and stacks of spinning rip blades. After winning a desperate scramble with other players and scattered AI bots, I didn’t stop to shield up and heal. Instead, I went into my menu and turned the sound down.

As it turns out, that flurry of activity in those opening moments came to characterize the general vibe of Fortnite’s latest big update. Dubbed “Wrecked,” this season pushes Fortnite away from its posh European locales and instead creates an anarchic wasteland inspired by the likes of the Fallout games and, seemingly, Mad Max. Take those two franchises as starting inspiration points, then layer on a hefty serving of Metallica on top, and the results are a gameplay experience that’s caked in chaotic sludge — so much so that it might weigh down the fun at some points.

The update is absolutely littered with new items. There are the Nitro Fists, which can melee through even the fiercest opponents with an explosion of power. There’s a new set of Medallions, which you pick up after boss fights and use to give yourself powerful buffs. There are the Lockjaw battle cars, which can plow through anything and contain mounted turrets.

If you don’t get one of the battle cars, that’s fine, because the map is literally covered with other vehicles you can modify, Flaming Boost Hoops that can send you zooming across the map (or into another player, if you so wish), and items like the Ride the Lightning guitar that allow you to soar through the sky. If you yourself want to become a weapon, no problem. The plentiful Nitro Splash allows your character to run through buildings and destroy them with a simple jump into the Splash.

Image: Epic Games via Polygon

This results in moments that feel either bad to lose or worse to win. I had one moment where I was just chilling on a mountain, looting a chest, when a player came up from the other side of the hill. I panicked and spammed the Nitro Fists and won with little to no finesse.

At one point, I tried to attack an opponent driving a car and I missed. I backed up like a mom driving her kids to soccer in a minivan and missed again. I then looped around to try to hit them again and indeed I did. It landed enough damage that I could hop out and clean up the kill with a bit of gunfire. On the flip side, I was once looting a building quietly until someone amped up on Nitro Splash boosted through the entire building and yeeted me to another dimension, leading me to take some fall damage and making for an easy kill from their teammate in a car.

For better or worse, the developers successfully captured the spirit of anarchy this season. If you’re a casual player who just wants to mess around with friends, the pace of each match can ramp up in the blink of an eye as vehicles descend upon you and smash you to smithereens. If you play competitively, it’s less enjoyable — I’ve seen many posts online lamenting the sheer number and strength of new gimmicks at play here. My regular partner in duos has already decided he’s going to sit this season out based on a few play sessions. I don’t blame him, because it’s a lot, and a constantly irritated fan base appears to be the new norm for Fortnite. However, I can’t help but feel it’s all still very, well... Fortnite.

Image: Epic Games via Polygon

This is the same team that decided to take building, the titular and most original game mechanic in the game, and make it an optional feature. We’ve gotten Dragon Ball powers in the game, the ability to bend all four elements, and more. Do I miss the slightly slower-paced matches of the OG map as a Zero Build player? Sure, but Fortnite has often had a Mario Kart blue shell logic to it all — that is, that any person can swoop in and win at the last moment — and that helps keep the game interesting to players of all levels. At the moment, it feels like the balance may be tipped a bit too far toward chaos.